That sounds like a good number, goes to show that you don’t have to be away all the time if you look around, there’s plenty of work around.
I’m still into the OTR stuff so I’m happy doing what I do, each to their own 
After reading the replies on here was quite surprised to find I’ve had an email through today from them, don’t worry i’m not looking to run before I can walk 
ok, sorry if this is late, but i worked for the Siemens group, for over 3 years. the work then was good. But, now the work has dried up there. Kindersley transport want you to pull 2 53ft trailers all the time. and edge, well, they have had the worst reputation from the companies stand point, to have the worst trucks. Some breaking down all the time. poor maintenance. Seen it all, whilst i was there. Money was ok. Harv Wilkeng Transport doesn’t seem to have that much work. but you work like crazy for the first few months, but after the ‘honeymoon period’, you’ll be just a number, struggling. sorry if this sounds depressing, but thats what it’s like there.
wiggum:
ok, sorry if this is late, but i worked for the Siemens group, for over 3 years. the work then was good. But, now the work has dried up there. Kindersley transport want you to pull 2 53ft trailers all the time. and edge, well, they have had the worst reputation from the companies stand point, to have the worst trucks. Some breaking down all the time. poor maintenance. Seen it all, whilst i was there. Money was ok. Harv Wilkeng Transport doesn’t seem to have that much work. but you work like crazy for the first few months, but after the ‘honeymoon period’, you’ll be just a number, struggling. sorry if this sounds depressing, but thats what it’s like there.
So I was right then 
I wouldn’t single Siemens out, all of the companies that recruit from abroad have a bad reputation, as a victim of BFS, I can confirm that they deserve it too, yes there may well be some that have made the move that are happy at these places, but I’ve heard plenty of horror stories from other ex-pats about Donnelly Farms, Yanke, Ayr, H&R, the list goes on & on, all of these firms struggle to get locals to work there, not because they’re in an area with no truck drivers, but because they are crap jobs, so they recruit from abroad with a pack of lies as their sales pitch, you’d think that these companies would get their act together & sort out their problems, people don’t slag them off for nothing, but no, they just carry on exploiting people left, right & center, it’s shocking that they get away with it, but, they do, so if anyone is thinking of making the move, go for it, prepare to be used & abused & underpaid as you use & abuse them to get that essential licence & experience, then get a proper job & the world is your Lobster. 
newmercman:
flat to the mat:
newmercman:
Oh & the reason the Canadians are looking for foreigners is because they don’t have enough people to do the work, especially Saskatchewan which has a population of about 350The criteria must have changed again,when I came here from the U.K.on the PNP system,had to work for a set company for 6 months and then get nominated by the province for permanent residency.Newmercman seems keen to gob off about Saskatchewan,each to their own I suppose,but if Canada was to get an enema it would be through Manitoba !!!
Kindersley/HWT don’t seem too bad ,have a few mates working for them as O/O and company drivers,typical Canadian van operation.The reason Canada is trying to attract foreign drivers is purely because the Canadians don’t want to do the job.Think about it long and hard before committing.The criteria has changed pal, I know of a few people who gained PR while still in the UK, Nianiamh of this very forum being one of them.
Gobbing off about SK? Er not exactly, maybe a tongue in cheek remark, but I have been there many times & the place is empty apart from Regina & Saskatoon, the city of Winnipeg has more people in it than the whole of the province of Saskatchewan.
I spoke to Siemens when I decided to come to Canada, they were a nightmare to deal with, full of empty promises & I gave up in the end, I’m not the only one on this forum who had that experience, they run crap trucks & their work is nothing special, the money is average, you say it’s a typical van operation, well so is Trans X & I wouldn’t work there either.
