Pro-Trucker Driver Choice July August 2025 Edition
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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
BY JOHN WHITE
Drastic Need for Competent Transportation Ministers
It still amazes me, although I guess it shouldn’t, how, after all these years, the Federal Government has still not addressed the problem of what is known, this time around, as the Driver’s Inc. business plan. I can understand how they have constantly ignored the implementation of proper driver training and Red Seal certification, as it costs them money and only involves the safety of drivers and the public. We all know how much they respect drivers, and the death of the public allows them great photo ops on how they are going to crack down on those monster truckers. But to let the “Driver’s Inc.” business plan rear its ugly head once again after all these years, costs millions, if not, as the CTA (Canadian Trucking Alliance) claims, over one billion dollars, in taxes.
Driver’s Inc. is when a company, instead of hiring a driver, encourages them to incorporate themselves, and then hire them as a contractor. This puts the driver in a precarious position. If there is an accident, the driver does not have Workers’ Compensation to cover loss of work and medical coverage. It also leaves drivers completely on their own and unprotected by Canadian Labour Laws if a company does not pay them. Your only recourse at that time is to take it to court, often leading to a bankruptcy complaint being settled.
If there were proper government oversight, the Driver’s Inc. companies would never have been allowed to get off the ground, once again, let alone threaten the very existence of legitimate trucking companies.
I can’t believe I am still writing about this problem, this many years after it was identified as a scam by unscrupulous companies that take advantage of hiring a driver without having to pay the standard benefits paid by legitimate companies. They also do not have to pay source deductions like CPP, EI and Workers’ Compensation. Add in the responsibility and protection against losing your operating authority due to accidents. On top of that you now have a company that can undercut legitimate companies and drive rates further into the toilet.
After first using driver education (like that has ever worked when an inexperienced driver needs a job), the latest headlines say that the government is taking a closer look at trucking operations, to see if they are fraudulently using the Driver’s Inc model, and are now passing out penalties.
This is the five-point system used, which we printed over 15 years ago, to determine if a driver was an employee or a contractor.
1. If the driver does not own the vehicle, they are an employee.
2. Can the driver accept work from others, and refuse loads, or does the driver work exclusively for the company?
3. If the company gets the profits and pays the driver a wage, the driver is an employee.
4. Who does the loss fall on? If the business takes the loss, the driver is an employee.
5. If the driver wears a company uniform and is governed by the company’s policies and procedures, they are an employee.
Seriously, how difficult is it to investigate a company that has a fleet of trucks but few if any drivers? History shows we are in dire need of competent Transportation Ministers, both Provincially and Federally.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
John White: john@ptmag.ca
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RIG OF THE MONTH by John White
It is not often that you find father-son drivers who are as close-knit and well-known as Ernie Erickson Sr. and Jr. I first met these drivers at Alberta Big Rig Weekends, and I follow their adventures on the road through social media. They are always happy and smiling, and more importantly, in my mind, and quite unusual for truck drivers (come on, you know it is true) is their lack of complaints. You can easily tell they are happy and content with their choice of careers. Last issue, we featured Ernie Jr. as our Rig of the Month, and this issue, Ernie Sr. tells us how it all started.
Howdy, my name is Ernest D Erickson, and here is my story.
I was born on December 20, 1959, in Wainwright, AB. I grew up on the family farm until I was 10 years old, when my father, Martin Erickson, passed away in 1970. My mother, Lillian, moved us to Edmonton, where I stayed until I was 18. I first got interested in the trucking industry because of my uncle Bob Shopland, who was the owner-operator of Chauvin Transport from Chauvin, Alberta. I have spent the last 47 years driving trucks and still love it today.
Ernie Erickson Sr.
Pictures by: David Benjakschek www.wowtrucks.com
I moved back to Wainwright in July 1978, where I started driving truck for my cousin Rod Shopland (Shopland Trucklines Ltd). It was a 1976 Kenworth W900 A. We were hauling Nelson Homes out of Lloydminster, AB. In November 1980, we started hauling crude oil for Gibson Petroleum out of Hardisty, AB.
