TERRACE STANDARD | Business Review Trucking firm closes By JEFF NAGEL VIC FROESE Trucking Ltd. has shut down after 44 years in business here. The company's 10 employees have been laid off, said operations manager Jim Mantel. Company founder Vic Froese says he's retiring and has opted to send all the ~~ company’s equipment to the auctioneer’ rather than try to sell the firm. Lack of business from shut-down Skee- na Cellulose — a key customer in the past -was also a factor in the decision, Froese said. “It’s mainly because I'm re- tirement age,” he said. Vic Froese Trucking has been a fixture in the city for decades, carrying out work like city street reconstruction, snow plow- ing, logging road maintenance and deac- tivation. It also did land clearing and éarth moving for new subdivisions ~ work that has dried up because there have been virtually no new housing starts in recent years. The more than 20 pieces of equipment ~ trucks, excavaters, bulldozers and gra- _ ders — are at Ritchie Brothers Auctions, where they'll be sold off Dec. 17. Mantel said other local contractors will likely be able to expand and take on extra employees. “With their knowledge, the employees we laid off will not have too much diffi- culty in finding another job when the economy picks up,” he said. They expect that turnaround to starl to happen i in the months ahead. “By this time next year 1 think things are going to be on the upswing again,” Mantel said. The company, which started out as Birch and Froese in 1959, has gone from a peak of around 30 employ- ees in good years to less than 10. Some of the workers have been with the company more than 30 years. They’ve seen their wages grow from an average $2 an hour around 1960 to $24 on average now. “We've appreciated serving the town,” Froese added. The company is continuing to sell gra- vel through its quarries. Vic Froese oO The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 11, 2002 - Al| Onuine Did you know, physicians, nurses and treatment specialists from s ube s B.C’s Children’s Hospital travel to more than 162 outreach clinics = “=~ [ad hetamieare -” Children's Hospital in 17 communities across B.C. to treat patients where they live? ——vivkidstetefhon.cor 1-898-663-3093 Christma j For you and the ¢ ones you love, may it sparkle like never before. Terrace - Skeena Mall- 635-5111 - Kitimat-- City Centre Mall - 632-3313 “Prince Rupert - 527-3" Ave - 624- ee oa Complimentary 738383 FI8-221 {More bite for your buck! Dec. 9" to 31" Double Cheeseburger ‘THE CARVAIR, a converted DC-4, has gone to Alaska, where Brooks Air Transport will use it to fly cargo into remote villages. JEFF NAGEL PHOTO Hawkair sells cargo plane HAWKAIR AVIATION | the hold. But it has been mostly has sold its large Carvair cargo plane. The canverted DC-4 aircraft left Terrace Thurs- day for Fair banks, Alaska, where it w in, new owners Transport. Company = president Roger Brooks says they'll use the Carvair to fly var- ious cargo from insulated pipes to cars into remote villages in western and northern Alaska. The four-engine aircraft features a nose cone that opens up and allows cargo - including vehicles — to "Brooks: PAir “They’re good on gravel strips,” Brooks added. “We only have one paved strip we fly into - all the rest are gravel.”. OWA Veco ggthestnusual aircraft is ote of only three of its kind ‘still flying in the “world. Hawkair's was built as a DC-4 in 1946 and con- verted to the Carvair class plane in the early 1960s. “They’re good ald airplanes,” Brooks said. Hawkair bought the plane in 1997 and used it mainly to supply the Bron- son Creek mine northwest idle since Hawkair bought Dash-8 aircraft and laun- ched its passenger air ser- vice two years ago. “We weren’t using it since we got ont. of..the, Hawkair marketing direc- tor Charlynn Toews said. “It’s not good for an air- plane to just sit,” she added. “It’s like a dog. It has to have a job or it turns bad. But it’s also sad to see it po,” Hawkair once used the plane to fly a herd of rein- deer from a farflung Aleu- tian island to Red Deer, Hurry in and bring your appetite! And don't forget to add our famous DQ® Yule-Flip Peppermint Chip J. Flavour Treat. | istered Gademarks of American Dairy Queen Corp. rice valid-an specified sizes only. See store for details. Proud sponsor of the Children’s Miracle Network. SOMETHING DIFFERENT dairyqueen.com for a linked iimea al maticatng — te Re boy keen canada Inc, Reg. U al add Inc, Reg. 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