katsblog

This is something I checked out that another driver had, it’s kinda cool!

 http://www.trukz.com“>

Here’s a link to a slide show I created for my travels:

 http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s160/katparadis/?action=view¤t=5936e3db.pbw

 http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s160/katparadis/?action=view¤t=fc0cd275.pbw

Haven’t had alot of time for picture taking this last month, but here are some shots I took last winter on the ice roads in the NWT. That’s NOT ICY roads…these are roads made if ice, built over rivers & lakes in winter, where there would be no road in summer.

Sometimes you get some rather big “puddles” on the ice in spring…this one left water marks 1/2 way up my fuel tanks! My front bumper was creating a “wake” like a boat! I told dispatch I wasn’t going back without a life jacket, a set of oars, and an outboard motor. The river is over 100 feet deep at this crossing…NOT a good place to fall in… Thankfully the road was closed the next day!

SPEED LIMITS ARE STRICTLY ENFORCED!!! 5kph over the limit 900$ fine…Speed literally KILLS on these roads… Speeding creates a wave in front of you & THIS is what can happen…

And then in spring they get a bit “wet” LOL

Day??? How bout the WEEK! I finally made it home…

Let’s see where did it start? Oh yes Tuesday night… Off to Yellowknife, rather uneventful 40 hour rounder, 15 hours driving up ( you can do that North of 60  ;D), 13 back, (sure) short sleep, book er home. Thursday, arrive Edmonton 5 pm, CRASH, sleep, die, so tired…up at 1am, off to Yellowknife again, be prepared for switch in Peace River on Saturday…k fine…no prob…repeat above, but prepare to stop 300 miles north of Edmonton for switch. Saturday…crash in Enterprise…grab & go for coffee & homemade muffin…no messages, no cell service there, so use the payphone…I hate that.  ??? I cross the Alberta border, starting to think…m a y b e I can go home?? I’m tired, dirty & itchy (it’s hot, the horseflies are the size of small birds & they are vicious) I am back across the border like 5 minutes, in cell service like 1 1/2 minutes…my phone rings…C R A P … it’s dispatch…it’s 930 am…what the hesk is he doing up so early? He works till 2am…I KNOW he sleeps till 11  …   @#$%@# caught!  ;D “I got that load to Yellowknife” says he. BUT (there’s ALWAYS a BUT) I couldn’t get it to Peace River. Can you come to Edmonton to get it? DAMN! OK, book er to Edmonton, no guarantees how far will get back…”Don’t care, just get it out of the yard” You bet, for sure. Fuel, shower, maybe eat? Food would be nice, yes definitely EAT!  Off to Yellowknife for the 3rd time in 5 days… Did I mention it’s 950 miles one way? Well I made it 3.5 hours back…ok SLEEP… Sunday 4 am…up and rolling…C O F F E E…. High Level…FUEL  C O F F E E… Enterprise… C O F E E….quick grilled cheese to eat on the ferry…Goddam Buffalo… how many times did I stop for them??? Stopped counting after 20….

They OWN the road…. Damned things…

On to Yellowknife…RAIN…RAIN…thunderbooms…thunder & lightening to shake the truck…DRIVING rain…

Bristol Pit…break train…SOAKED…SHEESH…Water everywhere..It rains TWO damned days/year in Yellowknife & I get DRENCHED!!

Drop lead in yard…pick up empty lead, head back to Bristol pit to make train for home….GODDAM RAIN..SOAKED again  ??? ??? ???

ITCHY>>>STICKY>>>>SOAKED

Will I make the ferry????? Think so…shuts down at 11:45pm…hmmmm M A Y B E…ok try….YES last ferry….John (ferry master) he sees me YES…he’s waiting…COME ON Kat HURRY UP..on the VHF we wanna go home….120kph…flying with Rocky double…don’t look in mirrors…

Cross the river…Junction turnout 20 kms ahead…sooooo tired….pull in there, wake up at 5am….ahhh crap….bears…gotta pee  , outhouse has NO door!!!!