I got married in November 1979 to Julie Stromberg. Then, in January 1981, we had our son Ernie Jr. He started going to work with me when he was 3 years old, a trucker in training. The truck I was driving then was a 1985 Kenworth K100 E. It was a body truck and tri-axle pup. We figured that was when Ernie Jr. fell in love with Kenworth cabovers. Hence his nickname “The Cabover Kid”.
In the fall of 1982, I went into partnership with my cousin Tim Shopland. I continued to haul crude oil with Tim until March 1994, when I started my own company, “Feather River Transport Ltd.“ I continued with Gibson Petroleum until they were bought out by Trimac Energy Services in July of 2019. I stayed on with Trimac until July of 2023, when I leased on to Boychuk Ventures Inc., where I continue to work now.
I’m currently running a 1985 Peterbilt 359 Extended Hood. I’ve had “The Duke” since 2014, when I decided to go back to the 80s. It has a warmed-up Cat 3406 B engine, an Eaton RTL OO 18 speed transmission and 46000 lb Rockwell diffs. The trucks that I have owned over the years are 8 Peterbilts, 6 Kenworths, 1 Freightliner and 1 International.
Ernie Jr. started driving for me in the fall of 2001. I sold Ernie Jr. the 2001 Peterbilt 379 L that he was driving for me in 2006 when, with his wife Gloria, he started his own company, “Roll on Trucking “. It was great working with him hauling crude oil for Gibson Petroleum, and now, since October 2023, hauling canola
oil for Boychuk Ventures. It’s been really cool getting to truck with my son all these years.
Over the years, I have had numerous adventures. This past winter, I ran through 2 of the worst blizzards I have ever seen. I should have probably parked, but the Duke and I made it through like the Pony Express. It’s been a great adventure over the years, and I hope that the grandkids will carry it on.
I remember one trip in March 1980, Nelson Homes packages hadn’t started moving yet. We got hired on with Northern Industrial Carriers out of Edmonton, AB I was dispatched with a load of pipe that was to be delivered north of Calling Lake, AB.
Little did I know that I would be going on a bush road. I decided that being as it was to be a short load (I thought), I took my younger brother Jim along. I had told our mother we would be back by noon the same day, but the trip took way longer than expected. I ended up spinning out on an icy hill and had to chain up for the first time. I still couldn’t get up the hill. In the meantime, 2 body trucks were waiting at the top of the hill for me to get going. We had to hook up the 2 of them together to pull me up the hill. It took almost to supper time to get to the delivery location, and then we had to wait for the crew to fix the device for stringing the pipe off the trailer. Luckily, it was a camp job, so we got fed. We finally got back to Edmonton,
AB, at noon the following day. One cool thing about this adventure is that in 2019, we were hauling crude oil out of the same area ( Martin Hills ) for Trimac, pulling super B trailers.
In September of 1980, four of us owner/operators working for Nelson Homes took house packages to a reserve north of Terrace, BC. We went in on a logging road, and it was a good thing the log haulers were on strike because we didn’t have company radios, and the road wasn’t very wide. When we got to the delivery site, we found out that the community was on the other side of the river, so we would have to put our trucks on a barge to get to the other side. The tide was in, so the river was high. When the first truck started backing onto the barge, the barge wasn’t secured properly, so it started moving with the current. He had his trailer on the barge, and the tractor was still on the riverbank. That didn’t make the rest of us feel very good about backing onto the barge, but we finally got all 4 units across. While we were unloading, the tide went out and the river went down a lot. This posed another problem, as now we had to back through the river mud to get on the barge again.
In the summer of 1995, my sisterin-law Joan and her husband Bob
bought a Nelson Home package. I was able to use my cousin Rod’s truck to take the package up to Telkwa, BC. My wife, Julie and Ernie Jr. came along on the trip to surprise her sister. They were very surprised to see us when we got out of the truck.
