 Good morning everybody and portage La Prairie, Manitoba Just getting going We stayed the night here at the flying J. It's just a small little truck stop Building his way over there. I'm gonna run in grab a coffee And we can hit the road Gotta be in Saskatoon tonight. I'm gonna call them dumps Three dumps I have behind me on their way to Saskatoon like I said, I picked them up in Lake Crystal, Minnesota a few days ago Now I thought that I was bringing them to the yard and someone else was gonna carry on with them from the yard to Saskatoon so when I got to the yard as you saw I took all my straps off and that's Typical of what we do because all of our straps belong to us We pay for our own equipment and the next driver hooks on ties it down his or her way so that they're responsible for the load Securement it's now their load. I've passed it on to them. They're responsible for it Anything that happens, it's not my fault because they tied it down, right? It's their load now However, turns out the load stayed with me. So I had to tie it down again So I've tied this load down twice now the way it's looking right now I'm not gonna make it by end of business day today. I was hoping to get there a day early and surprise them I always love doing that. I think I was explaining that to you in yesterday's video If you watched it, if not, why not go back and watch yesterday's video. This is video number 2780 Very close to around that number if I'm wrong. I apologize, but you can see down below what number of vlog this is There's a lot of them and I have playlists on my channel so you can watch them all in order I've been making videos for over 11 years. So you can go back and see me long before I before I Looked like this before I had a bald head. I had a big beard. I hadn't even met my wife at the time yet Diesel was just a tiny little puppy. So much has happened in that time. I've gotten married We've had a baby now. I've gotten old blue Feel free to go back and explore all the videos on my channel that you like to have them all neatly organized And playlists go to my main channel click my username and go to playlists. You'll see the link there They're all down there. Anyways We're at the flying day we're gonna start heading westbound. Let's get out there. Let's get on the road I just need some coffee And let's get these tires singing One more thing real quick before we go a lot of people or some people Are wondering, you know, what why do I call it trucker Josh vlogs? What exactly is a vlog? I've had this question pop up a couple of times, you know over the over the years and stuff And a vlog is a video blog. It's a video diary. You might say a video journal Maybe a time capsule any one of those words sort of suits it I make these videos. I put them on the internet You can see my life day by day what I do as a truck driver But also as a new father as a husband a son a brother It's not just about trucking though. That is what You know, I'm called trucker Josh. I love trucking. This is my main passion in life There's a lot more to me obviously and you guys have seen that in my past videos and This is the story of my life It's for you and it's for me. It's for you guys to watch Hopefully be entertained by and it's also for me down the road Like I said, like a video journal or a time capsule and 20 years down the road When my little Theo is 20 20 years old He can look back on what his dad was like when he was that age I think I started making videos when I was 23 So I think that'd be pretty neat for me. You can go day by day through my life. There's a lot to Follow obviously Take some commitment to watch them all and I appreciate all of you who have gone and watched every single one I get messages sometimes saying I've just finished your whole series I watched your whole playlist start to finish and I'm honestly impressed when I hear that That's a lot with a lot of videos So thank you very much for all of your support for tagging along with me on this crazy journey of life uh I have a lot of fun documenting it here and I'm hoping that you're having fun with it too. I know some of my videos are also useful to new drivers coming into the industry You know, honestly Some people don't trust all the recruiters out there. We have great recruiters where I'm at They're not going to lie to you. They're going to tell you like it is But there's a lot of places out there that'll tell you anything you want to hear to get you to work for them And I'm not like that. I want to show you exactly how it is I've been doing this over the road here. I'm in my 12th year. I've almost been here 12 years I can honestly say I'm happy people can people ask me like are you are you really happy where you are what you're doing? And I say hey, look, I have a clean driver's abstract and there's a thousand companies that are hiring right now I've gotten job offers with pretty good pay from multiple different places to go work for them And I've turned them all down If I wanted to be somewhere else if I wanted to be doing something else I would be but I'm happy where I'm at And I want to show you the lifestyle Through my eyes I love doing what I do. So there's new people that are getting into trucking And what's the life like like really what's the life really like on the road? What's it like at home? How do you balance that? Well, I can't tell you how it's going to be for you because it's going to be different for you than it is for me But I can sort of give you a little peek into my life here on my channel and show you what my life is like So there's many different purposes for my videos The main purpose is I'm having fun I like making these videos for you and I I think it's I think it's pretty cool to look back on my life Like 10 years ago and see where I was at cringe a little bit and be like, oh my can't believe I did that Can't believe I was doing that. I've come so far. I've learned so so much. I'm so different than I was then It's crazy because memories they disappear sometimes, but video stays forever Anyways, if you haven't already hit that subscribe button tag along with me I don't plan on stopping anytime soon Hopefully we'll be making videos for my entire life And I'll be making a vlog crossing the road when I'm 95 years old and it's going to be just as entertaining I hope I hope There's a puppy dog in that window. You see him It's a lonely trip for me this week No dogs with me this week I would like to share some of the new artwork in my truck though