My Motorways Journey-click images to enlarge.

The Motorways journey for myself was unparalleled, and I'm thinking for many others too! Most drivers and dock workers put a life-time at the Soo. My first time there was in 1963 working on the dock for several months. Albert was a lead hand and I worked under him... he was great! Back then it was called Soo-Security Freight Lines, Soo Freight or just Soo... almost everyone wanted a job at the Soo! City dispatchers then were Albert and Marv . I was laid-off and returned in April of 1964. It was then that I acquired my chauffeur's license. My driving test for that permit was done by driving a car. I didn't have a vehicle that was in good condition, so I borrowed Marv's '59 chev. I passed my written. When the instructor took me on my test drive I told him I was working at Soo Freight. It must've helped because he informed me to just drive around the block with him at 12th. and Smith and said that will be good enough! My first tractor in the city was a single axle White cab-over, later I graduated to a White Mustang tag-axle. I loved the Mustang (except for that tag axle in the winter) it was a cool looking beast on the streets of Regina back in the 60's! You had to be 25 years old to get on the highway so I had several years to practice my driving in the city. There were 27 and 35 foot vans(some step vans) in the city and on the highways. Then in the early seventies came a double A-train (two 28 foot pups) connected with a single axle dolly. In the eighties, most of the cab over freightliners were gone.They were being replaced by Ford conventional power. Triple B train (three 28 footers) connected with two dollies came onto the scene. This was shortly followed by a Rocky Mountain double a few years later. It was a 48 foot trailer with a pup trailer hooked up behind or front, depending on which was heavier. Fifty-three foot vans were in existence as well. Soo-Security had a fleet of several dozen 3-ton delivery trucks as well. Nowadays it common to see two fifty-three footers hooked together running down the road... I don't think they can get much longer-or can they?

Overnight Delivery Service.

'Motorways....the shortest distance between two points' was the logo on a mail outs to customers. Overnight guaranteed service between major cities was started in the late 1960's. Other trucking companies were springing up and it was necessary to hold onto your valuable customers. Switch points were set up at locations usually half way between Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary to provide this service. It proved to be the correct way to go to keep one step ahead of the competition!

The Soo-Security Motorways Yard.

In the 1960's the Motorways yard was a hodgepodge of ponds,ducks,mud and dust and cattle smell! You had to be careful where you dropped a trailer as there were no concrete pad's yet. By the mid 70's many loads of bricks and stones were dumped in which helped a lot... then the concrete pads followed. The southeast and northeast corner's especially were the worst. I recall ducks nesting in these area's. The southeast corner had a stockyard where cattle were let out of trailers to feed and water. In the winter snowbanks would pile up over trailers parked in the yard. Until they got there own grader, Soo Freight was locked in snow! At 40 below it was 40 below inside the warehouse too where trailer strippers worked with parka's and mitts. A side note about the cold, the trailer braking system wasn't air like today, so the wheels never froze as I recall... this would cause them to roll back when trying to get under them. We also worked 4 hours on Saturday mornings too... that was rough! Charcoal heaters and floor racks kept the perishable loads from freezing... a few fires started in the trailers! Once I saw a mouse attempt to run across the warehouse... halfway across it stopped, it was frozen! In the summer the metal structure became blistering hot inside and when it was windy you ate a lot of dust!

Drivers Sales Leads

Off course when Motorways purchased more equioment there was a need to get more freight. And I recall in the early seventies when the sales manager, Joe , challenged all the city drivers to go looking for sales leads. Over several months I brought in thirty-two, and thought that would be good enough for first place! When the final contest day came to announce the winner, I did win first , but so did Gerry ... he also brought in thirty-two leads. We had our picture's published in the Motorways Miler, that was first prize!

Hooking Up Train Trailers

After working for several other trucking companies, I came to realize how well things were set up at Motorways for the drivers! When we came to work normally everything was ready to go, and hooking up train trailers was the switchman's job. It wasn't like this anywhere else, you had to hook the set's up by yourself and then split them when returning home. Then go to a bulk station to fuel up the tractor... so we had it pretty good !

