Gremmie

Cant get BTA on work Comp so whats going down on PEI

kb33

http://hensons2009.blogspot.com/

http://the-fentons-in-canada.blogspot.com/

http://themillsmovemassive.blogspot.com/

Gremmie

The Hensons arrived Feb25, passed test and started work April 4th and quit and back to UK by the 20th May, and moaned coz as the new guy he didnt get what he wanted and expected it to be as in UK.

It looks as if Steve Fenton has just had some sh1tty luck

As Mr Mills said he had trouble adapting the Canadain system

Big Truck

Ahh yes the great LONG HAUL "Canadian system":

Sit around all day for 10-14 hours in your truck waiting for a load UNPAID!!!!
Then be expected to drive all night utilising the "creative logging" method of OTR driving to make some miles and get the load back on schedule!!!!!!!

I say it again:
NO WONDER THE CANADIANS DON'T WANT TO DRIVE LONG HAUL!!!!

kb33

Reading various blog's , There aren't many Brits that want to do it either

And who can blame them ?










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alandoug

Hold BT, I'm on PEI now. My last trip was as follows:

Load: Caraquet NB for Boston. Lobster. 20 min to load, 3 hr to tip.
600km hike to Hammondton, New Jersey, load to Cambridge Ontario (Canada to you). 30 min to load, 6 hr to tip, but missed booking slot due to customs cock up. Blueberries.
Load again in Guelph, 15 miles from my drop. Fresh beef for Derbert NS. Loaded in under an hour.

I went to bed every night & had a shower every other day. I book all waiting as "off duty". I will have done 2 loops or triangles when I get back to the island on Monday in 12 days. About 5800 miles.

You get delays anywhere. I drive 1100 miles this weekend, I'm paid more than an average UK day. I sit around I get nothing. This is the system here. Period. Log books? Well I'd rather have half a chance to make my money up than get stuck with a digicard.
Plus if I help tip a Canadian Tire load I get $50.

Big Truck

[QUOTE=alandoug;8598487 Log books? Well I'd rather have half a chance to make my money up than get stuck with a digicard. [/QUOTE]

What your basically saying with your quote above is that in order for you do get the miles and make money, you willingly RUN BENT or use "creative logging" constantly?!!!!!

I'm glad your doing well (so far) at Bulk Carriers but you've got to admit a fair few who post on the forums have quit Bulk after a short while and moved on or came back to the UK.
Surely with PEI being such a small province its very hard to change your TWP/LMO to another trucking company if things are not working with your orginal one?

wire

I haven't looked in here for a while and now that i have i see that it is the same voices saying the same things.... The ones (mainly one) with the least experience and knowledge with the most to say...yawn!!!
Theres me and a small community of us who emmigrated from Britain a few years ago and are really happy here driving longhaul but we know nothing compared to the one who has never done it!... Right on Bigtruck!...You tell everyone mate.
In actual fact you are unwittingly doing a good job because there are enough Brits out here now anyway so it won't harm to put any prospective ones off.
Anyway i would be very wary of any Canadian companies that are still managing to get LMO's and recruit from overseas. The driver shortage is not nearly so bad as it once was a couple of years ago so there could very well be a negative reason why these companies can not fill the vacancies with locals. I supose that in saying that i am actually agreeing with Bigtruck on something!
This is not to say that Longhaul trucking over here is undesirable if you are longhaul trucker. If however you a British lorry driver with a British lorry driving attitude it will almost certainly be your worst nightmare. If you think that the European worktime directive is basically a good idea or even that 90hrs driving a fortnight is enough for any man then i have some really good advice for you.... STAY IN BRITAIN!
If on the other hand you fancy the idea of having the freedom of driving on big empty roads and putting in around twice the mileage that is possible in Europe there is a chance you will love it if you stick it out for a couple of years.
For me, i don't really care because as i said, there is enough Brits over here now anyway.

kb33

Thing is waiting all day for a load then being asked or made to drive all night is plain simply WRONG , Paid or not . The Canadians are definitely behind the times in this respect and it should be made illegal and in-fact it is if you fill the Log book in correctly.

But what's a guy supposed to do ? He comes over with wife and kids sold everything in the UK and spent a small fortune getting here , Then finds himself with the above dilemma , Not much chance of finding another job on TWP (let alone another LMO ), So can't say anything to upset the Boss other wise he could be out on his ear and in a foreign country with no way of earning a living !

