The Heavies Keep Rolling

 Within less than an hour I clocked about a dozen trucks, most of them heavy, either coming out of PSA's Fairview Cove terminal or from the port's other Roll On Roll Off pier in the Richmond Terminal - and that was just the loads, there were numerous barebacks arrriving for loads too. Here's a sampling:

Yes Atlantic Tiltload does have a tri-axle Freightliner. Fleet number 49 picked up this Rottne F15E (15 tonne capacity) timber forwarder.

The company also has a similar tandem axle F'liner (sorry I missed the number) that picked up a flatrack container with some extra wide crates.
 

TDR Transportation (trucking division of Municipal Contracting) was moving some crane components for J.D.Irving Ltd. They had a Navistar International with mid-rise sleeper on the job:

J.D.Irving Ltd, for their part, had an interesting Western Star equipped with a beefy Manitex TM 200 20 ton crane to lift off the counterweights and other gear.

Back to the heavies:

Killingeck Transport of Selby, ON (northeast of Kingston) had this Kenworth T680 to haul a piece of Sandvik drilling equipment:

Also carrying Sandvik machinery, Earl Paddock from Stoney Creek, ON had their Kenworth number 546 with a LH410 model underground loader:

 We used to see Earl Paddock trucks frequently carrying military vehicles for export from General Dynamics in London, ON. But the Saudi Arabian shipping company moved its operations to Saint John so that I could not photograph them.

D.Dumais et Fils trucks (from way up in Dolbeau-Mistassini, QC) are regulars in Halifax hauling away forestry equipment. Their Kenwoth number 53 had a Komatsu 901 harvester this time:

Closer to home Valley Flatbed of Aylesford, NS had two rigs for similar loads. First was a flashy red Peterbilt with flat top sleeper.:

and second was a plain vanilla Peterbilt with a low rise sleeper:

Each had the Mercedes Arocs tractor portions of a pair of Øveraasen airport runway snow sweepers that arrived last week from Norway (via Sweden) on the ship Don Carlos.

Unlike some similar (but red painted) units that arrived a few weeks ago (see August 7, 2023 post) these yellow rigs were not marked with an airport code. Perhaps they are headed for the Canadian military base in Greenwood, NS - close to Valley Flatbed's home.

There is no end to the odd looking loads coming out of the port. Brookville Carriers Flatbed from Truro, NS had these rubber ship fenders. Although not especially heavy, they do require some good lashing (not sure why they need blue protective pads) . Commonly called Yokohama fenders, after the Yokohma Rubber Co which first built these low pressure "cushions", that is a trade name however and several other companies manufacture similar products under their own names. The Port of Halifax has many of these in service to protect ships from scraping and damage when tied up alongside. Cruise ships are particular about the condition of their hull paint, and they require several of these fenders for protection. 

The Navistar International LT features red fuel tanks.

 JDI Logistics had an unusual looking 20 foot Ritzy International Transportation tanktainer on a long chassis (for protection?)  marked for tetrafluroethane (HazMat code 3159) - a non flammable (but hazardous) refrigerant gas.

The blue whale on the tank appears to be trying to escape from something...

And finally CFL Heavy Haul of Milton, ON was not hauling anything heavy when it passed my position and its step deck trailer appeared better suited to extra high container hauling, but I liked the look of the Kenworth T680 with high rise sleeper even if it was a stark refrigerator white. (The driver was headed for the container terminal but had apparently taken a wrong turn somehwere.)

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More Euros

 The European RVs keep rolling through the Port of Halifax. A couple of interesting ones showed up today.

This big Merc has some extra Rally lights and dual rear tires. The RV unit is from Neismann + Bischoff's Clou line.  Access through the side door may be a little awkward parked that close to a light pole, but it has a walk though cab.

 The German plate "PB" is from Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia.

The name badge on this unit says Bürstner, with the model being IXEO:

The chassis and running gear is likely FIAT as far as I can tell.

The "E" plate is a license from Spain (España), but I don't know which city code MCD stands for.

