Truck Show

 As usual with the Atlantic Truck Show there were some very impressive trucks on display at the Moncton Coliseum (May 9-10). As I learned a few years ago it is worth a trip through the parking lot too as some of the delivery trucks and attendee's trucks can be equally impressive.

 The interior of the various halls was as usual crammed with exhibits making it difficult to take pictures, There were also lots of people.

 

Frankly I was expecting to see more innovation. This TICO yard tug was something I had not seen before. Powered by Volvo electrics, it is North American built.
 

Other "new to me" sights out in the parking lots was this small sized Peterbilt 220 - also an EV.

Most of the major brands had demos or recent deliveries out in the parking lots. 

Navistar International had several models:

and the others, such as Kenworth:

and Western Star...
 

were there too.

.

 

More Axles

 Some large loads on the roads recently, required additional axles to spread out the weight.

Trucks from D.Dumais of Dolbeau, QC are frequent sights in the Port of Halifax area, hauling away new forestry machinery. This Western Star had a Komatsu harvester on its flatbed trailer.

Birch Hill Construction of Moncton, NB sent their fine looking Kenworth to fetch this piece of McCloskey quarry machinery. McCloskey is a Canadian company and also manufactures some of its equipment in Ireland and India.

Valley Flatbed and Transportation's Western Star also had a green coloured load - a farm trailer, plus ....

... a small trailer which was neatly transferred from Superior Towing Services Navistar International tilt bed.

.

Big and Red

 Navistar International seems to be selling more big trucks recently, after years of being mostly invisible in that segment of the business. Kenworth, Peterbilt, Mack and Western Star had that territory to themselves. 

This morning I happened to spot two big Navistars, and by coincidence both were painted red.

Total Transport and Rigging had this three axle job hauling a step deck trailer. The Cummins powered tractor had some nice shiny stuff.

Atlantic Tiltload is running this three axle rig which is dressed up a bit more. It was hauling a four axle Trail King trailer with a Liebherr truck crane, fresh off the boat, for the Sarens Canada crane rental fleet.

That unit, Number 19, is not their only Navistar. I saw another one, Number 301, a few weeks ago:

It was hauling a giant piece of farm machinery, a Grimme Veritron 470 self-propelled harvester. 

Gone are the days when International Harvester was the company name of Navistar International and its trucks were (affectionately?) called "corn-binders".

.

Heads I win, Tails you lose

 It was more aircraft components at Fairview Cove today as two tail assemblies were pulled out on flat bed trailers. We have been accustomed to seeing the smart looking Watson trucks pulling these trailers, but today it was trucks from Total Transport + Rigging, the company that acts as local agents for oversize loads. Watson may pick up the loads from TT+R, but it looks like these ones will be hauled directly by TT+R.

First out was a cleam looking Mack Anthem. It is hauling a Paron trailer, still with a Mills Heavy Hauling sticker. (Mills was the predecessor to TT+R under previous owners).

TT+R trucks, as were Mills trucks before them, are usually painted red, so this may be an owner /operator rig.

A Navistar International equipped with a third axle hauled the second trailer.

The tail assemblies arrive on ships of the Atlantic Container line and are destined for Bombardier's aircraft manufacturing facilities in the Montreal area or Downsview, in the Toronto area. Bombardier used to own the former Short Brothers factory in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but sold it to Spirit AeroSystems in 2020. It seems Bombardier still gets assemblies from Shorts, which ships out of Liverpool, England.

.

Road Trip Report

A road trip to Quebec usually includes a stop at the Navistar International dealer in Rivière-du-Loup, QC. Aside from a number of new Lone Stars lined up on Temiscouata Blvd, there were a couple of interesting units in the back lot.

A beefy AWD plow special was awaiting a new spreader body. Note the "blind" hood with no headlight openings. The headlights are mounted on wands, high above the plow frame.

New HX awaits installation of a body. Also painted in highway department yellow, it has perforations in the bumper for some purpose, perhaps hydraulics. The bumper projects out about a foot ahead of the fender line.

There are "Binders" in other parts of the Province too:

Lone Stars are fairly rare so a quick "grab shot" was necessary for this chip hauler at Pointe-au-Pic. Too bad I didn't take a video - those large diameter pipes were nearly deafening at close range.

The HX model is also popular for the heavy work and the Clermont, QC dealer has a special painted version on display.

A favourite of mine has always been the Paystar 5000 model from the 1970s. A preserved former Quebec highways unit still sees regular use hauling firewood. I like to check in on it every year to see that it is still running, so you will have seen pictures of it here before.

Another oldie, which from the fleet number is either a 2001 or a 2005 (likely the former) is this Eagle with plow fittings.

