RESTON, MAN - Larry Gould has been in long-haul trucking for many years as a commodity specialist broker.
He was the office manager for a trucking company in Souris, Man., which ran tandem and super-B trailers. About 30 years ago, the company was asked if they were interested in hauling coal.
At the time they were running coal from Bienfait, but as the company grew, they started hauling from Centre Coal mine in North Dakota.
Some of the customers were having issues with the Saskatchewan coal as it was not heating enough, Gould said, with Bienfait coal running at 6,700 BTU (British thermal unit - a measure of heat contents of fuel or energy sources), and North Dakota coal running at 7,600 BTU. So, the customers started asking for Center Coal instead, which was only a little higher in cost.
When the BDN Generating Station stopped getting coal from Wyoming at the Wolf Mountain Coal Mine, Gould began to contact the customers and provided them with coal from Decker Coal.
Decker Coal was heating hotter at 9,600 BTU, making it more attractive for some people at an additional cost.
They haul between 26 and 30 short tons (ST), depending on customers' needs, with delivery to the yard. Truckloads of coal are hauled from September through March.
Once customers contact Gould, it takes one week to deliver from Center Coal and 10 days from Decker Coal.
When Gould's boss retired 15 years ago, he started his own company called Larry L. Gould. This season with a mild winter he has transported about 30-50 loads of coal.
Other commodities such as salt, potash, urea and fertilizer are hauled as well.
Gould tries to organize trips, so he is never hauling with an empty load.
When he hauls south, he is often loaded with oats, canola, rye and durum wheat that go to North and South Dakota, Iowa, Montana, Minnesota and Wyoming.
On his way back north he picks up corn, soybeans, dried distiller grains and milling pellets taking it to the Prairies.
People often ask Gould what he does.
"I tell them, I talk on my cell phone, I look at my laptop all day long, as I can work anywhere as long as I have cell phone service," he said.
Gould enjoys his life as a broker and trucker and looks forward to the years to come.