Later that summer, I took Ernie Jr. on another house load up to Burns Lake, BC. A native fellow was helping to unload, and we were discussing trucks. He asked what I thought about Internationals, so I told him that I couldn’t answer that because I was prejudiced. He got quiet and looked away, and I went Oh shoot. I mean, I’m prejudiced against Internationals because I only like Kenworths and Peterbilts, then he smiled, and we had a good laugh.
When we got back from Burns Lake, there was another Nelson Homes package that was going to High River, AB. It was interior framing walls, and at the back of the load, they put a deck package on top of the interior walls. Every time I tried to tighten the straps, it caused the wall panels to come apart. I had to stop at Antler Hill (Innisfail, AB) to try and stop the load from shifting. A couple of other truckers saw my dilemma and helped me secure the load. I couldn’t
drive more than 70 kilometres an hour because of the load coming apart. That was a very long night for me. On the way back, we stopped at the Road King in Calgary, so I could have a nap. Ernie Jr. wandered the parking lot, taking pictures of trucks and checking out the chrome shop inside. When I got up, I figured that we had time to stop at the Reynolds Museum in Wetaskiwin, AB. The lady at the gate was sure surprised to see a tractor-trailer come to the museum. It was a quick but fun tour of the museum.
In 2012, I was hauling crude oil with my 2000 379 L, it had a Herd super road train moose bumper. The bottom rake was only 6 inches off the ground, so I had trouble with Texas gates at times and also deep ruts. I was like the road grader in the summertime and snowplough in the winter. A couple of times, I was having a great time breaking drifts on the highway, when the drifts got a little too deep and the snow started blowing over my hood onto my windshield, making it hard to see.
Life can be a great adventure, especially when you love what you are doing. Keep it between the lines, boys and keep on trucking!
Letters to the Editor
John, Andy Roberts’ article in your last issue about driver training is spot on. I work for a driving school, and I shudder every time I put someone through the government-approved driver training course who I know will pass the road test, but I would never hire them if I were a company owner. This is not the fault of the driving schools. It is a very competitive business, and it is, after all, a business. I do my best to pass on my experience, but I have only so much time to do it. Driving schools have a choice between teaching the basic course to be competitive or going out of business. I don’t blame the students either, as they are often young or have a family and need to work as quickly as possible. If I were in their position, I would also take the fastest and easiest route. No matter how you look at it, the government’s position of overregulation and fines does not and never will make up for poor training. I work for a driving school, so just sign me “Frustrated.”
Editor’s note: I often think about the ICBC examiner who told me that he would tell some drivers, “Okay, you have passed the test, now go learn how to drive.
John,
I don’t always agree with your view on things, but you are right about us being a democracy where we, as a country, all have a vote. You mention people complaining that we
are a communist country or living under a dictatorship. They say it out of frustration but when saying that they automatically prove themselves wrong because they would be put in jail or just disappear if they said that in a communist country.
Pro-Trucker Driver’sChoiceMagazine
Paid Tourist
Iknow I’ve written about being a paid tourist before, in fact, I think that was the title of the article. Still, I feel compelled to do it again. As a driver, if you’re not on a dedicated run like me, you end up driving through a lot of interesting country. We end up seeing it without really getting to “see” it. In the past few years, I’ve aimed to rectify that for myself, and the tough part is doing it on a budget and short notice.
Most recently, I ended up with unexpected layovers in Hagerstown, Maryland, and Beattyville, Kentucky. For those of you in the Mack/Volvo crowd, Hagerstown is home to the powertrain facility for those brands, and I can attest the tour of that facility is worth the visit (when I was in sales at Mack, I was there often.) But what to do if that’s not your jam… I remembered fondly my tour of Washington, DC, especially the Smithsonian Museum; however, my budget was tight. I was holed up at the Flying J off I-81 and not close to much of anything, so I thought I would Uber downtown and walk through the more historic part of Hagerstown. When I opened the app, to my dismay, a ride one way downtown was going to be 35 bucks! Nope!