You seem to have your knickers in a twist about Manitoba, as you say each to their own, but from a driver’s point of view I think it’s the place to be in Canada, we gat paid by the mile & so the more miles you can do in a week, the more money in the bank, I can get to Nova Scotia, Vancouver, Miami, San Diego (the four corners of North America) & back within my 70hrs from Winnipeg, start out in Alberta or Sask & Miami & Nova Scotia need a reset, start from Ontario & Vancouver & San Diego need a reset. Then there is the cost of living, Sask is cheap admittedly, but not by much compared to Manitoba, Alberta however is an expensive place to be, yeah you may earn a little more, but it’s gone on housing costs before it gets to sit in the bank.
Ok this is not entirley true, because theroeticly you can go from any where to any where and back without going over the 70 hours in 7 day rule, by simply keeping each days total hours under 10. ie 9.45 daily for 15 days on the count back does not exceed 70 hrs 
Gremmie:
Ok this is not entirley true, because theroeticly you can go from any where to any where and back without going over the 70 hours in 7 day rule, by simply keeping each days total hours under 10. ie 9.45 daily for 15 days on the count back does not exceed 70 hrs
Yes but in the states it’s 70hrs in 8 days, not 7, which means 8.75hrs a day which includes your pre trip, fuel stops, load/unload. Much more advantageous to put in 11 hrs driving and take a reset when out of hrs. Lets work it out rationally and use easy numbers.
Example 1. 8.25hrs driving per day @ 100km/hr= 825km. In 10 days 8250km covered. 0.25hrs pre trip, 0.25 fuel, does not allow for pick and drops.
Example 2. 11hrs driving per day @ 100km/hr=1100km + 0.5hr pre trip and fuel.
11.5 hrs per day you would be out of hours after just over 7 days.
Take your reset on the 7th day and you cover 9900km in 10 days with a day off in example 2 as opposed to 8250km in 10 days and work every day as in example 1.
I get paid by the mile so tell me which is better.
This has very much simplified it because there are many more factors which influence your hrs available etc but no way I would I be parking up after 8.75hrs just so I can work 7 days a week.
dave_lol66:
Gremmie:
Ok this is not entirley true, because theroeticly you can go from any where to any where and back without going over the 70 hours in 7 day rule, by simply keeping each days total hours under 10. ie 9.45 daily for 15 days on the count back does not exceed 70 hrsYes but in the states it’s 70hrs in 8 days, not 7, which means 8.75hrs a day which includes your pre trip, fuel stops, load/unload. Much more advantageous to put in 11 hrs driving and take a reset when out of hrs. Lets work it out rationally and use easy numbers.
Example 1. 8.25hrs driving per day @ 100km/hr= 825km. In 10 days 8250km covered. 0.25hrs pre trip, 0.25 fuel, does not allow for pick and drops.
Example 2. 11hrs driving per day @ 100km/hr=1100km + 0.5hr pre trip and fuel.
11.5 hrs per day you would be out of hours after just over 7 days.Take your reset on the 7th day and you cover 9900km in 10 days with a day off in example 2 as opposed to 8250km in 10 days and work every day as in example 1.
I get paid by the mile so tell me which is better.
This has very much simplified it because there are many more factors which influence your hrs available etc but no way I would I be parking up after 8.75hrs just so I can work 7 days a week.
6 days @ 11.5 hours =69 hours so you can only do Km 6600 then a 34 hour resest 
Gremmie:
dave_lol66:
Gremmie:
Ok this is not entirley true, because theroeticly you can go from any where to any where and back without going over the 70 hours in 7 day rule, by simply keeping each days total hours under 10. ie 9.45 daily for 15 days on the count back does not exceed 70 hrsYes but in the states it’s 70hrs in 8 days, not 7, which means 8.75hrs a day which includes your pre trip, fuel stops, load/unload. Much more advantageous to put in 11 hrs driving and take a reset when out of hrs. Lets work it out rationally and use easy numbers.
Example 1. 8.25hrs driving per day @ 100km/hr= 825km. In 10 days 8250km covered. 0.25hrs pre trip, 0.25 fuel, does not allow for pick and drops.
Example 2. 11hrs driving per day @ 100km/hr=1100km + 0.5hr pre trip and fuel.