Will I make Enterprise? 1 hour away? Think so….Monday morning…CJ’s is closed on Monday…no worries I have key….ahhh potty, wash….back to bed….S L E E P…

Up at 10 am…wow day 1/2 gone…. head for home….10 hours away. High Level, top one tank, head home, eta Edmonton 8 pm, maybe gonna make that damned Greyhound on time to p/u youngest daughter coming in from Calgary….Phone is ringing…Dispatch…can you go to Valleyview to do switch at 10? TEN???? GEEZUS do I get to SLEEP today?….maybe later. Blast across the city…p/u daughter….make it back to shop for 10….Daughter went to bed…MY bed…in MY TRUCK!  ??? ???….Load not ready till MIDNIGHT!!! DAMN! Oh well….C O F F E E…. Made Valleyview…somewhere found some energy…and NO they don’t come in little white pills…I DO NOT under ANY circumstances do drugs of any kind….I don’t even drink LOL… Found a turnout 1 hour away…S L E E P…Damn Shelley is KICKING me….GEEZUS…get up and head home…

Went really HOME…too hot to sleep in truck…crawled into house…Maui wants me, Heidi wants me… I haven’t been home in 8 days…sorry girls I’m TIRED….7pm Phone is ringing….Hubby, he made it to Yellowknife…ok thanks for waking me…want to sleep….phone…again…WHY did I answer it???? Dispatch, can you do 2 short trips? WHERE? Edson, 2 hours away…with what? TURNPIKES!! 53ft lead, 48 ft B Box…overloaded…no scales…oh well

FINALLY got home at noon….I have a DAY OFF!!!!! I am at H O M E!!!!

First post:

Introductions first:

Wildkat, that’s me, my handle, my nickname. My friends call me Kat. I drive a truck, a semi, I own it, I run it. I love what I do!

My truck & company trailers:

I am an owner/operator for Grimshaw Trucking, part of the Mullen Group, out of Edmonton, Alberta. I am what’s termed as a Linehaul driver, meaning I pickup loaded trailers at our main terminal in Edmonton & deliver to various terminals in northern Alberta & the Northwest Territories. My main run is to Yellowknife, NWT some 950 miles north of Edmonton.

Winters are long, hard, cold and very dark. In the NWT there is virtually no light in winter & summer is hot, dry & light as Yellowknife is in the polar desert there is almost no rain, but alot of snow. There is 22 hours of sunshine in summer & only twighlight for night, that is the most unique thing, even for me being from Edmonton where we get nearly 20 hours of light in summer. It is an awsome sight to watch the sun rise & set in the space of an hour.

The roads in the NWT are narrow & windy as they were built originally by the army in the 40’s & have seen very little upgrades & have only been paved (if that’s what you call it!) for the last 5 years. The biggest plus is the total lack of traffic, you can literally drive down the road for hours and not see a single vehicle. The only drawback is that the country is extremely isolated, there is no phone, no internet, no nothing. So we maintain our units extremely well, heaven help you if you break down in the middle of the night when it’s -48F outside. I recall one time blowing a tire last winter I sat on the side of the road for 6 hours before the first vehicle came along & he stopped at our terminal to let them know I had trouble, some 2 hours later & he passed me on the way back & told me help was on the way. The tire guy showed up 4 hours after that. Normal happenings up there. There are no rest areas, no truck stops, just roadside turnouts, not even an outhouse!

Once in Yellowknife, I break up my train on the outskirts of town & haul trailer #1 to the terminal, back into the dock & collect my running order, have a quick shower, hook up & head back to the outskirts for my pu trailer & head south again.

I carry 300 gallons of fuel on board & the last fuel stop is in High Level, AB which is half-way to Yellowknife, so fuel is there & that will get me back to High Level with about a 1/4 to 1/3 to spare…some 1000 miles round trip. Once back in High Level it’s top one tank & head for home…that is unless dispatch calls & says “I need you to do a switch”. Switches are done in our terminal in Peace River, where one truck will bring a set from Edmonton for us then we turn around & head back up north again. That’s what I did all this week…left home on Monday night & never got south of Peace River until late last night.

A typical week for me adds up to 7000+kms, alot of hard miles to be sure! But I love it just the same