Ontario Excursion

DATELINE: MONROE, MI, 8:00 p.m. EST

I've made it back to the good ol' U.S. after almost exactly 48 hours in the country sometimes known as "The Great White North". Here's a recap.

THURSDAY, 244 Miles
I started the day in Beaverdam, OH. From there it was a 2-1/2-hour drive up to Detroit and the foot of the Ambassador Bridge. First I needed to stop at a company that procures customs clearance for truckers' loads prior to making the crossing, alleviating the inevitable tie-up to get that done on the other side. Because of a construction project to re-jigger (and hopefully improve) the access routes to the bridge, I needed to follow a nearly confusing, twisty detour to that company's site in the shadow of the bridge. After checking in, I needed to wait for over an hour 'til the clearance came through from the Canadian Customs authority.

Finally OK-ed, I made my way carefully through the narrow, twisty, lanes of the bridge's temporary approach road and onto the structure. Once I hit itts high point over the Detroit River, traffic in the truck lane came to a halt, then a slow crawl as a multitude of big rigs worked their way through the customs checkpoint on the Windsor side. (Even with the pre-clearance, truck drivers still gotta' stop and answer questions from the gatekeepers.) So my actual bridge crossing took over 30 minutes.

Once on Canadian soil, my goal for the day was to reach London, Ontario. London is not a long way into Ontario--only 2 hours--but I only had 6-1/4 hours available to work for the whole day, and I'd used over half of that getting into Canada. The Flying J there (yes, some of the same truck stop chains found in the USA have crossed the border into Mapleland) is on my company's fuel network, and it is one of the better Flying Js I've seen--clean, with a huge, flat parking lot.

FRIDAY, 455 Miles
Up and at 'em R-E-A-L-L-Y early out of necessity. My delivery appointment was for 10:00 a.m. in Cornwall, Ontario, about 350 more miles up Highway 401. So my alarm sounded at 1:30 so I could shower and shave before hitting the road at 2:30.

'Twas a long, dark drive, but the advantage was I was able to sail through Toronto with nary even a thought of having to tap the brakes for traffic that early (4:30, 5:00) in the morning. When's the last time any of you have driven in that metroplex without significant traffic delays, eh?

With only a couple of quick stops en route, I arrived at the delivery right on time. And lo and behold, despite it being a live unload and I had to wait for another truck to finish up before I could slide into his dock door, I was done there about 45 minutes after I arrived. (It helped that the load was only 11 huge rolls of paper--over 2 tons, or "tonnes" in honour of the country I was in, each--instead of 40 or more pallets of stuff.)

After completing the delivery, I had less than 2 hours of work time available for the day, so I be-bopped to a nearby truck stop ("Fifth Wheel", not a U.S. chain), expecting to spend the rest of the day and night before getting my next pickup assignment. After scoping the place out and before I could lunch there, I did get an assignment. My pickup was set for 3:00 (WHAT??!!?!!) Saturday morning in Alliston, ON, about 45 miles north of Toronto, or over 300 miles from where I was. Since I only had 1-1/4 hours left that I could drive that day, there was no way I'd make that pickup on time. However, I did make my way west for an hour, stopping for the night at a Service Centre along the 401. Well, "stopping for the day" is a better description, as it was only 1:00 p.m. when I got there.

I finally had some lunch (heated up a can of beef stew in my little electric stove), read a bit, and napped for about 3 hours. I had hoped to get a good, long sleep session in, but that was not to be. It is hard to suddenly shift wake/sleep patterns, and my body wasn't ready to sleep through the afternoon and evening, no matter how much I tried. I eventually got back up, read a bit more, had a bit more to eat, then tried sleeping some more, since I'd need to get up at 12:30 a.m. this time.

SATURDAY, 548 Miles
Up at 12:30, I was rolling at 1:00. (Since I have to keep my log book on Central Time--because that's where company HQ is--hours I get back to work from the rolling 8-day window aren't available 'til 1:00 Eastern Time.) Including a fuel stop en route (at another FJ, this one in Napanee, ON), it took me 4:45 to get to the pickup. This was a drop-and-hook pickup, and I had to s-q-u-e-e-z-e the empty trailer into a narrow spot between two other trailers before I could hook up to the pre-loaded trailer I was picking up. That was fun in the dark. (Not a well-lighted lot at this site. At least it had plenty of room in front of the trailers for maneuvering.) I took my time to do that carefully, but I was still in and out of there in 30 minutes. Then it was time to drive.

I had 10-3/4 hours to work today, and I'd used almost half of it getting to and making the pickup. By my reckoning, I had just enough hours to make it across the border back into Detroit if traffic stayed clear all the way. I did have to make one stop for another Customs clearance; this time the company had a location in London, ON. Instead of having to wait there while they processed the info, I could drive ahead after checking in there and call back for the clearance number, which I did.

I did make it back to the ol' homeland, as you could tell by this report's opening, but I did go over my allotted hours by just a bit--45 minutes. Well, I did need to get to a truck stop, and there aren't any right by the bridge. I got here a little after 2:00 this afternoon. "Here" is a TA offa' I-75 at exit 15 in this downriver community.

My load is headed to Troy, OH, and I need to deliver it there tomorrow (Sunday) at 10:00 a.m. So I'm going to get up at 5:00 (well, maybe 5:15) so I can spruce up before hitting the road at 6:00. That ought to get me there a bit early. It'll be a drop-and-hook (I've been to that place once before), so timing isn't crucial. Then I have an appointment for my truck's regular maintenance at 1:00 at the Vandalia, OH terminal. (Did I mention Troy is only 10 miles north of Vandalia?) I only have 5-1/2 hours available to work tomorrow, so I'll use just about all of that up getting down to and making the delivery, then making the short hop to the terminal. So I'll be overnighting it in Vandalia once more. Good timing--I'll be able to watch the NFL conference championship games during my down time.

Well, 5:00's gonna come right quick (though after the last couple of days, it'll seem like I'm sleeping in exorbitantly), so it's time to wrap this composition up. Thanks for trucking vicariously through my reports. Drop me a comment or question or 2, and keep right on truckin'.

No, wait, a quick P.S. before I go: I was surprised--shocked, even--to find out that the U.S. dollar actually has a NEGATIVE 10% exchange rate with the Canadian dollar these days. Add that on top of things being expensiver (?) in Canada to begin with, and the country up north ain't a big bargain vacationland anymore. Just letting you know.