Driving a logging truck has to be one of the hairiest occupations on the planet.

But take it from me, being a passenger is even hairier.

We had a contract to record fuel consumption of logging trucks under typical conditions, (before vehicles had on-board computers) so we build a data acquisition system to monitor vehicle speed, fuel flow rate, temperatures etc.:

Note the tape recorder for data storage. It was reliable - it would stop the tape to record each bit. (~300 bits/sec)

The CPU was a DEC LSI11 - there were 4 cards in a small backplane, plus several custom cards. (laid out with red and blue tape)

We build a special box to stow the system under the passenger seat of a logging truck.

I drew the lucky straw to travel to Williams Lake (in the middle of British Columbia) and babysit the systems for 2 weeks, collecting tapes.

Here is the scenario:

• Get to work at 3:30 am, prep the truck, with its supercharged diesel engine, and load up the data acquisition system.
• Hit the road at 4:00am and scream down the highway at top speed in the dark. Get to the logging roads after the sun makes an appearance. You do not want to drive on a logging road on the side of a cliff in the dark. Trust me.
• Get to the logging camp about noon (after 8 hours of driving as fast as possible) The driver is sitting on an air suspension seat, the passenger is not, he is sitting on what feels like a jackhammer - no seat belt, no helmet (my head would sometimes hit the roof).
• Load the truck up with logs and head back at breakneck speed and hope the truck can handle its load on the "road".
• Get back about 9:30pm, unload the logs and go grab a few hours of sleep before doing it all over again.
• Of course I had to write a log of everything and deal with the data, and fix any problems with the data acquisition system during this "down time".

It should be obvious that the reason for driving at reckless speeds is to try and get enough time to sleep between runs.

Here is the problem:

When I arrived, on a tiny plane, the airline had lost my luggage with all my clothing and tools. This is not a town with an electronics store. I had to set up the initial prep and do a system checkout with mechanics tools - they didn't even have a voltmeter. I think my tools, arrived 4 days later (after the period where I needed them the most), but my clothes didn't show up until the day before I came home.

There were lots of other issues like the truck garage was overrun with rats and the floor was 100% covered in guano. I also have to say it was pretty depressing that we had to drive 8 hours to find a tree to cut down. All the intervening land used to be covered with trees.

I have some vivid memories of the trip, and the contract was a success, but I can't say I have a lot of very fond memories. I did have one great day - on my one day off, we went out to explore all the gold rush sites in the area. Some of the people there still go out panning for gold on their time off, to make a little pocket change. When you look in a river and see all the fool's gold glittering, it is easy to see how people get gold fever.

I wish I had pictures of the truck ABS brake winter testing we did in Bemidji Minnesota loaded to 33,000 lbs doing 40 MPH on snow packed roads circa 1994. 

I had instrumentation connected to a Compaq "portable" on my lap, bouncing and typing and slipping and sliding.

Crazy times,

Scott

Ooh. I remember those "lightweight" Compaq laptops. I had to travel on the train from London to Edinburgh once with one of them. It was like carrying a suitcase full of bricks!

I had one of those. We called them luggables.

I had one of those. We called them luggables.