Big Truck

Rob,

your getting paranoid in your old age,think you are confusing me/Curt on the dishonest and backhander bit with someone else from way back!!!!

Big Truck

I did use a smiley!!!!
Does being British just identify with England then as I was sure Wales and Scotland were British too?

bobthedog

You forgot Cornish, though. I am bound to take umbrage..

Not paranoid, no. If you recall, Gumbo started it all off and, in the end, called BFS and asked. But it did get rather unpleasant and was an unnecessary thing. Lots got on the bandwagon about it.

We have clashed an awful lot over the entire emigration thing. It suits me well here and I like the way things work. At one point both you and Curt wanted to come out on long haul, or said you did, and Curt wasn't even a licence holder at the time.

wire

I don't think that BTD is getting paranoid so much as fed up. Kind of in the same way that a premiership footballer might get fed up with the constant negative waffle of an enthusiastic match of the day viewer.

Big Truck

OK yes no probs.

Don't know when I posted about considering driving long haul as I AM SURE that with a young family I know and I've said it many times that I couldn't deal with the amount of time out on the road no matter how much they were willing to pay or how great the scenery is.

That coupled with the fact I would have to go out at first with a "crap" company and "possibly" sitting about waiting on loads unpaid and having to do 36 hour resets away from homebase is untenable in the extreme for me.

Westcan Bulk was probably always going to be my first port of call as it isn't strictly long haul but as my lucrative contract of employment in the public sector (which I was sure would be wound up in early 2011) has been extended yet again,I will just have to live the easy life here in the UK for a while longer!!!!

flat to the mat

Sorry to shatter your dreams,but Westcan are the same as all the rest,you will sit unpaid,you will drive longhaul,not running south but a trip from the Peg to Vancouver/High Prairie or wherever is longhaul for you, then taking a reset whilst waiting for your next trip.IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN,don't be fooled by all the BS from Connie-Jo or whoever is the HR person there.If you think it aint going to happen,or that you are the person to change their ways,don't bother coming,you'll be in for a shock.

Big Truck

There are only two drivers(KB33/Headingnorth) that I know of who post on the forums regularly that drive for Westcan.
One of them has (as far as I'm aware) been with Westcan from the start and has his PR and both are quiet happy there.

A long time ago Gremmie put up on the "wages for Truckers" thread the complete payment system for Westcan and although it looked complicated it did SEEM to be fair.
Maybe there was some time spent waiting unpaid but don't think it was more more than a few hours NOT the 12/24 layovers you read about when your working for SOME reefer OTR companies!!!!

Also don't think there was any likelyhood of a 8/10/14/18 days away from home stint at all.
You could opt to work a few different shift systems but the 4on/4off would have been my choice as its what I've been on for the last 9 years and chances are you could be home the odd night when working your 4on.

But alas it will more than likely just have to remain a pipedream for me personally as the way things stand here at home it would mean financial suicide(need another short contract extension to draw my public sector pension in 5 years time when I'm 50 and basically retire!!!!) to apply to Westcan anytime soon and think "KB33" has posted recently that they don't have any LMO's anyway.

kb33

There you go again BT

First off I don't work for Westcan any more I left last November and took the " Winter " off
Roy is still there and awaiting nomination at the moment.

I got very fed up with the hypocritical H&S BS they throw at you, Plus the new dispatch system they have in place in Saskatoon is a complete joke and if they weren't so arrogant they would bin the system and go back to dispatching from your home terminal.

All waiting time is paid at a lower rate ($16 an hour ) as opposed to $21.
and the longest you could be away is 5 nights i.e. 6 on 3 off.

They do have LMO's is just that the Alberta PNP is taking forever to nominate people these days, 11 month at present and mine took 3 weeks ! Not sure why this is but if your coming over don't expect PR any time soon .
If you have PR and fuel experience just walk in and ask " when do I start "

They bought out ECL earlier this year so took on most of their work, In the meantime most of the ECL drivers left as they were hourly paid and didn't like the Westcan way of deciding how much your worth.

I still maintain though they are the best company to get into Canada with and more importantly PR , If you have experience in their line of work (Fuel Sulphur Pneumatics ) and you want to live out the the West, they should be your first port of call.

I myself have started with a small Fuel hauling company in Calgary , Only 5 drivers , guaranteed 50 hours a week (10 a day ) and any overtime paid above that and no questions asked It must be the only salaried job left ! And just been asked if I would like to take a load up to Whitehorse Yukon Not normally my cup of tea but the way I see it its a paid sight seeing trip and I'm looking forward to the adventure

But that's the thing out here , There's opportunity for anyone that wants to work , They are crying out for drivers in Calgary , the papers are full of vacancies and only yesterday I had 2 phone calls from prospective employers.

I have to laugh at your desperate attempts BT to convince us all how you have such a good life in N.I. But I wouldn't swap places with you for all the pensions in Whitehall.

Enjoy your 20% vat next year

Big Truck

Desperate attempts?!!!!

Been VERY HAPPY in the same well paid job here for 21 years and if I could wouldn't change it for the world.
If I do get that extra 6 month contract extension I'll be walking away with close to £200k as a pension/severence lump sum and at age 50 £1300/month gross for the rest of my natural life.
You'll be quite an old man before you see any pension/retirement plan close to that in Canada!!!!
Yes LIFE REALLY IS GOOD.

BTW,

20% VAT: "WEE BUNS"

kb33

Oh BT if only you knew the half of it .

You know what they say about the people that brag about their wealth and the ones that don't. ? Well its the ones that don't usually have all the money ! and don't feel the need to tell everyone.

You stay there BT .. Canada is far better off without you.

Big Truck

God willing I fully intend to!!!