Fast Trucking is well known in southeastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Tony Day first hauled fresh water to remote drilling rigs in this part of Canada in 1957, and the company has served the oil industry ever since. Later, when Fast Trucking started moving drilling rigs in 1979, the company grew to become a multi-million dollar enterprise and an integral player in the Canadian oil industry.
Every time an oil rig is moved in this area, Fast Trucking does the moving, said Dennis Day, general manager of Fast Trucking. With a fleet of 85 trucks mostly Kenworth T800s and C500s the company moves oil rigs within a 300-mile radius of Carnduff, Saskatchewan. Roads are mostly gravel or mud, conditions often extreme. It doesn™t matter if it™s Tuesday or Sunday, said Day. If we have nine rigs to move that day, we move them.
The Day family has proven to be integral in the success of Fast Trucking Tony Day, the president, and his wife, Vi, are the founders of the company. Daughter Linda Apperley works in the office, and son Larry Day is the operations manager.
I learned two important things from my parents, said Dennis Day. Never say ˜No, we can™t do it,™ and never give up on a job. That attitude is reflected throughout the Fast Trucking organization, from the people who work there to the rugged trucks that do the heavy lifting.
We own Kenworths because they™re tough and they last, said Day. Kenworth C500s are used to haul oil rigs, piece by piece, across rugged oil-field terrain. With all of the winches, decking and hydraulics installed on each C500, the truck can weigh as much as 35 tons when empty.
When moving to a new location, oil rigs are dismantled and the pieces transferred to a pick-up spot where the T800s can get at them and haul them away. Loads on the T800s average between 50,000 and 100,000 lbs, transported on gravel roads. There aren™t a lot of paved roads in Saskatchewan, said Day, who specs his T800s with 525-hp engines, 18-speed transmissions, 244-inch wheelbase and 38-inch AeroCabs®. The T800s are light enough to haul the pieces, but heavy enough to carry the loads. They have 18,000-pound front axles to support our winches. We spend $60,000 to put a winch and decking on each T800.
Helping to keep the fleet in prime operating condition is Custom Truck Sales in Regina, Saskatchewan. With Kenworth, when we phone in for parts, they™re available, said Day. We get good service from our Kenworth dealer and that™s critical.
With so much invested in each truck decking on some of the big C500s costs $200,000 the company needs durable trucks that will keep on running, sometimes for decades. We hardly resell them, said Day. We still have 1980 Kenworths that are still working hard for us. There™s no quit in our Kenworth trucks.
Kenworth, a division of PACCAR Inc, is a leading manufacturer of heavy and medium duty trucks. Kenworth is the recipient of the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates awards for Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Over The Road, Pickup and Delivery and Vocational Segment Class 8 trucks. Kenworth™s Internet home page is at www.kenworth.com. Kenworth. The World™s Best.
