Trucking & Road Construction
Ricci's Trucking has grown from a very modest sized contractor serving a localized area to the largest Forest Products Haul Contractor in Northwest Ontario. With a combination of Company owned and Sub Contracted trucking fleets, Ricci's Trucking will transport in excess of 1,000,000 m3 of Forest Products annually.
The business owns and operates a fleet of up to 16 chip trucks and trailers with contractual agreements for up to 10 additional chip trucks and trailer units.Beside chips trucks, the company owns 2 Lowbed float trailer units and 14 log haul trailers.
Maintenance facilities are available in both Dryden and Ignace. The Dryden Shop is the main garage facility and is staffed virtually 360 days of the year with competent, certified mechanics and welders as well as apprentices and labourers.
Innovation has always been a strong point of Ricci's Trucking. Several Chip Truck and Trailers are configured with Central Tire Inflation (CTI) capabilities; enabling the driver to control and monitor the tire pressures on both the truck and trailer units- improving traction and flotation aspects required in any given conditions.
This allows the truck to operate more consistently in softer operating areas and results in less damage to the existing road base. Ricci's Trucking was instrumental in a MTO sponsored study on the effects of CTI on roads during the Spring Thaw period. Another positive benefit of this CTI system is a smoother ride, so the drivers drive more comfortably regardless of road surface conditions.
The Wood Movement portion of Ricci's Trucking employs no less than 48 full time drivers for the chip hauls as well as an additional 33 employees during peak periods and for seasonal considerations.Drivers are well trained professionals, operating in tough conditions 300 days of each year.
Road Construction
Road Construction also falls under the guidance of Ricci's Trucking. A D7, what was once a single solitary road construction unit has grown and expanded to 7 backhoes, 1 D7, 1 D700 spreader, 6 tandem gravel and 3 belly-dump gravel trucks, 1 six-wheeled road-truck, 1 grader, 2 sanders, 3 front-end loaders and other assorted pieces of equipment.
The road group is responible for access within all operating areas as well as contractual obligations for some Primary and Secondary road construction-including all stream and bridge crossing installations-necessary to sustain operations. The roads departmentlocates and builds in excess of 150km of road per year. This phase of the business normally employs 7 to 20 employees and occasionally subcontracts some portions of the workload. The fluctations in employment reflect the seasonal aspects of road construction and maintenance.
In addition to road building, Ricci's Trucking also holds the contract for loading railcars for BRODA Construction in a massive gravel pit located in Melgund, a small community between Dryden and Ignace. Loading with a 980 or 744 Cat loader provides CP Rail with over 400,000 tonnes of crushed gravel per year.