Ok i think its pretty obvious to one and all that its H+R that im talking about. Mickfly i appreciate all thoughts and comments on this. Im prettysure that working for anyone on a temp visa is gonna be tough and i fully intend going out there for a fortnight and research everything before i go. I can find loads of posts from ex H+R drivers but is there anywhere to contact current drivers with them? Id like to get balanced info cause it cant be all bad. I know i could walk into any haulage company here in Ireland and find people who both love and hate the place. Even the place im in, with all the bull, still has some really happy and long serving drivers. Obviously H+R are not the only company but its the only one ive come accross who recruit abroad so seems an easy way to do it
kitbuilder123:
Ok i think its pretty obvious to one and all that its H+R that im talking about. Mickfly i appreciate all thoughts and comments on this. Im prettysure that working for anyone on a temp visa is gonna be tough and i fully intend going out there for a fortnight and research everything before i go. I can find loads of posts from ex H+R drivers but is there anywhere to contact current drivers with them? Id like to get balanced info cause it cant be all bad. I know i could walk into any haulage company here in Ireland and find people who both love and hate the place. Even the place im in, with all the bull, still has some really happy and long serving drivers. Obviously H+R are not the only company but its the only one ive come accross who recruit abroad so seems an easy way to do it
It is an easy way to do it, as I said elsewhere (don’t forget, I’m supposed to be a totally negative poster…
They get us over there quickly.
They sort the paperwork/medicals out quickly.
Our full time truck was clean and comfortable, also very reliable (but not the tri-pac).
They paid all my mileage accurately (contrary to some who say they were fiddled).
Unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives for me.
I said exactly the same as you before I went over I’m happy to work hard, I have a good work ethic, I know I will be messed about a bit, I know I will have to sit a lot (it’s reefer work), etc etc, BUT I was not prepared for the VAST amount of unpaid sitting around when I was willing to drive 70 hrs a week!
There are many of their drivers with blogs (linked from mine), but contact Lyndon Lomanovskis at H&R and he MIGHT put you in touch with current drivers who are happy to toe the line.
Kit send an PM to flat he may be able to ask his friend there for a few lads who will give you the low down. I have talked to a few drivers from there at truck stops they seem happy with the work and the trucks seem to be in good shape. There again you may have to take a bit of ■■■■ while on temp but if you can stick it out, you will find you can do very well here. The first couple years may be a little rough, but if you keep your head low and your opinions to your self you will make it to PR and then your sailing.
mickfly:
[(don’t forget, I’m supposed to be a totally negative poster…No not totally negative, but you do accuse people of being “alright Jack” when they say they are doing well. You also set yourself up by complaining I had made personal insults about you. Fine, no problem, I can play that game. I never expected quite such a Pavlovian reaction though.
There are many of their drivers with blogs (linked from mine), but contact Lyndon Lomanovskis at H&R and he MIGHT put you in touch with current drivers who are happy to toe the line.
Mick you are a very bad man…
You know Lyndon is the exact opposite to you and will paint everything rosy, even the bits that aren’t.
Kit wants unbiased feedback. He won’t get that from you or Lyndon. You both have axes to grind.
Thanks for your posts lads. Its def something im going to do, whether with h+r or somone else. From the fridge work and continental work ive done i know what a crap job it can be. Ive been 10 miles from collections when they’ve been cancelled and sat for days waiting on another one. Thats the job. So im going to give it a go and see what happens. If it dont work out then at least i can say i tried.
kitbuilder123:
Thanks for your posts lads. Its def something im going to do, whether with h+r or somone else. From the fridge work and continental work ive done i know what a crap job it can be. Ive been 10 miles from collections when they’ve been cancelled and sat for days waiting on another one. Thats the job. So im going to give it a go and see what happens. If it dont work out then at least i can say i tried.
That’s the spirit! Good luck & let us know how it works out won’t you?
There are plenty of Ex Pats out there who are very willing to help new arrivals with advice and often with material things to make your settling in easier.
one little gem of advice Don’t Let your prospective employer know you frequent the truck forums.
You wont get very far at all with them… Been there got the T-Shirt. 
Thanks for your posts lads
Oh sure ignore the lassies 
BigJon:
one little gem of advice Don’t Let your prospective employer know you frequent the truck forums.
You wont get very far at all with them… Been there got the T-Shirt.