if you don't mind if you don't mind I've got a little guy right there More over there I've got two right here. So that when I look back You can see me Me and brit deal You go into the back here to the living space You got brit and me or me and brit brit and I on this side you got goofy little guy And on this side You got two there as well So this way doesn't matter where I look in my truck I can see the people I love And I know why I'm out here working because let's be honest it gets tough out here And we miss our families back home a lot and sometimes we wonder if we have these days we wake up in the morning and like what am I doing What am I doing out here? That's why I'm out here I'm out here working So we can have a good life together Here we go Finally stops knowing your manitoba So mommy and Theo are heading out for their first outdoor adventure A neighborhood walk Well, I don't want to speak too loudly, but I think I think the snow has finally disappeared for good. I think spring is finally here but we We have been known to get a blizzard or two in may before That's only the end of april so Fingers crossed So far Theo likes his walk He's sleeping right through it Just like everything else except for the nighttime So we're doing good It's a beautiful day out although we could use some sunshine, but We'll get there We'll get there So for anyone in the market to get a stroller right now I highly suggest the one that we got we lucked out. We didn't know what we were doing But the one that we chose top notch. I have no complaints It's a gray coat jogger. It's got these mammoth wheels Can't get stuck in snow Really easy to use Can adjust the handle the brakes are easy Flip them Flip them up come on flip them down easy peasy this car seat clicks in real real easy And Not too terribly heavy at first I couldn't lift it for the first couple weeks with my c-section incision Just being cautious didn't want to tear anything But now no problem, and I'm not a big person So they're sturdy, but they're not crazy heavy I better keep moving though This guy insists upon it He likes his walkies Okay, buddy. Here we go We're back And he didn't wake up the whole time although he did indicate he may be hungry. He was sucking on his fist So it's time. I needed to get home anyway That was a little bit sweaty and my legs are on fire didn't even go that hard, but it's my first bout of Exercise in months because it was ice season at the end of my pregnancy. So plus high blood pressure. So Time to get in there, but it was successful Now I know he likes walkies Today I've sort of been taking my time. I don't deliver until tomorrow morning anyway, and Came across some other drivers that I know on the way Chatted with them for a little bit Five hours from Saskatoon to stay the flying jay Hopefully we get a good shower there tomorrow 7 30 a.m. The customer opens So I'll be there right around then next assignment. No idea what I'm doing next year I thought I was going up the Meadow Lake pick up a load there, but sounds like that might have changed I'll find out in the morning. This is Chamberlain's Saskatchewan It's about an hour north of vagina on the way to Saskatoon I always say That it reminds me when I go through here of the time I gelled up I was parked just down there. It was minus 65 that day. It's a little bit warmer today So the day's been going good Just taking a little breather here and stretching out my legs This is a very small town and it has that old western feel to it, you know All the buildings along the main drag here There's a few Houses behind all these businesses and then there's a huge valley that goes down behind there I am actually very surprised that they haven't built A bypass around this town Because the four lane divided highway all the way up to Saskatoon right except for this little town for some reason This little town is a little two lane highway that just sort of sneaks right through it You go slow right down 50 kilometers an hour 30 miles an hour Create a bypass around this town this town would completely die. There's not much here as it is Most of the businesses here have gone under already. That's just not enough Not enough people here to make money Created a bypass around the town. I mean that's happened to countless towns already right? The small towns always suffer Because you know people want to save two minutes And just bypass the town. I'm one of those people I would like to just bypass the town wouldn't have to slow down saves you fuel and time. Bye This is a busy little town here though. It's a nice place to stop They had this huge parking area on the side of the whole town here Fills up with trucks at night though. You got to get here earlier. There won't be any spots for you Sometimes people double park then you get blocked in you got to be careful with that But that's with it seems like you got to worry about that in a lot of places nowadays It's like common sense just isn't common. It's like when you see someone like doing something that just makes sense I call that uncommon sense because that kind of sense is just not common You got to worry about this some truck stops I can even believe this like you go you park on a truck stop And the truck stop fills up right And then people come in they realize all the truck stops full instead of moving along to the next available parking spot at a different Truck stop or whatever Or just parking out of the way somewhere They'll just park right in front of everybody and block everybody in especially Uh like along the back of a truck stop and then you know you have you got uh Like trucks park this way right and then Trucks park this way and then they park closer and closer and closer and closer to these trucks park here until these trucks here Can't get out in the morning They just pull in there pull the brakes go to bed I can't do that like I I know hours of service right sometimes you You have to stop because the government's saying you have to stop But at the same time like I could not park somewhere where I know I'm blocking somebody and where I know I'm in the way and get a good night's sleep. I just couldn't be able to do I wouldn't be able to do that I have to be out of people's way. I can't be in their way There's a big issue out on the road that there's just not enough parking And it's not that they're not doing anything about it Especially here in western canada anyways where where I am I noticed that especially petro pass and uh esso They're they