11.5 hrs per day you would be out of hours after just over 7 days.Take your reset on the 7th day and you cover 9900km in 10 days with a day off in example 2 as opposed to 8250km in 10 days and work every day as in example 1.
I get paid by the mile so tell me which is better.
This has very much simplified it because there are many more factors which influence your hrs available etc but no way I would I be parking up after 8.75hrs just so I can work 7 days a week.
6 days @ 11.5 hours =69 hours so you can only do Km 6600 then a 34 hour resest
Ok math may not be my strong point but it still comes to exactly same miles over the 10 days
Gremmie:
Ok this is not entirley true, because theroeticly you can go from any where to any where and back without going over the 70 hours in 7 day rule, by simply keeping each days total hours under 10. ie 9.45 daily for 15 days on the count back does not exceed 70 hrs
Typical response from a desk driver, how soon they forget
8.75hrs a day & you can run for 365days in the US, but who wants to do that? With pre-trips & fuel stops I usually run right up to my 70hrs (if I’m on a longer run) after that a day off is not only a legal requirement, it’s needed, all work & no play makes Jack a dull boy
newmercman:
Gremmie:
Ok this is not entirley true, because theroeticly you can go from any where to any where and back without going over the 70 hours in 7 day rule, by simply keeping each days total hours under 10. ie 9.45 daily for 15 days on the count back does not exceed 70 hrsTypical response from a desk driver, how soon they forget
8.75hrs a day & you can run for 365days in the US, but who wants to do that? With pre-trips & fuel stops I usually run right up to my 70hrs (if I’m on a longer run) after that a day off is not only a legal requirement, it’s needed, all work & no play makes Jack a dull boy
Typical response from a driver, i didn’t say you should run like that i said you can theoreticly do it
Enough of this hours nonsense, what idiot brought that up anyway
Let’s get this thread back on track & resume the slagging off of Big Freight, Siemens, H&R< Donnelly Farms, Ayr Motor Express etc please
if things are that bad in the uk wouldnt it be better to use one of these companies as a stepping stone to a better job rather than not try at all, we have all worked for crappy outfits in our time on the road after all you have to work for a crappy company to recognise a good company when i first came to the states i worked for a horrible outfit [now defunct] but rode it out until a better deal came along and there are some good jobs out there, the other thing is if you dont try you will never know ive been here 15 years and wouldnt even consider going back to the uk
tvdriver:
if things are that bad in the uk wouldnt it be better to use one of these companies as a stepping stone to a better job rather than not try at all, we have all worked for crappy outfits in our time on the road after all you have to work for a crappy company to recognise a good company when i first came to the states i worked for a horrible outfit [now defunct] but rode it out until a better deal came along and there are some good jobs out there, the other thing is if you dont try you will never know ive been here 15 years and wouldnt even consider going back to the uk
The thing about moving to Canada is that PR or no PR you will need a job, Siemens, Big Freight etc will give anybody a job, they put you through the test & if you can endure the crap (on BFS at least) then you have a bit of experience, this will allow you to move on to a proper job, you have to look at the bigger picture, the whole BFS or Siemens misery is part of the price you pay to move to Canada, that may be a mercenary way of looking at it, but they (the companies) can do it, so what’s wrong with the drivers doing it too and let’s face it, if BFS & Siemens were good jobs they wouldn’t need to look 5000miles away for drivers Dave works for a company a mile down the road from BFS, they have no problems finding local drivers & more to the point, keeping them, my firm is the same, as are BTD’s, Wire’s & Nianiamh’s, so it isn’t all Canadian firms that are having recruiting problems, just the bad ones
I would still recommend using BFS to get over, get your licence & a bit of experience, if it suits you, then stay, if not get another job, I wouldn’t go with Siemens personally, but the same applies there too, if you like it, stay, if not get out, I reckon Manitoba is the best bet, there are lots of trucking jobs, so the firms have to keep the money up, run decent motors & look after their drivers or they vote with their feet, just as we all did with BFS
To save you actually reading through the whole thread, that point was made some time ago 
yes might be a good idea next time to read through before posting