While I pondered that, I thought about renting a car. This is not a promo, but Enterprise will pick you up. Checking their website, I found I could rent a car for $40. Easy decision, but where to go? I wasn’t about to rent a car with unlimited mileage to drive downtown or
cruise the streets. The local tourist info place had pamphlets of all the attractions within a hundred miles, and I saw that Gettysburg was only an hour’s drive. Destination found, I hit the road. Admittedly, I’m not a Civil War buff, but the museum there was about 15 bucks and fascinating. I followed that up with the self-driving tour that is full of monuments, overlooks, and explanations of the battles that occurred in the town and surrounding hills. There were also hiking trails that took me to even more pieces of history. My day ended at Mission BBQ in Hagerstown, a restaurant that gives back to local Veterans, first responders, and the community. Oh, and they make damn fine BBQ at a reasonable price.
If I had planned this trip ahead of time, I doubt it would have looked anything like the day I had, but that’s the beauty of accidental tourism - you roll with the punches and find new experiences. On this trip, I gained a newfound respect for what it was to go through a war that often pitted families and friends against one another. It also showed me that I either never learned or forgot that the battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the war, but not at the end of the war. I could go on with all the facts I learned, but that history lesson is much better experienced than read in my words.
My trip to Beattyville was even lower budget and less researched. I was hauling a water drilling rig and busting my hump to get to Kentucky
By Greg Evasiuk
Greg is a 3rd generation trucker with over 1 million miles and 22 years in trucking.
to unload so I could carry on to load a rock screener in Newark, New Jersey. I planned to unload Saturday afternoon, then head up to Pennsylvania for a reset and load Tuesday morning. That said, I had researched and planned to hang out around Allentown, PA, Sunday and Monday… pretty sure you know where this is going! How is it that the saying goes? You plan, God laughs. In trucking, I think it’s your dispatcher who laughs! Of course, I found out late Friday afternoon that they wouldn’t unload over the weekend. The good news, along with that, was that I could park on site so I could cut my pilot car free and be ready first thing Monday morning.
Great, I thought. I can just leave the truck at the yard and grab a cab to a hotel, and check out Beattyville. What I should have done on Friday was check out the location online. When I arrived Saturday afternoon, I was greeted with a couple of unpleasant surprises. Firstly, Beattyville has a population of about 1000 people and 2 motels. Second, the yard I was delivering to was 10 miles out of town. So, Uber was out of the question, but I could just Bobtail to town and get a room. Really glad I called first, there was no room at the inn! Now what?
Seemed crazy to me that a town so small would have full motels on a random Saturday in Early June. So did a quick check and found out Lexington was a little more than an hour away, and Expedia found me a room for $100 CDN taxes in! I unhooked and pointed myself north on Highway 11.
It wasn’t long before I found out why the local motels and hotels were booked up. My unload was at the south end of the Red River Gorge and the Daniel Boone National Forest. All along the road, there were signs leading to any number of outdoor pursuits, hiking, climbing, kayaking, side-by-side tours, you name it. I wish I had planned to be here! I tried to take inventory of everything as I drove north towards Lexington to prepare for tomorrow.
After spending the night in my cheap but clean motel on the outskirts of Lexington, I drove the 50-odd miles back to the gorge. My budget was low, and my want list was large. It was akin to wanting a genuine Japanese Ramen experience on an Ichiban budget! Natural Bridge Park delivered for me. It was $11 to ride the chairlift to the top of the mountain (if you want a round trip, it’s $17), and then I was free to hike and explore the wonder of this sandstone rock bridge that spans about 80 feet long and is somewhere around 50 feet high. The hiking trails, of which I sampled about 6 miles, are well-marked and have some unreal rock formations. They range from easy to quite technical (like trekking poles recommended). After my day of exploring, I got back to the truck and headed north
a couple of turns to Thatcher BBQ Company (I have a thing for BBQ right now) and ate my dinner on a picnic table watching the world go by.
