The Drive Shaft & the Black Bomber
The truck was so highly modified, it was a Heinz 57.
Part 1: Locked in My Shop, Going Crazy
After police confiscated fuel from the truckers early on, a fuel shortage seemed imminent. Sam has a friend in the fuel business in Southern Ontario. During that period of uncertainty, his friend talked about trucking in a load of diesel. But he needed somewhere to put it.
Soon, a local man was reassuring Sam a farm had been lined up, 20 minutes south of Ottawa. "The landowner is out there now in his payloader, scraping off the snow, so buddy can just loop in, drop, and go," he was told.
In the end, sufficient diesel made it into the city from so many other sources, the shipment wasn't necessary. But Sam's trailer was parked safely out of town at that location the day he was evicted from Ottawa. (Elsewhere, I've described a fuel bootlegger who also used someone else’s property as a supply depot - but on the Quebec side of the river.)
Asked about the most memorable moments of an action-packed month, Sam answers like a born mechanic:
The most memorable by far is Revvin' Kevin. He parked himself right at the gates of Parliament. He was the Black Bomber, the Freightliner from Medicine Hat, Alberta, that sat there revving and shaking at all hours. In the very first days, somehow he shattered his drive shaft. He was literally stuck there. He was a sitting duck.
He got our contact info, and we went down there. The truck was so highly modified. When you're dealing with transport trucks, most of the time you can grab the VIN number and that tells you what transmission's in it, what axles are in it, and you can order the parts accordingly. Well, his was a Heinz 57.
We were in the Kenworth dealership, we were at the Freightliner dealership, we were at the International dealership. Then I met a gentleman who ran a specialty shop. He's like, 'Just bring me all the old parts. I'll measure, I'll identify. You buy the parts, and free labor.'
So I waited there, and they built the drive shaft and the yokes; outfitted me with the proper U joint.
Back in downtown Ottawa, Sam and his crew had to lug it all in:
We had a couple donated wagons, garden carts. And the drive shaft, it's a couple hundred pounds. It's a serious component. And those boys carried that thing. It was balanced on the cart, as far as the cart would go. We had to build the whole thing in the trailer. So it's like, 'Everybody out, we've got a job to do.'
And then they carried it through the crowds of people, right back to Parliament Hill. And we crawled underneath the truck and started putting it in. And that was when there was a big row in the intersection. Kevin started the truck up, and he started revving it up, and laying on the horn.
Nick and I crawled out from underneath the truck, smashed on the door. He looked out the window in disgust that somebody was smashing on his truck. And then he realized it was me, and he realized what he was doing.
He's like, 'I'm so sorry, man. Thank you so much for showing back up.' This was somebody who, you know, he's pegged as being a bit of a ruffian and a real character.
Other jobs were challenging for different reasons. "The language barrier was definitely difficult," Sam says:Â
Jumping in these beautiful, custom, prized possession transport trucks from Northern Quebec. Trying to diagnose the problem, and the guy doesn't speak a lick of English. And having his teenage daughter translate for us. Him and his wife are sitting in the front and I'm talking to the teenage daughter, and she's trying her best to explain to dad.
Then a fellow knocks on the door. He was a painter, an accredited painter. He's offering this poster of this Convoy painting that he did. And the truck driver's like, 'No, no, I'm OK. Thanks very much.'
The painter looks at me. I'm like, 'I'm just trying to fix this truck. And we're having some language issues here.' And the guy literally dropped all his stuff on the street and jumped up on the running board. And 10 minutes later, I knew exactly what we needed to do. And he ended up giving me the painting, and it's in my office and I'll have it forever.
final installment: People Can Break
An amazing story of how that axel made it to that truck - such support and cooperation. So glad you are capturing these details Donna.