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American LaFrance revisited

 On this day, September 6, 1980 I happened to be passing through Caribou, Maine on my way back to Halifax from Quebec. The Caribou Fire Department had their all American LaFrance fleet out on the apron, and I was lucky enough to get the following photos:

No.1

No.2

No.3

No.4

No.8

pump panel for No.3

Some departments were still running open top "bathtub" cab LaFrances in those days, but Maine's winters likely discouraged that practice. The 'sedan cab" was a rarity by the 1980s. The long hood, with bell mount, covered a straight eight gasoline engine.

No.3

Biggest yet

There have been some pretty big European RVs in Halifax recently - usually the off road types on a MAN chassis /cab. Today's catch however is a real rarity - a Volvo FH sleeper, long wheelbase with tandem rears (one may be a tag, but is not a lift axle). This would be a typical long haul transport on European roads (and the rest of the world too - except North America), but would not be an expected choice for an RV.

Carrying Austrian plates, (from the State of Carinthia) it does appear to have some miles on it, judging by the paint wear and the number of stickers it has accumulated.

There is a flush fitting side door access to the RV unit, on the curb side, just above a section of checker plate.

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RVs again

 I can't keep up with the continuing flood of European RVs, so can only post from time to time as I see something unusual. Today (August 17) definitely qualifies as 6X6 wheel arrangements are quite rare in the RV world. Also the Bucher name is not well known here as a truck manufacturer.

Bucher Municipal is a Swiss truck builder that specializes in what we would call "vocational" vehicles such as street sweepers, refuse, construction, ready-mix, winter maintenance and others. Bucher builds the complete truck, not just the chassis. They are also hydraulics specialists, so many of these trucks use hydraulic systems.

Bucher was a partner in the development of the Mowag Duro (DUrable, RObust) military vehicles used by many European countries.

Today's "catch" certainly has a military look - especially the colour of the wheel rims. 

I would say physical agility is a necessity - that step ladder access to the body is stowed in an exterior compartment (right side rear) so exiting would be only via the cab until the ladder can be rigged.

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Watson Triple Header

 Transport Watson of Beloeil, QC, the over size specialists are well known in Halifax as regular loaders of airplane componenents that arrive from Europe by ship. Their trucks had a distinctive red colour scheme with "Watson" in blue, but that has changed a bit in the last year or so since the company was taken over by QSL (Quebec Stevedoring Ltd). They are now just plain red, but even so are usually very clean looking.

Today there were three Watson trucks in Halifax and they were unsual in a couple of respects. First, and most obvious, was that they were Freightliner COEs - a rare sight these days as engine forward trucks are the norm. In fact Freightliner has not produced COEs, (called the Argosy model) officially, since 2020 and even then they sold only glider kits for North America. The customer had to supply and install the engine and drivetrain.

The second point was that the trucks were transporting long steel tubular shapes. I don't say pipes, because they may be structural components for wind turbine towers or some other use. Watson has often carried components to the cement plant in Port Daniel - Gascons, QC.

 

Leading the parade was Watson W6883 with two tubes on an extended flat deck.

The trucks had some nice features, including fairings over the fuel tanks and "low rise" roof.

Next was W6881:

A nearly identical unit, it had a different arrangement of clearance lights on the windshield visor. It was hauling two tubes as far as I could see. 

Third in line was W6884, with three tubes on its extended flatdeck.

I guess because they were not over wide, they were able to exit the Fairvew Cove container terminal and head straight for the highway, without pilot cars. With the COEs they were under the 75 foot length limit - hard to tell...

More Mercs

 All of a sudden I am seeing more imported Mercedes trucks! Today it was four Arocs models with snow plow trailers by the Norwegian snow removal specialist Øveraasen.

The four units are destined for the Calgary Airport Authority and are numbered 100 to 103 and marked YYC (the call letters of the Calgary airport.) The tractors are rigged for plows, which are not fitted. 

I have covered similar rigs in the past, and learned that the swing out motor for the trailer plows is mounted at the end of the trailer, with its weight directly over the rear wheels.

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