Soo Freight's Winch Truck

Since the early 60's I believe Soo Freight had their own winch truck. With so many units working in town and on the road it was necessary. The winching accessories were put on to a tractor by the garage crew. As long as I can remember Smiley was the winch truck driver... a very nice man! When he started to grow his beard in the fall, you knew winter couldn't be too far away... he seemed to know! Starting all the gas Mustangs in the winter was a story all in itself. You waited beside your truck for him to come and when he did you better be ready because Smiley never got out of the cab! When he backed up to your truck, you hooked the winch cable. I was only 139 pounds soaking wet then, and I swore that cable and hook were that too! He towed you to Dewdney, right to Park, right to 10th and home. This was the tow route whether your engine started right away or not! If it didn't start, he backed you into the garage. Whenever a truck became disabled on a highway trip the driver had to get to a phone first(no cell phones). Normally flag somebody down(which was easy then) get dropped off and call the garage. Then wait at that place for several hours for a mechanic or the winch to bring out another truck so you could finish your trip.

Sheduled Run's

Most scheduled run's(ltl or straight loads) at Motorways were run out at night, but there were day trips too. Schedule run's would be posted and bid on once a year with the senior drivers getting preference. If business picked up throughout the year after the bids, run's would be added and posted. City drivers could then bid and then the most senior driver or a dock worker if qualified would get the run. Qualifications became somewhat stricter when over-length combinations were introduced.

Night Switches

When the day shift finished, another crew came on duty. It was nice to start a trip with all your lights and everything working properly thanks to the Motorways garage staff. And it was equally as nice to arrive at your night switch point on time and with everything working well. However, the perfect evening changed many a time's as we all found out soon enough! The driver you switch with(no fault of his own)or even yourself may have bad news about the equipment you or he would be hooking to. Such as no signal lights, bad brakes, flat tire or something else that would make the ride home alive and interesting! But it was important for both drivers to relate this info to each other, so as to be aware of it and for safety reasons!

The Smokestack Scare

In the early seventies my Motorways highway career got into gear. And there were Freightliner cabovers, Internationals binders and a conventional Kenworth unit at the terminal. I liked the freightliner cabs the best. My first schedule run was to Fleming at 11 pm where I switched with a Winnipeg driver... I was in high heaven! No log books yet and semi-trailers weren't allowed on the highways at night on weekends in the sixties and early seventies. I think all the Motorways Freightliner cabovers at the time were 250 Cummins Diesel's, with a 10 speed roadranger transmissions. A relatively small and simple engine too maintain with an electric to manual fuel crossover. You learned in time how to make it work for you... it's lugging potential in tenth gear(ten speed road ranger transmission) was remarkable! From a coffee shop standstill the snappy 10 speed tranny's always made you a winner in the quarter mile, but in a few miles the 18 geared owner operator trucks would whoosh past! With such little power in a crosswind pulling a load, top speed would be just under 50 mph. It beat pulling by horses though, but made for an extra-ordinary long night to Edmonton or Calgary. However, mother nature usually felt sorry for us I guess and she would sometime give us a tail wind for the ride home! A few of the senior drivers had mirrors positioned on the driver side of the freightliner cabovers for height clearence I guess. One night in the mirror I noticed the exhaust flame coming out of the smokestack. I swore it was a foot long, I got scared and backed off the pedal... Harry would tell me the next day not to worry about it! I believe in the early eighties, Motorways switched over to a complete Ford fleet... but still Cummins(350's) and the 10 speed Roadranger trannys with a bulldog low gear! The deep reduction would be used for heavy beer loads. The miniature metal cabover and trailer in this display I got from Richard many years ago... he has a collection of trucks, as well as Gerry. I photographed the unit in front of a white background... with my software program I was able to paste the truck and trailer nicely onto a photo of an interesection I had.

Taking Care of Business

Larger Motorways terminals had garage's where they pretty much handled everything including engine rebuilding at the Regina facility. The garage ran 24/5 and half days on Saturday and had about 16 long term employee's who knew their stuff ! Two tire men and one reefer man in the yard taking care of business. Dan was the manager for many years... he was good ! Fred took over from Herb as the western safety supervisor for Motorways in the seventies. Fred was a good choice because he was disciplined and fair with the drivers.

Gone, But Not Forgotten

Motorways closes, what a shock! That day as they say, will live in infamy for all who worked there, and live in my heart forever! Sure, it wasn't the easiest job in the world. It was hard work...try unloading 40,000 pounds. Four hundred 100 pound bags of flour or sugar, it isn't easy. But wait, your day isn't over, try doing two loads a day. You earned your pay cheque(check) then. Driving nights on the road or working in the city at 40 below temperatures. Frozen trailer wheels and air leaks...it all went with the territory and I enjoyed going to work most days. The CB chats and the coffee stops along the way. The summer picnics and dances that the company gave us. Now after the thirty years are all over, hardly does a day go by that I don't think of someone I used to work with at the Regina Motorways terminal. It was all great... and in a heart beat, and I know this might sound crazy, I think I would do it all over again!