More Imports

Even though winter will soon be upon us, the imports keep rolling in (and out to westward destinations.)

Unlike last week's unit, I caught this Liebherr today before the riggers had boarded over the windows for its rail trip. (It only has six axles, whereas last week's had seven.)

This New Holland FX40 forage harvester and another tractor were getting a first class ride from Fairview.

Mikel Roy Giles from Brampton , ON used this long Peterbilt with Canada 150 insignia, to do the hauling.

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Navistar and Daimler - head to head

 In the very competitive medium duty truck field Navistar International is putting up a good fight against Daimler Freightliner for market share - even if the photo shows them tail to tail.

International has the MV model (Medium Vocational) such as this sweeper operated by the Dexter Municipal Group glides past a Freightliner (likely an M2 106 model) with dump body.

With day cab, extended cab and crew cab options, both companies cater to a wide range of needs.

(The Johnston sweeper company is part of the Swiss Bucher company, which also builds suction trucks, garbage trucks and snow clearing equipment.)

International and Freightliner also compete for school bus cab/ chassis business. I spotted this odd Blue Bird today, with what appears to be an International hood. (It carries a Blue Bird plaque on the side of the hood.)

Blue Bird remains an independent company, trading on the NASDAQ exchange.

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Liebherr - heading west

 Now secured on a flat car and ready to head west (that is the only direction you can go from Halifax!) this big Liebherr is all painted in company colours but with no name painted on yet.

The cabin glass has been covered against transit damage and a plywood "Do Not Hump" sign has been added to warn rail workers that this is a delicate cargo.

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Peterbilt big load

 The specialist carrier Equipement St-Germain of Ste-Julie, QC sent there heavy load carrier Peterbilt to Halifax to haul away a giant drill rig. 

The drill rig is a Bauer BG36H that can drill a 2500mm diameter hole to 68 meters or more depth. There appear to be at least two more loads to make up the complete rig - the rest of the huge tower and the BS95 crawler tracks. The unit was built in Germany and arrived in Halifax by ship.

It is unusual to see a heavy load truck with only a day cab, but with that double dolly trailer I guess they are trying to keep the overall length down to a 75 foot maximum.

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KW from MB- amended

 Lots of long haul trucks make their way to Halifax, but they usually don't stay long enough for a photo. This Kenworth from Manitoba was an exception this morning.

Running for Jiffy Express Inc of Winnipeg it is hauling an unusual curtain side trailer. Common in Europe, these trailers are gradually becoming more popular in this country due to the ease of side loading and unloading with a forklift. Barely visible in the photo is the "man door" fitted in the forward bulkhead of the trailer.

The trailer once belonged to Integrity Express Shipping of Concord, ON but that company's logo and serial number have been removed and another number painted on.

Amendment

Later in the day I caught up with the truck again as it was in process of "swallowing" a container. The trailer is not a typical hard top / curtain side as I originally thought, but a cross between an accordion and a pelican!

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Shining Star

A bright and shiny Western Star turned up today at the Fairview Cove terminal. 

Oversize loads such as this are usually imports to Halifax, arriving by ship, but this one is an export. Since I have got into trouble with this company before by identifying loads - yes they actually threatened to sue me! - I will leave this one's operator, shipper and destination a mystery.

(They still have nice trucks.)

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Sharp Kenworth

 Sharp Transportation Systems of Cambridge, ON, sent this sharp Kenworth to fetch a container that was likely diverted from Montreal due to a longshoremen's strike,

Nice retro look.

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