Also the Alberta PNP are making harder to get nomination, Westcan have a few drivers getting investigated over the Long Haul rule and they have refused 18 bus drivers with Calgary Transit nomination for PR , Saying that C.T. can fill those positions with Calgarians.

So maybe now is not a good time to come over

karron

it would seem that the job would suit a man who has done a bit of long distance work in uk/europe and knows what work is,if all someone is used to is running a supermarket trolley job or pulling in and out of a quarry they would probably be best staying at home. also would be better if they left the people who are out there doing the job and are content with the job to get on with it and perhaps not even bother with logging on as they already know its not for them.

wire

Kudos to you!
At last a very good point very well made.
Most of the guys who really find long haul in Canada a desirable lifestyle choice already moved to Canada a few years ago when it was possible to emmigrate with reasonable companies.
Nearly all the established and succesfull British guys out here are ex European drivers and many ex owner operators. In this respect i am less experienced than many although i came to Canada with 15yrs of "being away all week".
I find it absolutely astonishing that people like Bigtruck who definitely are NOT long haul drivers and never will be (and in fairness to him doesent even pretend to be) feel qualified to run down long haul work and criticise both the lifestyle and people doing it.
In truth i would not be able to spend my days driving a tipper on local work in Northern Ireland (or painting and decorating for that matter) but i don't feel the need to relentlesly harp on about how bad doing either of those things as a career would be.
I do however concede the point that the few big companies that are currently recruiting from Britain are not the kind of companies that i would consider working for under any circumstancies other than being absolutely desperate to get out of Britain and into Canada. If i was that desperate i would stick it out for as long as it took to get established and experienced enough to get a decent job for one of the many really good long haul companies. Nowadays this is probably going to take at least a year or even two.
I know that sounds hard but that is the way it is, period.

Big Truck

Wire,

think you are getting a bit paranoid about me as I post very little on here now(BTA also) as this forum is dead.

Still you've got to agree that its sad to see that the "usual OTR suspects" are still willingly issued LMOs hand over fist by CIC to employ long haul European drivers on TWP where they obviously have a terrible driver retention rate?!!!!!!

Big Truck

Can you tell me how many of those guys still work for the same "reasonable companies" and could you possibly state who these "reasonable" long haul companies were/are?!!!!!!!

wire

For sure i can.
Bison would be the first name i would think of. Also Westcan if you didn't want to go over the border although they have never appealed to me personally and i am going to shock you now.....Bigfreight!!!
I have never to this day knocked them on here or anywhere else for that matter. I know a large number of Brits who are still working there happily after several years.
True, many guys have griped about them but they were always a good place to learn the ropes. They were never competitive regarding pay or miles but they certainly were a good place to learn the the ins & outs of the job over here. I found them laid back, perhaps even sometimes to much so. They threw you in at the deep end and left you to make your own decisions including routes, etc and you could even keep your truck at home.
Certainly these things don't pay the mortgage but they do help you quickly learn what its all about.
I was there nearly a year and as i have stated before the reason that i left was because i was offered the job that i still do today two years later.
While i was there i got to Vancouver island in the west and Newfoundland island in the east and also 36 US States.
Unfortunately for them when push came to shove there was no way they could compete with the company i work for now regarding pay and conditions but on the other hand the company i work for now would not of even of let me step through their front door if i hadn't had permanent residency and the experience that i got while i was at Big freight!

Big Truck

Yes I agree with you on Westcan and Bison!!!

Westcan Bulk are one of the few companies who seem to have changed their ways in regards to oversesa drivers considerably and credit is due to them for that.
BUT there are not a "long haul" company in regards to the PNP criteria and as KB33 has pointed out trouble could be unfortunately brewing for PNP/PR status.

Bison,
yes always one of the higher rated OTR companies and I have never to my knowledge read much negative reports about them apart from the fact that it costs you around £5k via an imigration agency to have the pleasure of working for them.

BFS,
no I don't go with you on that as too many, way too many of you long term ex-pat guys have went out with therm and moved on after a short period or as soon as you where in the "comfort zone" of having gained PR.
I would think the % of overseas drivers who remain with BFS after PR would be 15% or less at a guess?