While these little side trips and mini tours may not be on many bucket lists, they make my longer trips away from home seem more worthwhile. For me, it is so much better than sitting in the sleeper all day watching Netflix or betting on when I’ll see my first truck stop accident of the day. In the case of these two, it changed my opinion on the area and made me plan to come back with my wife at some point to explore further. I’ve done this all over North America and highly recommend the practice!
Are Your Crews Trained to Work Safely Around Traffic?
Athorough orientation that includes work zone safety is a powerful tool for companies employing people who work at or on the roadside.
Safe work zones are a regulatory requirement in BC and play a critical role in preventing worker injuries caused by moving vehicles. They can also help improve productivity by creating a more organized and efficient work environment.
Employers have a legal requirement to provide safety orientation for all workers. Whether your crew is on a busy street or a quiet neighbourhood road, they’re in a work zone. They need to know how to set up safely and protect themselves from moving vehicles.
Here are some tips you should use during orientation, from Road Safety at Work.
Train Crews to be Prepared:
Before leaving for the work site, crews should:
• Ensure that the vehicle is equipped with all safety equipment, including wheel chocks, fire extinguisher, and first aid supplies
• Plan for changing conditions like rain, glare, or low light that can make it harder for drivers to see them
• Know your first aid procedures
Train Crews in Risk Assessment:
Before getting out of the vehicle, crews need to identify the site-specific hazards, assess the risks, and take
BY: SAFETY DRIVEN: TRUCKING SAFETY COUNCIL OF BC
steps to reduce the risks. They should:
• Pre-plan their work to determine the equipment needed and if traffic control is required
• Identify hazards such as traffic, pedestrians, and tight spaces
• Assess how well passing drivers can see them, especially near blind corners, steep slopes, and from a distance
• Wear high-visibility personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Determine proper placement of cones to guide traffic and prevent it from entering the work zone
• Ensure there are clear sightlines and buffer zones, signs, or spotters to warn others
• Make sure spotters are positioned safely, can communicate clearly with the crew, and that all communication signals are reviewed before work begins.
Train Crews in Your Safety Procedures:
Make sure everyone knows your company’s rules for working around traffic. They need to know what “safe” looks like, and what to do when things don’t go as planned. Some things to cover include:
• Where to park (and where not to)
• Properly wearing their PPE
• Who is in charge of cones and signs
• Keeping sightlines clear when unloading or backing up
Do a Vehicle, Equipment WalkThrough:
Each crew member should know:
• Where safety equipment (cones, flashers, PPE) is stored and how to use it
• How to check visibility using mirrors and cameras
Have crews demonstrate your procedures to confirm their understanding.
Provide Practical or CompetencyBased Training:
Practice using real-world scenarios. These could include:
• Backing into tight residential driveways
• Setting up a work zone along a narrow curb
Workers must be instructed to always face oncoming traffic, stay alert to their surroundings, and to ensure the safety of themselves and their co-workers.
Keep a Record of Orientation:
Maintain records for each worker, including completed education and training, orientation records, and a copy of their driver’s licence and record if they drive on the job. The paperwork is part of your due diligence.
Provide Regular Refreshers:
Reinforce safe practices with regular conversations, tailgate talks, and spot checks. Provide training whenever drivers switch vehicles, return after a long absence, or when you update company procedures.
Visit www.RoadSafetyAtWork.ca for more work zone safety resources.
Dave Madill
Sadly Dave Madill passed on May 1st of this year. He will always be fondly remembered and missed.
The Logbook
His logbook’s on the table, his keys are in the drawer, His truck is parked on the lot, he won’t need these things no more. He left us just the other day on a trip we all must make,
To stand before the final court, their judgement he must take.
He will not stand and bow his head, he will hold his head up high, He will face the final judge, and he’ll look him in the eye.
He will not make excuses, he’s not that type of man.
Through his trials and tribulations, he always made a stand. Yes, he made a few mistakes, and for those he will pay the price. One thing always sustained him, his faith in Jesus Christ.
Someday I hope to join him in that kingdom up on high
Remember when you judge him, how much he loved to drive.