Care to explain?
Brentanna:
Thanks for your posts lads
Oh sure ignore the lassies
Brentanna im not ignoring anyone one i promise. I fully take on board all the comments ive recieved both good and bad. But i know that some jobs suit some people and some dont and also some people suit some employers and some dont. We have drivers with us that never leave the country and dont want to and others who seldom come home. Im sort of in the middle, i take the good with the bad. Myself and my wife are looking for a change and looking on long haul as a way to see canada and america. As such money wouldnt be our primary goal. We hope to live in the truck and see how it goes for 12 months or so. Whether H+R is right for this or not remains to be seen. I havent even contacted them yet, i plan to tomorrow. Maybe i wouldnt be right for them! But i will say this, in looking for balanced info i have spent all day today on the web and i have found some blogs from drivers that seem content there. And i have also found those who were not. And thats why i thanked you all for your posts.
mickfly:
BigJon:
one little gem of advice Don’t Let your prospective employer know you frequent the truck forums.
You wont get very far at all with them… Been there got the T-Shirt.Care to explain?
Before he landed the job at FedEx, Jon had a job lined up at either H & R or BFS and everything was fine and going ahead until it came to their notice that he was a regular poster on this and other trucking forums.
All of a sudden there wasn’t a position for him anymore. I think it was H & R but no doubt Jon will say when he visits here next.
So I have no reason to love H& R and similar outfits but I dislike seeing other people being put off one of the quick and dirty ways of obtaining a great new life for themselves. Sure tell them to watch out but tell them about the good stuff too, and no your blogs don’t tell the good side. Both of your blogs have continual gripes in them.
just my $0.2c worth, i came to canada 5 years ago with a wife and 2 kids, i drove for EDGE transportation out of saskatoon for 1 and a half years. they will work you as hard or not as you like. Soon found out that driving wasnt for me over here as its very diffrent to what your used to. i came of the road and went in to the workshop for them before i got my PR. I left them 2 years ago to work for a smaller firm still in the workshop, but although driving wasnt my cup of tea full time i still get to do the odd trip here and there, i flatley refuse to go back th england as Canada is the place for me my wife and now 5 kids even if the driving isnt.
All these companys are pretty Crappy some are just worse than others. Its a foot in the door, do your time with them get your PR and do what you want to do. I garuntee you it will be the best move you ever make.
Lots of people knock saskatoon and i can see why, but its a small city that suits our familys needs.
mickfly:
BigJon:
one little gem of advice Don’t Let your prospective employer know you frequent the truck forums.
You wont get very far at all with them… Been there got the T-Shirt.Care to explain?
what explanation do i need to give? It has all the information needed in my post …
Lets just say that Lyndon and BFS both refused me because i was a member of this forum and another expat truckers forum.
BigJon:
mickfly:
BigJon:
one little gem of advice Don’t Let your prospective employer know you frequent the truck forums.
You wont get very far at all with them… Been there got the T-Shirt.Care to explain?
what explanation do i need to give? It has all the information needed in my post …
Lets just say that Lyndon and BFS both refused me because i was a member of this forum and another expat truckers forum.
Were you going over on the TFW, PNP scheme to either company, or as a Canadian citizen, and did you have many years experience of class 1 work in the UK/Europe, or was it definitely the fact that you used these forums?
Lyndon knew I was in forums and knew I had a blog, or at least my missus did; it’s the positive one I link to, although your dad says “Both of your blogs have continual gripes in them”, if he had read Caths blog, there is ONE negative post in it, by me, and H&R censored the blog from day 1 in Lethbridge, but that is another story.
Point is, I was still taken on, so maybe it was something else which stopped them employing you.
Doesn’t matter though, you have done better than if you had gone with either of the companies mentioned.
There are a number of ways to look at this, you could find you get on well at H&R, you may suffer the same as Mick did and get starved out, and he may go on a bit but his experience is real, he’s not making it up, you may not even like living in Canada at all, it’s not for everyone.
