Are we there yet

 Halifax is the port of entry for many oversize and odd loads from overseas. They are then trucked to points all across the country - even as far as British Coumbia at times. 

A nice white Freightliner with drop deck trailer had an unusual load on July21. The truck was running for Blairco Transportation, a small operator from Aldergrove, British Columbia. The load appears to be a section of a truss structure, but as it was not labelled that is only a guess.

If the truck was in fact returing to BC, it might be there by now.

.

 

Odd Load

 The variety of loads coming out of Halifax ship terminals seems endless. The constant stream of mining, agricultural, and construction equipment is impossible to keep up with, but occasionally somehting truly unusual pops up.

BJ's Transport from Brampton, ON had a fairly typical Freightliner with a four axle trailer the other day, but the little "truck" on the back required some research.

It is a Normet Spraymec, which turns out to be (and I quote from the company's web site) "an electro-hydraulic, self-propelled, mobile concrete sprayer". For use specifically in lining tunnels, it is part of a large range of mining and other equipment built by Normet from Finland.

I could not set myself up  to take a wider and closer view, which would have shown the extendable spray arm in more detail.

Normet's website contains much more detail: Normet

.

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".

.

All sorts

 The European RVs keep rolling in. They range in size from a BMW station wagon (I saw it today, but there were people with it and I didn't mant to invade their privacy) to full scale Dakar Rally inspired expedition trucks. Here's a sampling, just from today:

 

Mercedes / Bimobil

Citroen / Bürstner Ixeo Time 30 Edition
 

 

There is a crawl through from cab to container style cabin...

...and a crane to unload the bikes.

Iveco AWD cab chassis

.

Big Box Story

Another big load through the Fairview Cove port terminal today, May 25. This time it is a large crate from Austria. With a 35,000 kg weight it took an extendable Temisko trailer and dolly and a beefy Western Star to haul it away.  

The rig belongs to Transport Chainé from Shawinigan, QC.

From markings on the crate it seems to be a piece of plastic bottle recycling machinery, destined for a custom injection and extrusion molding manufacturer in Vaughan, ON.

Due to its size it is likely the rig is restricted to late night moves only.

.

Big trucks for big loads

 The importing of construction, mining and forestry equipment peaks in spring and the equipment is now arriving weekly from Europe. One of the well known manufacturers is Sandvik, makers of mining and construction equipment, based in Sweden. 

Recently I spotted a Ranger series and a Panther series top hammer, rock drill at Pier 9C in Halifax. I managed to catch them when they had been loaded onto flatbeds and were on the road.

A pair of Peterbilts from Delway Enterprises in Miramichi, NB were hauling the rigs.

Due to my position and their speed, I wasn't able to get great shots of the Sandviks.

The Peterbilts, with low rise sleepers and straight pipes, looked more than capable of doing the job. The Petes were not identical - they had different bumpers, visors and headlights.

.

More RVs

 The European RVs keep rolling in (by ship) and some domestic ones are begining to appear too as tourist season gets underway. 

The desire for "stealth" RVs is a bit of a current fad. The idea is to make the RV look like an anonymous  commercial vehicle, and thus attract no attention when parked for the night, perhaps in a dodgy location. Leaving the exterior plain white and without signs of conversion is a good "cover", but adding a ladder and extra windows is a dead giveaway.

 

A Dodge Ram 2500 ProMaster is a good start for a stealth RV, but this one will fool no one.

Not exactly stealth is a an ex military ambulance with red cross on the roof:

I can't begin to imagine how uncomfortable something like this must be - even on good roads. Magirus-Deutz is certainly a rare find in North America. Does that cab tilt?

There are two or three "native" Scanias in Atlantic Canada, so the number of RV Scanias likely outnumbers them as they keep coming in.

I cannot help but smile when it see this VW with Karmann camper body:

 

I dislike the word "cute" on principal, but I can think of no other. I suspect it must be pretty wobbly in a strong crosswind.

.

.