His logbook is on the table, his keys in the drawer, Ther driver has gone home, he won’t need them anymore.
Stay Healthy
The way my trucking career has gone, I have much to be proud of, and there are some things I am very unlikely to share with you. One amazing fact is that my wife has stayed by my side through it all. She is one heck of a cook, and thanks to that gift, there was a time when between her and the truck stop food, I was told by my doctor that I was obese, had high blood pressure, pre diabetic, and easily exhausted. I therefore changed my ways. I gave up the remote control and started a serious daily exercise regimen. No more second servings, and our food choices focused on health rather than pleasure. It worked well. Six months later, I had lost 60 lbs, and my doctor was impressed.
That was a long time ago, but I have kept it off ever since. Being a
career truck driver was no longer an excuse. I just needed better planning. Now, at 64, I still can’t find any food in truck stops that is not engineered, so I have no problem walking away. I stop at the deli and buy a few slices of roast beef or ham, and that’s all I need for a meal. Sugar is my sworn enemy, along with processed foods, vegetable oils/seed oils. I render my own tallow at home from grass-fed animals and use it daily. Discipline is definitely required when the pizza smells so good. I have never had a gym membership, but I exercise regularly to burn off what I eat and stay fit. I keep a load bar in the cab secured above the cabinets for pullups. For the most part I do what I call “creative fitness”. There is always something that can be done if you
By Marcel Larouche
want to. At the very least, walking is one of the best things any driver could do for the heart.
“Something” has become my motivational word, and “No excuses” is my philosophy. Git-r-dun!
Did you know that trash picking is a great exercise? Roadside, brake checks, parks, forest... It’s everywhere and is a sure sign that, despite politics, we do love our country.
Situational Awareness – How is yours?
I’ve been riding around in motor vehicles for over 60 years and operating various types and sizes for almost 50 years. Those of us who grew up in the era of AM radios, 8-track, and cassette tape players had little else to do when riding around in our parents’ car than look out the window. This became our basic training to develop our Situational Awareness of the interactions of motor vehicles on the road. We learned that to turn left, we needed to be in the left lane and to turn right, we needed to be in the right lane. We likely also learned our fair share of swear words, as our parents shared their viewpoint on other drivers’ abilities.
I’ve been operating commercial vehicles for over 40 years and teaching new truck drivers for over 25 years, and as most of you know, things have changed. Some changes have been good, such as more horsepower, more torque, better holdback and better fuel economy, but some not so much. The late 1990s and early 2000s saw a revolution of video screens and video players start to be available in minivans and other assorted vehicles. It was a dream scenario for parents, as kids were occupied and quiet on the long trips, but it was the beginning of the end of natural situational awareness in young drivers. Smart phones as we know them today started to surface in early 2008, and it has been downhill ever since for kids looking out the car window. Why is this relevant to today’s professional driver?
I believe that Situational Awareness can’t be taught in a
couple of weeks or even a couple of months, and your Situational Awareness (SA) needs to cover a larger scope in a commercial vehicle than in your personal vehicle. SA is gained from experience. It’s your ability to perceive, understand and predict what is going to happen next with another road user and how that will impact you. One of the toughest parts of our job as Professional Drivers is that the public gets to come to work with us every day! They can be happy, sad, distracted by electronics or have just lost focus from a recent interaction with a family member, dispatcher or other outside influence. We have a responsibility to make sure everyone goes home at the end of the day, as do all other road users, and that is sometimes easier said than done.
By Andy Roberts President Mountain Transport Institute
So, if our new car drivers start out lacking SA, do they develop enough before they take the step to becoming a commercial truck or bus driver? Do the temporary foreign workers, that are hired by various employers, have SA that is relative to our driving environment and allows them to be safe and successful? I would suggest at the very least there are gaps and, in many cases, there is a serious lack of general awareness. SA can be as simple as planning how you will exit a parking lot or cardlock before you pull in, or more complex situations, where you are interacting with a vehicle whose driver is watching a movie while going 90 or 100 km/h.