You could, as I said, stay with H&R until retirement, doubtful, but stranger things have happened, most likely you will spend a year or so there until PR and then leave, being mistreated by them is not as bad as it seems anyway, the first 6 months are kind of like a big holiday, all the new places you get to go, all the big truckstops and trucks etc, then reality sets in and you come back to earth with a thud, spend a few more months like that and you’ve earned your stripes so to speak, remember that no matter how much experience you have in Europe, it means nothing over here, so you have to go through a bit of hardship to get a decent job, much the same as you did when you first started out in Ireland, but forewarned is forearmed, you know there’s a good chance you’re going to get [zb]'ed around, plan for it and you’ll be fine 
BigJon:
Lets just say that Lyndon and BFS both refused me because i was a member of this forum and another expat truckers forum.
Says more about Lyndon and BFS than it does about you mate, lucky escape
dave_lol66:
BigJon:
Lets just say that Lyndon and BFS both refused me because i was a member of this forum and another expat truckers forum.Says more about Lyndon and BFS than it does about you mate, lucky escape
TBH, Im glad i landed this job with FedEx. they treat you right, and reward you properly for the work you do, the benefits are top notch and cover 90% of pretty much everything. My last prescription for antibiotics was i think $4 after my benefits paid up. compare that to the UK prescription charge 
Iv’e been with FedEx since Oct 2009, in 3 montsh time i should be getting a 3.5% pay increase, then another 3.5% 6 months after that.
I get to drive 53’ and pup trailers daily, highway and city work. Those pups make you learn to backup properly very quickly 
newmercman:
There are a number of ways to look at this, you could find you get on well at H&R, you may suffer the same as Mick did and get starved out, and he may go on a bitYou could, as I said, stay with H&R until retirement, doubtful, but stranger things have happened, most likely you will spend a year or so there until PR and then leave, being mistreated by them is not as bad as it seems anyway, the first 6 months are kind of like a big holiday, all the new places you get to go, all the big truckstops and trucks etc, then reality sets in and you come back to earth with a thud, spend a few more months like that and you’ve earned your stripes so to speak, remember that no matter how much experience you have in Europe, it means nothing over here, so you have to go through a bit of hardship to get a decent job, much the same as you did when you first started out in Ireland, but forewarned is forearmed, you know there’s a good chance you’re going to get [zb]'ed around, plan for it and you’ll be fine
Newmercman thats a really good post . My eyes are wide open. Im not planning on cutting my ties over here. We may hate driving in canada, may hate the cold and the slippery roads and needing 40 acres to turn this rig around as the song goes!! BUT, when i started this post i really wanted driving in Canada information and not company specific stuff. For every company there are ex drivers who have nothing good to say and for everyone of them there are drivers who are happy there. Robbie recently wrote a post about a well know major irish haulier(even though he got the name wrong) that has a really bad reputation. However i frequently meet irish drivers from this company on the ferries who are really happy with there lot. Pr is not my primary goal, Becoming a millionaire is not either. What we want is a trucking job that lets us see Canada and America, 1year to 18 months work and see how we get on. If we then like it then cut ties to home and apply for Pr. If not then thanks very much Canada but its not for us. Reefer work is the same world over, you have to wait. Flats are the same world over, If its raining you get wet. Box vans mean mulitidrop etc etc. So if anyone has information on cell phones for instance, sat nav, road payment methods, insurance needed, border crossing info, hours information,etc i would really appreciate it. Thanks
kitbuilder123:
So if anyone has information on cell phones for instance, sat nav, road payment methods, insurance needed, border crossing info, hours information,etc i would really appreciate it. Thanks
If you are running mainly USA then Verizon for your cell phone, I find TomTom works just fine but Rand McNally make a good truck specific gps with large screen, blue cross Insurance costs around $120 per year for a family, road payment depends on the area you run (EZpass for east side of country and cash for the rest is the way most companies do it)
I could spend a week trying to explain border crossings and driving hours thats what orientation is for.
The only problem I see with your plan is you will be stuck with a crap company while testing out the water so will still have a negative view about living and working in Canada
BigJon:
mickfly:
BigJon:
one little gem of advice Don’t Let your prospective employer know you frequent the truck forums.
You wont get very far at all with them… Been there got the T-Shirt.Care to explain?
what explanation do i need to give? It has all the information needed in my post …
Lets just say that Lyndon and BFS both refused me because i was a member of this forum and another expat truckers forum.
What a load of BS, 99% of peeps on forums use nicknames so how will trucking company A know who Plonker 37 really is, Please guys get away from these conspirocy theories that all the trucking companies do is moniter the forums.