Oh Canada

I've recently completed several cross-border loads to Canada. One delivering to Blackie, Alberta and three picking up in Quebec. I must say I really like the HOS rules up there. Much more flexible and you can get more done without feeling like you're rushing.

Hear, hear! I just did my first Canada load to Bonnyville, Alberta, then deadheaded down to BC for a load before getting back to the US. I wouldn't have been able to drive one of the four days I was there because of the difference in the 70-hour rule. I'm going to tell my dispatcher that I'm up for any Canada loads he has going out of our region.

The only thing that gave me a headache was the metric system. I learned it when I was a teenager, but I sure can't think in it. Quick, can you legally haul a 22,000 kg load into the US if your empty weight is 30,000 pounds? Or, the ramp maximum is 60 km/h. You're traveling at 62 mph. What gear do you need to get down to?

Pounds to KG is pretty easy, just multiply by 2.2. That's "in your head" bankers math.

Speeds you just kind of have to get a feel for. My GPS does a really good job converting it for me into MPH.

Pounds to KG is pretty easy, just multiply by 2.2. That's "in your head" bankers math.

Speeds you just kind of have to get a feel for. My GPS does a really good job converting it for me into MPH.

Yep, I relied on my GPS to convert to mph, but ramp signs had me glancing a lot at the tiny km/h numbers inside the bigger mph numbers on my speedometer.

Here's the other one: the low bridge sign says 4.2 meters. OK to go? I have a midroof and my load was lower than that, so I figured I was good down to 3.5 or 3.6 meters, but pulling a box would be different in that scenario.

Also, how wide is your truck in tenths of meters, for those times when there's construction and the lanes are narrow? Stuff to know before you roll up there.

... the ramp maximum is 60 km/h. You're traveling at 62 mph. What gear do you need to get down to?

The simple way to convert km/h to mi/h, multiply by .6. That decimal is tricky for some so just drop the least significant digit (in every case a zero) and multiply by six, so in Bud A's case (what is 60 km/h?) 6 x 6 = 36 mi/h

In a city or town in Ontario the speed limit is 50 km/h unless posted otherwise. That is 30 mi/h.

km/h - mi/h (Easy)

50 - 30

60 - 36 (35)

70 - 42 (40)

80 - 48 (45)

90 - 53 (55)

100 - 60

105 - 63 (65) This is not a posted speed, but it is the speed close to which most truckers drive. If you drive this fast you'll be with the flow of truck traffic on the 400 series highways in Ontario.

Why the big jump between 80 and 90 km/h, well that's because .6 is an approximation of the real ratio (to six digits 0.621371), and the errors in the approximation broke the rounding I gave.