Pat Hasler:
My advice
Take the one with the shortest wheelbase and shortest hood, the more manouverable the better.
^^This^^
People in the UK always think theres tons of room everywhere in North America and size of truck isn’t a problem. That illusion will be shattered the first time you try and park in a typical Pilot east of the Mississippi! Then you’ll yearn for a little tiny European cab so you can see where you’re actually backing and then be able to get your lock off. Oh the joy of it.
newmercman:
The last thing you want is an International with the Maxxforce engine, unless you have a fetish for tow trucksProstar are a nice enough looking truck, lots of room inside too, but you can’t get one without all the emission crap on them and you’ll be breaking down all the time, even with the ■■■■■■■ ISX, they’re junk
You want to earn money out here, you need a pre emission truck
Never a truer word written . Barely a week goes past when one of our two 2012 KW’S doesn’t have to go to the dealership for a plug in due to some emission sensor /electronic issue , when we can actually get them booked in ,call on a Monday and get told to bring it in Friday !! The same problems with our new Volvos in Edmonton , all the new trucks coming out are junk , not only are they not built for life in the frozen North , but hardly anybody up here knows how to keep the bloody things running .
Name your brand and you’ll suffer the same crap week after week , NMM hang on to the Ducknosaur for as long as you can mate , nearly choked typing that 
[zb]ing load of pansies the lot of you 
You want a 379 Pete or a KW W900L, acres of hood covering a 4mpg big hp CAT, roaring through straight pipes and dripping with lights and chrome 
You can drive faggotty Volvo’s and silly little lorries in the UK, no point coming to other side of the World and trying to do things the British way FFS
newmercman:
[zb]ing load of pansies the lot of youYou want a 379 Pete or a KW W900L, acres of hood covering a 4mpg big hp CAT, roaring through straight pipes and dripping with lights and chrome
You can drive faggotty Volvo’s and silly little lorries in the UK, no point coming to other side of the World and trying to do things the British way FFS
Oh ■■■■ ,the Rednecks eventually woken up , btw day’s nearly over for us near mortals
flat to the mat:
newmercman:
[zb]ing load of pansies the lot of youYou want a 379 Pete or a KW W900L, acres of hood covering a 4mpg big hp CAT, roaring through straight pipes and dripping with lights and chrome
You can drive faggotty Volvo’s and silly little lorries in the UK, no point coming to other side of the World and trying to do things the British way FFS
Oh [zb] ,the Rednecks eventually woken up , btw day’s nearly over for us near mortals
I’m parked up for the night in Lethbridge, came all the way from Moosomin too, ■■■■■■■■ me
newmercman:
flat to the mat:
newmercman:
[zb]ing load of pansies the lot of youYou want a 379 Pete or a KW W900L, acres of hood covering a 4mpg big hp CAT, roaring through straight pipes and dripping with lights and chrome
You can drive faggotty Volvo’s and silly little lorries in the UK, no point coming to other side of the World and trying to do things the British way FFS
Oh [zb] ,the Rednecks eventually woken up , btw day’s nearly over for us near mortals
I’m parked up for the night in Lethbridge, came all the way from Moosomin too, ■■■■■■■■ me
Seems a regular run for you , hauling out of Reliance Wpeg ?
No it’s chips/packaging/flavourings into Fritolay, we do all their Western Canada stuff from down south, I dropped a loaded trailer here earlier, now I’m waiting for one to come in from the land of the free and then I’m heading over the Crowsnest to Vancouver with it 
flat to the mat:
newmercman:
The last thing you want is an International with the Maxxforce engine, unless you have a fetish for tow trucksProstar are a nice enough looking truck, lots of room inside too, but you can’t get one without all the emission crap on them and you’ll be breaking down all the time, even with the ■■■■■■■ ISX, they’re junk
You want to earn money out here, you need a pre emission truck
Never a truer word written . Barely a week goes past when one of our two 2012 KW’S doesn’t have to go to the dealership for a plug in due to some emission sensor /electronic issue , when we can actually get them booked in ,call on a Monday and get told to bring it in Friday !! The same problems with our new Volvos in Edmonton , all the new trucks coming out are junk , not only are they not built for life in the frozen North , but hardly anybody up here knows how to keep the bloody things running .
Name your brand and you’ll suffer the same crap week after week , NMM hang on to the Ducknosaur for as long as you can mate , nearly choked typing that
Been stuck in freightliner Hagerstown md since Thursday with def problems quickly loosening the will to live.
I feel your pain mate . DEF what a brilliant idea , a product that freezes below minus 11 which is about as useful as a chocolate teapot for us up here My truck is 9 months old and has gone through 2 def heater cores so far FFS , even the dealership are saying the trucks aren’t built to survive in this climate , gives you confidence eh ?
Went in the flying j at Saskatoon the other week and the pumps were frozen ffs
Hi Guys.Merely being curious as we all live in the same sort of climatic regions.It is 30yrs ago i drove in Canada so much has changed.
My question is - I drive a Volvo FH 660 tipper here and apart from all the usual cold weather equipment such as double glass it is also fitted with a heated front windscreen,a system of very fine wires built into the windscreen[you almost can’t see them].This stops the screen freezing up up during ice storms and icy fog and is also good for clearing the screen when it’s left out overnight.Ok we have engine\cab heating systems as well but this is the first i’ve had.