are expanding and they're building lots of new truck stops There's lots of new parking like there's that new petro pass in sous-saint-marie a couple of new petro passes across the prairies here There are new truck stops coming with nice paved parking It is getting better. But the thing is the industry is growing faster than the parking spots So for every, you know, 50 parking spots that someone adds There's 150 new trucks on the road delivering freight We're growing faster than the truck stops are supplying parking for us and that's a big Question in and of itself because these truck stops are privately owned We don't pay for parking here in north america for the most part you can pay for a reserve spot at some places But for the most part we don't pay for parking. That's a foreign thing. That's a european thing You know leave that in europe. We don't want that over here. We came over here to do things differently to do it better Right, I don't want to pay for parking every night. Don't give them that idea Don't put that idea in their heads because right now for the most part If where you go it's free parking And if you think about it these big ceo's are doing us Kind of a big favor because they're still paying property taxes on that land that you're parking on They're still paying to maintain the pavement or the gravel whatever it is you're you're parking on They're paying to maintain that and it's costing them money to have you park there And they're not making any money off of all of that space. We're taking up So I understand why they would want to charge us money, right? I don't want it to come to that So private truck stops are already letting us park there and it's Working out well, but at what point? Does the government have to step in here? It's the government that's demanding. We stop it's the government that's regulating us and it's the government that says These are the hours you can drive and after this amount of time you have to park Or you're getting a fine or you're getting arrested This is one of the only jobs where you can get arrested for working overtime or going in early to work The they they demand you stop under penalty of law And they're pretty serious about it. The penalties are pretty steep So when we run out of hours, shouldn't it be their responsibility to make sure we have a place to park? Am I asking too much? Is that too weird? So, okay, you want me to drive no more than 13 hours. Okay at the end of my 13 hours or in the us 11 hours At the end of my shift, are you going to supply me a place to park because you're demanding? I stop Should it be more government subsidized? I mean we have all learned in the past couple of years that our governments have Deep pockets when they want to That's why inflation is going through the roof right now. They've been printing money like it's going out of style But where's all that going? What if they would have used that money instead to make Our lives better here use some of that money to You know, maybe make trade easier Truckers are the people who keep this economy moving. Maybe build some nice parking spots for us with that money instead I don't know am I talking out of my rear end? Uh I don't know anymore. Nothing seems to make sense You know, you learn about history and the way things were run in history the way things were done and you're like, yeah, that makes sense Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And that's why we became such a prosperous powerful part of the world And then you look at how things are being run today and you're like that doesn't make any sense And that makes it seem like continue on this road for 12 kilometers Excuse me Excuse me. I'm talking about something very important to him in the middle of a rant It's the second time she's interrupted me. No, I forgot what I was talking about No, that's not have been important. Oh well Let's get back on the road flying jay saskatoon We're about to make a parking spot along with everybody else here. It is full here. What is today? Today is uh, Like I say, it's no not sunday Today's monday Monday is monday kind of a strange day For it to be full like this I would think it'd be full on sundays so everyone could deliver monday But maybe sunday everybody's at home now monday everybody's back on the road We're all plugging up the truck stops whatever the case is whatever the reason is It's pretty full here So I'm gonna go to bed Get up in the morning to get a good sleep. I don't know where my reload's gonna be yet So it might be a little bit of a hike from here Who knows maybe I am going to meadow lake. I'll probably be picking up lumber up there then What is squeaking in here? It just started now that I just came in Must be the way I was sitting on my seat. I need to buy new seats for this truck that is That's something I'll need to do probably get some low riders or something So that I can sort of raise myself up a little bit But I usually sit right on the floor like right now I'm on the floor My Airlines for my seat aren't even connected. I can't even lift my seat up if I wanted to I can push the button all I want stays on the ground. That's where I like it Got the best view out the road this way But uh, I'll need to get a new seat eventually. I believe these are the original seats. I have seat covers on them I just got a new one for this side. Uh, they wear out pretty quickly on the driver's side But uh, I'm chilling to get some new uh, the armrests of these ones are a little bit worn out Excuse me So thanks for joining me today everybody sort of a little bit of a jaunt to cross the prairies We'll see what tomorrow brings. I'm excited Please meet me back here hit that subscribe button and that notification bell on my page so you don't miss it If you want to see more of my videos go to my page. There's a code 3000 of them. Take your pick Put on a playlist and just set it on a loop play truck or josh all day People really do just park anywhere out here Sometimes you have to you have no choice. You just got to make a spot however, uh These guys out here are blocking a fire hydrant. They're gonna get woken up middle of the night told to move I hope you can see it right underneath the pilot sign there. There's a fire hydrant the guy's clearly blocking access to it Not good not good my friends The fire department really not like that if there was a fire here Well, maybe there won't be a fire and he'll be okay, but I mean I wouldn't risk it He's asking to get uh ticketed there