The Alberta Clipper (Line 67): Breaking into Big Inch

I remember the day.  November 14, 2008. It was a Friday.

I had recently moved from full time labourer, to part time labourer and part time sales. Going between the corporate shared office downtown Calgary and our rented shop space in the Foothills Industrial Area.  I happened to be at my desk downtown, when the phone rang.

It was Gary Ziehr from Michels Canada.  We had met and talked at the International Pipeline Exposition and Conference in September, where our booths were only a few spaces apart.  Gary wanted 20 of our T48 Shelters.  Our T48 was just released the year before and we had limited inventory. The T24 shelter had always been our mainstay, catering to the 30" and below above ground steam lines utilized in Cyclic Steam and SAGD processes. I was able to supply 8 T24 Shelters and 6 T48 Shelters.  As there was both 20" and 36" diameter lines being welded.

Any sales person knows how it feels when you close a big deal, and this was a big deal for our organization!  We had never supplied shelters on a big inch below ground pipeline before.  This was such a big deal, I travelled to site to meet with the crews on site and make sure they knew how to use the shelters. They used them, and they worked marvellously.  So well that when Michels completed their portion of the job, Banister Pipeline called and requested we transfer the shelters over to them.  The folks at Michels and Banister completed the transfer of inventory in Manitoba and I again made the trip to site to meet with the Bansiter crews. 

For the five months following, Banister rented 26 shelters. Of which the they purchased 15 to keep and use on their next job. 

We have continued to do business with both Michels Canada and Banister Pipelines throughout the years, and appreciate their continued support.  So I would like to thank both Michels Canada and Banister Pipelines for giving us our big break into the big inch pipeline world.