Have you lot got the same sort of systems 
Got heated wiper blades which do still work (miracle) and a grille cover , that’s about it . The insulation around the cab is crap , no the whole bloody truck is crap. 
hutpik:
Hi Guys.Merely being curious as we all live in the same sort of climatic regions.It is 30yrs ago i drove in Canada so much has changed.
My question is - I drive a Volvo FH 660 tipper here and apart from all the usual cold weather equipment such as double glass it is also fitted with a heated front windscreen,a system of very fine wires built into the windscreen[you almost can’t see them].This stops the screen freezing up up during ice storms and icy fog and is also good for clearing the screen when it’s left out overnight.Ok we have engine\cab heating systems as well but this is the first i’ve had.
Have you lot got the same sort of systems
I can only dream 
Try explaining block heaters to these guys, try explaining how ‘REAL’ air suspension should lift the trailer as well as lower it, try explaining a lifting drive axle for when you loose traction… These colonials think I am winding them up.
I’d kill for that FH.
Mike, my truck is exactly same spec as one you’d get in Florida, so it has no special preparation for the cold weather we get up here. That being said, it copes remarkably well, the heaters (one in the cab, one in the bunk) do a good job of keeping it warm, even when it dips in the -40s. Of course you need the engine to run warm and that’s easy to achieve with a good winter front. The Canadian No1 diesel will not wax above -50c, so fuel line heaters and all that gubbins are a just an extravagance really
The main thing in winter is that the engine keeps on running, with that you can stay warm, so survival gear is a must, if the truck breaks down you’re in trouble fast and all the junk on the new engines means that breakdowns are far too common now
Hi NMM.i sympathise but it ain’t only over there that the new generation of trucks are ■■■■.Up here we also have many more breakdowns on trucks now than previously,most of them ‘‘silly’’ things.The problem is nowadays you need some prat from the dealer with a ‘‘computer diagnostic’’ to fix anything.When trucks were a bit simpler[primitive]you could find most problems and fix with a hammer,screwdriver and duct tape.
We try to fix as much as we can ourselves,partly because of the time factor of ‘‘call out’’ and partly to save the boss a bit,we cost £20 per hour salary and Volvo charge £120.Its an ‘old fashioned’ matter of principle.
PS it’s a warm -22c today with snow so i’m ploughing my yard tomorrow with the quad. Take care all.Mike
I’ve been doing a little bit of digging into the reasons behind the unreliabilty of modern diesel engines and what I’ve learned so far is that most of the problems are caused by a minute difference in the voltage to the sensors, if the supply drops to 11.9999999V instead of 12V then the sensor goes wonky and the computer starts throwing codes and flashing warning lights
A friend of mine recently spent 3days in a Volvo workshop with I-shift problems, it turned out to be a loose earth strap from block to chassis that was causing all the problems Mind you, at least the fitter had the ability to find the problem, which is a rare thing these days 
I think the thing to do with a newer truck is to make sure it has the biggest alternator and the best batteries that you can get, keep on top of all the contact points, make sure they’re in good shape and you could save a lot of problems down the road
Whilst i agree with what you are saying the problem remains that there are just toooo bloody many wires,cables pipes and connectors of all shapes and sizes on modern trucks.If you look at the wiring looms nowadays it would mystify a NASA engineer.It now looks like the ‘‘multi redundancy’’ systems of airliners.It all works fine if you are driving in optimum conditions on flat tarmac but as soon as you go ‘off road’,on a ‘‘winter road’’[which is most of Canada] or in a mine area[like here]then the whole lot goes pear shaped.For trucks which drive in ‘‘year round’’ conditions the trucks could be designed on a much more ‘‘user friendly’’ basis.
newmercman:
No it’s chips/packaging/flavourings into Fritolay, we do all their Western Canada stuff from down south, I dropped a loaded trailer here earlier, now I’m waiting for one to come in from the land of the free and then I’m heading over the Crowsnest to Vancouver with it
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but… we have a Colorado low coming in tomorrow night , set to hit SE SK and Winnipeg area , weather network saying it may track up my way with a ■■■■ load of snow . My first day on shift Friday so I’ll cop it no doubt , hope you get back home for the weekend and the powers to be don’t shut TC1 as they did last night
Only Jan but I’m fed up with this winter already , good sledding but even that’s becoming a chore now . What do the rednecks think ? if that’s not an impossible question
newmercman:
I’ve been doing a little bit of digging into the reasons behind the unreliabilty of modern diesel engines and what I’ve learned so far is that most of the problems are caused by a minute difference in the voltage to the sensors, if the supply drops to 11.9999999V instead of 12V then the sensor goes wonky and the computer starts throwing codes and flashing warning lightsyup, i know the type o work i do is different to most on here but the newer trucks are parked up for winter and the old 80,90s Macks redi mix are used because of lack of electrics,on the bulk hauling side the 04-6 Visions are parked up for same reason and the 99 CH macks are used.( better not be using my old Girl
)
jimmy.
Gloves you should have got in Canada, My Wife always brings me some back when she’s visiting family, Mark’s Work Warehouse.