Getting a major refit, it should be on the road before the snow arrives.

.

Front Yard Seat

A new water line going in has brought a lot of truck traffic to my otherwise quiet dead end street. I normally see the odd delivery van, oil truck and the weekly garbage trucks, but otherwise truck activity is rare.

There certainly has been a variety this week, both trucks and a crawler backhoe, a digger, a vibratory roller, and a skid steer.

A big Navistar International HX twin steer had a small load of crushed stone.

 A GMC arrived with a load of gravel.

2007 Freightliner showed up to load broken up asphalt and excavated material.

Rare Cat with DEL dumper was also in the mix.

A small Peterbilt tilt deck arrived to haul away the trench frame.


.

Straight trucks with sleepers

There are few straight trucks with sleepers on the road - at least in this part of the world, so when I see one I grab a photo.

This F-liner shows up on the waterfront from time to time with supplies for cruise ships. Clipper Ship Supply is based in Montreal and obviously includes perishables amongst the products it will supply to ships.

Once likely a hot shot type delivery truck, this Inter has taken on a second life as a pumper. Its job appears to be pumping out restaurant grease traps. A fairly unpleasant job, and no doubt the sleeper has been converted for other uses. The long wheelbase and short body gives a distinctive appearance.

A giant high rise aerodynamic sleeper hardly seems necessary for a guard rail post digger, but here it is. The Pete must have had an over the road career to start, but that big box probably serves a a crew cab. If the digger body is readily de-mountable, the truck could hit the road again if needed.

.

Canadian Army on the move

When the Canadian army needs to move, it has lots of wheels.

 Big Navistar International with three axle trailer has a light load of a TAPV armoured car.

 Beefy Western Star carrying a bit more weight with Coyote reconn vehicle.

These units were seen at Salisbury, NB BigStop some distance from the Gagetown base. In fact the first Tim Horton's stop to the southeast.

.

Crew cabs from the road trip

While crew cabs are all the rage for pickups these days, they have long been used for larger trucks such as utility and fire apparatus.

These days it seems that Freightliner has the larger market share, but Navistar International is also represented.

 CN Rail has quantities of both brands, with hi-rail conversions and a variety of utility bodies. Freightliner crew cabs, through the skillful use of sheet metal, uses the same door for driver and passengers.

International however, has a different door for the back seat users. Note the panels in the hood, allowing access to vital fluids without having to tip the bonnet.

One of the most unusual crew cabs I have seen is this extra axle, long hood, FL80, operated by a New Brunswick road building contractor Falls Construction of Grand Falls, NB.

The truck was spotted at Aulac, NB.

Pierce built this Contender 1050/800 pumper tanker on a 2007 Navistar 4400 commercial chassis with crew cab operated by the Oxford, Nova Scotia VFD.

Expensive rig

One of the most expensive trucks I will ever see works for the Canadian Border Services Agency. Based on a Navistar International chassis, the truck carries a container scanning unit, which performs non-intrusive examination of shipping containers on the Halifax waterfront. A similar, but possibly les sophisticated unit shown elsewhere on the 'net, was valued at $US 1 million.
With its container scanning arm extended, the driver moves the truck slowly along a container as the terminal tug and trailer remain stationary. Once completed for the day, the articulated x-ray arm folds up and stows on top of the cabin. The scanner operator(s) occupy the cabin space immediately behind the cab, which is not connected to the cab.

1. Scanning arm deployed, the truck is ready to scan a container. The open door is access to the operator's cabin.

2. Scan in progress, the tuck moves slowly parallel to the container. The terminal tug driver has vacated his cab to avoid excessive gamma ray exposure.

3. After the scan is completed, the terminal tug driver can re-enter his Ottawa and drive off.

4. Scanning completed for the day, the arm folds up.

5. Then the whole operating unit pivots in line with the chassis.

 6. With the scanning unit safely nested in place, the rig is road ready. (I have never seen the drop axle in use).

.

Bring out the 4x4s

They seem to be everywhere these days and 4x4s are pretty much a ho-hum sight on every road, but a few distinctive ones do show up from time to time.

1. This vintage Toyota Land Cruiser VX Limited (and Right Hand Drive at that) was receiving some TLC this afternoon.

[While I normally try to take serious pictures, I couldn't resist including the background and the advert for underwear - zoom in to see]

2. Mighty Dodge Ram with serious bumper also attracted my attention this afternoon.

All truck manufacturers seem to be offering downsized models now, none more so than Navistar International with its Terra Star, also offered in 4x4.

 Of course if you can't afford the 4x4 option-just take an energy drink and bull on through.

.