I got my Class 1A licence today. Class 1A allows me to drive anything on the road here in Alberta, except for "S" endorsement stuff like school buses and taxis/limos, including anything with air brakes.

So now I go from driving THIS that I have been running for years


To driving one of THESE for more money


And then eventually I will get an LCV (Long combination vehicle) permit and drive one of THESE for even more money...

or


In Alberta, we can haul LCV trains (3 pups or 2 longboxes) on our primary highways. You can take twice as much stuff and save fuel, plus a driver gets paid better to haul doubles and triples. Turning corners is a nightmare though as these suckers are 130+ feet long and can weigh over 120,000 pounds. The triple short trailers turns corners much better as they follow the tractor much nicer but they wiggle around on the highway - they refer to the triples as "Wiggle Wagons" for good reason. And 2 longboxes is called a "Turn Pike"

 

Congrats my man! Do you get enough home time? I wouldn't mind driving truck if it weren't for the nights and weekends away from home.

 

Hells yeah! I do Edmonton city Pickup and Delivery. I start at 8am and go home around 6 or 7pm... Eventually I will run a line delivery, which will have me leave the city about 5 or 6am, and get back around 3 or 4pm... The trailer train guys run from city to city on the highway, but I still dont know if I want to do that cause they have longer days and typically run at night... Try pulling 130 feet through rush hour and trying to change lanes!

 

Congrats !
I drive one of those big rig wreckers for a living:



We usually tow the complete tractor/trailer combination in the lift fork behind those rigs, thats around 100ft and up to 80 metric tons. The one we use right now is a 480hp Mercedes Actros, the new one gets the 530hp V8, though.

 

Well the question is you can now drive things with more than four wheels can u drive something with 2? lol I'm just picking congrats on the upgrade.

 

Congrats, trucking seems to pay fairly nice but must suck being on the road all the time.

 

No I dont get sick of it, of course Im not the guy that goes bombing down the higway all day. I do P&D in the city, I go deliver 10-20 things in the morning around my area, then start pickups in my area. I drive for 10 minutes in traffic, talk to people, unload stuff, and move on. Meet lots of chicks that way. Theres one Im working on at a regular customers and I hope it goes well.

Typical day, start at 8am - load my deliveries in order - pretrip truck - drive away about 9am.

Customer 1 - unload 3 pallets - move on
Customer 2 - unload a roll of carpet and a tub of glue - move on
Customer 3 - unload a skid of water with the powertailgate and carry into a store - move on
Customer 4 - unload 3 stacks of burger buns and roll them in a restraunt kitchen - get a free lunch - move on
and it goes on. Never know what Im hauling, its always different.

Afternoon

Exact opposite
Go somewhere, pick up 2 pallets of oilfield valves - move on
Another place, grab a skid of paint - move on
Another place, grab a TV someone outside the city bought - move on
and it goes on and on and on...

I love the job, its always different and I get a decent workout most days.
Pays OK, I get about 22 bucks an hour for city work, and on milage (highway work) I get 42 cents per mile. which is about 25 bucks an hour at 100kmph. My unit will go 128 (not goverened) so I can do better than that even. We get overtime after 8 hours, and theres lots of extra trips available. I also stick around after my shift when I can - on overtime - and load trailers to go outbound in the evening to our other terminals.

 

I've been doing long haul for 5 years now. It does become a grind, and being away from home gets old fast. Money is great but there's no point in making tons of money if you have no life. Your best bet is to stay on the local side of things and see home every day. The days go faster when your running around the city. Driving a truck in Edmonton is a bit of a nightmare sometimes.

 

I grew up here, its my hometown so I know all the shortcuts and backroads and where not to be in rush hour. I haul **** man.

One place I wouldnt want to run a truck is VANCOUVER man...