Early Signs of Spring

Although spring may be officially here by the calender, that is no guarantee. There are other more positive signs however:

As the snow melts back shopping carts appear out of the drifts and the Trecan Combustion snow melter sits idle in the Walmart parking lot. Trecan is a local company but its machines are used all over the world to dispose of unwanted snow by rapid melting.
Airports and shopping centre parking lots are favourite spots where trucking the stuff away is expensive and dumping may be restricted.
This unit doesn't move much, but when it does the Cat tractor does the job. Cat trucks have really never taken off as a brand in this area, so they are still a bit of a novelty.

G+R Kelly Ltd of Halifax have a nuber of snow plowing contracts, but those are likely over for the year, so the plows have come off and they are finding other work. They also have some Cats in their fleet.

Another sign is the arrival of RVs and campers. Surely this one will go down in the annals as unique.

Featuring a handsome Scania cab and chassis and bearing Manitoba vanity plates, it also has a Swiss theme with several white crosses on red.

Its most unique feature is the transplanted travel trailer, perched wheel-less on the back. A pull out platform and step ladder are the means of access. A sign under the sleeper window gives Winnipeg, Blairmore, Yellowknife and Montreal. Halifax is yet to be added.
The same rig was later sen in the export line at the Fairview Cove Container terminal, so it is headed for Europe.

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AW Leil - not just cranes

 Not their biggest crane, this Faun may the the largest one can can go over the road in one piece.

AW Leil is a big name in cranes in eastern Canada, but they have trucks too.

This KW usually supports crane operations, but this morning it was taking an old tank to the scrap yard. I don't know here it came form, but it was likely loaded by a Liel crane. I also suspect the driver chained down the load himself, since he certainly took the corner with confidence.

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Vehicle transport - first class and economy

TFX International knows how to transport vehicles in style:

This classy Volvo is typical of their specialized vehicle transport fleet.
http://www.tfxinternational.com/






If first class is beyond your budget you could call D+M Tilt 'N Load from Ottawa. They were tasked - probably by our federal government* - to transport a military vehicle. It appears that the vehicle arrived in a shipboard container. D+M had to transport the container outside the container terminal, unload the vehicle, transport the container back to the terminal, then load the vehicle on the tilt deck. All a one man operation - and in a snow shower to boot.

The driver made a little gravel ramp then backed this rig out of the container.



Once he returns the container to the terminal he will load the 6x6 on the tilt deck and take off for Ottawa.


* The Canadian military is testing a number of  strange vehicles, and this light duty 6x6  appears to be is another. It is a Pinzgauer all terrain light duty vehicle. Production rights are held by BAE Systems in England, but I thought production had ceased due to land mine vulnerability.

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Atlantic Tiltload runs the gamut

Atlantic Tiltload Ltd has quickly made a mark in the area carrying everything from small machinery packages to oversize loads. They have a varied fleet of straight and semi trucks and trailers.




I spotted two of their rigs today with a couple of crude oil treatment units from Kocken Energy Systems Inc. A Canadian company with a large presence in Mexico, Kocken also has a fab plant near Bridgewater, NS. It likely that these two units are destined for Newfoundland where they will be joined up to remove sand, water and other contaminants from crude oil.

 A Western Star hauled in with the first load.

A Freightliner followed with the second.




Atlantic Tiltload Ltd's website (see the "Our Projects" section) shows the variety of equipment they run.http://www.atlantictiltload.com/

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High, Wide and xxxx

Today's sightings included:

HIGH

This twin steer Western Star arrived at a construction site to lift some material to the fifth storey. It did so with ease and probably had some more capacity to spare. The PM 65 SP truck crane appears to have 8 hydraulic extensions with a maximum lift of over 25 meters.

WIDE 

Mills Heavy Hauling put this rig together to carry a 34 tonne wind turbine hub to Barney's River, NS, about 120 miles form Halifax. The first and last legs of the trip will be on two lane roads, and will require middle of the night travel with front and rear civilian escorts and police.

I had to mask the friendly drivers face to ensure privacy.

 

The last leg of the trip will involve some light duty roads and maybe some bridges, hence the stretched out trailer configuration. Departure time from Halifax is 0300 hrs, with a daybreak arrival at destination.
Mills has a number of  Macks in the fleet.

AND XXXX

This one is a real tank - minus the treads and a few other components.It has apparently arrived from Europe and will be delivered somewhere in Canada.

It doesn't look like one of ours, so I will invite anyone who does know to comment.[All comments are filtered and moderated, and may or may not be published at my discretion.]

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Kenworth with a big load

One of two Transport Dionne Kenworths waits for the Halterm gate this morning. It is carrying the chassis of a Terex dump truck . I expect a third one will appear carrying the dump body. The dumper is likely headed to Newfoundland. or perhaps Saudi Arabia.

Transport Camille Dionne 1991 Inc is based in Laval,  QC and is a construction equipment dealer in addition to being a specialized transport company.

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Ol'skool White Freightliner

"Ol' skool" is the name applied to the back of the sleeper of this White Freightliner, that earns its daily bread for T.J. Mills Express. Working the waterfront on container shuttle service, the rig is a daily sight in and around Halterm. This winter it has been wearing its rad blanket - something almost as rare as a high COE.

Drivers of COEs needed to keep their feet warm as the engine, which was under an insulated "doghouse" lost most of its heat to the outdoors and had none left for the cab. Hence the blankets, that were usually left partly open to ensure some fresh air got in when the truck was moving.

The last White Freightliner was produced in the late 1970s, so if that name plate is original to this cab, it is a very old truck indeed. It is possible that the plate was added to a later model as a bit of nostalgia, but even then this truck is getting on in years.
Freightliner's long lasting and light weight aluminum cabs were among the strong selling points, but all the undercarriage, engine and drive train are likely much newer.
Back when this truck was built Freightliner had an assembly plant in Burnaby, BC to avoid duties, so almost every White Freightliner in Canada came from that plant. Often the buyer took delivery at the plant gate, so they had a pretty long break-in drive before they got home.

Over the years, the White Freightliner name plate grew in size. A small triangle was typical for the 1950s and 1960s into the early 1970s, such as the one on the H.S.Gill + Sons, Nashwaksis, NB unit on the left dubbed "Lumber Lugger". Note the "Canada" below the name plate.
In the mid 1970s the plate was enclosed within a rectangle like "Kathy", running for Sunbury Transport of Hoyt, NB (possibly before it became part of J.D.Irving's trucking conglomerate.) Note the date - late April snow is probably a thing of the past now even in central New Brunswick.

 This rig was new in 1975 and was owner driven from the Burnaby plant to Thorburn, Nova Scotia.

For 1976, the grille grew in size and so did the name plate.


As Freightliner Corp decided to break away from White Motors they began to evolve the COE with bigger engines, and to complete with Pete and KW, added some creature comforts. Integral steps replaced the old buggy step seen in the earlier models. They even recessed the door handle, and located in the bottom corner of the door, and introduced a recessed step below the door.

This truck show demo seen in Halifax appears to be of the same vintage as "Ol'skool" seen above, which would make it 40 years old..

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To plow or not to plow...

It has been a very mild winter and there has been little work for plows.Trucks that usually carry plows all winter have turned to other jobs. Fortunately there is lots of excavation work going on, so dump trucks are busy.

I spotted this big Freightliner today, rigged for plowing, but it has left the blades at home while it hauls fill from a downtown construction site.