Situational Awareness is a huge part of defensive driving; you can’t
drive defensively if you aren’t aware of the potential hazards around you. If a driver evaluation is done by a carrier, SA can be measured to a point, but if the drive is short or on a light traffic day, there may not be many opportunities for an accurate assessment. Many carriers never do driver evaluations; the ICBC road tests for car and commercial drivers are short and often cannot complete a thorough review of SA. Should driver training schools be teaching SA? Absolutely, and at all licensing levels. Is it being taught by most schools? Unlikely at best. Teaching advanced skills like this requires students to have mastered shifting a non-synchronized transmission and their backing/turning skills with a trailer. Mentorship programs where new drivers are partnered with seasoned, professional drivers to gain additional experience is an excellent opportunity to point out SA to the student. But only the elite carriers provide these programs.
What can we do about the lack of Situational Awareness? Are your observation and comprehension skills weak? Recognition of skill gaps is the first step towards improvement and ultimately mastery, as long as you put in the work to get better. If you recognize a skill gap with a coworker, family member (tread carefully with how you present that
Edmonton
to your wife!) or anyone that you may have some influence on, share your knowledge and concern. Lead your concerns with respect and offer to help them improve or recommend taking some refresher training. Professional driver development will make the roads safer for everyone, including, most importantly, your family. Over time, we all develop bad habits. Refresher courses and driver evaluations are valuable for those who consider themselves professionals and those who aspire to be considered professionals. All professional organizations (Doctors, Dentists, Accountants, Lawyers,
etc.) are required to complete a certain number of professional development activities every year. Why should you be any different?
There are several groups currently lobbying governments to create a Red Seal Trade for Professional Drivers in Canada. It will take a lot of time and effort to put this program in place once approval is received. The question I ask: if you had to complete a Red Seal Trade exam, including written & practical assessments, would your skills meet the mastery level required to qualify? If you’re unsure,
A man goes to the lawyer: “What is your fee?”
-Lawyer says: “1000 US dollars for 3 questions.”
-Man: “Wow - so much! Isn’t it a bit expensive?”
-Lawyer: “Yes, what is your third question?”
what can you do to improve?
Every day you pull out onto a public road, you are setting an example for the public and your fellow drivers. Are you setting a safe, professional standard? Or does your behaviour give everyone permission to take shortcuts? Make the right choices and never let your pride get in the way of making sure everyone on the road makes it home to their families.
Have a Safe Day!
Some of My Early Trips
When I was young and inexperienced, I started by hauling gravel. It was long hours and short trips. It was also boring, so I moved on to hauling produce from California, Arizona, and Mexico to Saskatoon. I loved long trips – not that hauling around in circles stuff. I soon learned that most of the loading and unloading for longer hauls isn’t done in the best part of town. I also learned to always be aware of your surroundings and that it is best to blend in wherever you are. Do as the Romans do as they say. I was running produce with a new guy that I didn’t like, and he would not listen. His name was Bernie Bryte. I told him to smoke U.S. cigarettes when in the U.S and smoke his Canadian cigarettes when in Canada. I also taught him not to flash money when in strange places.
We were in Los Angeles, at a produce house getting loaded. At noon, he and I went up the street to have lunch. It was not a top-notch restaurant, but it was close by. It was run down and with a lot of local dock workers. We had lunch, and he got up to go back to the truck when I saw him pay with a Canadian $50 bill. I was still in the booth to finish eating when I saw him go outside, and 3 men stopped him to talk. I also saw that one guy had a revolver, and he shot Bernie right there on the street, and then they just walked away.
By the time I got out there, Bernie was lying on the sidewalk - dead. The sheriff came and took care of things. I had paperwork and had to explain how two of us went down, and I was going back alone. The Sheriff’s and the R.C.M.P. took care of transporting, but I had to identify the body and explain what happened at the border. That was a trip that I will not forget.
One time, I was robbed in Los Angeles at a fuel stop. He had a switchblade, and I didn’t. After those two events, I knew I had to change things. As I headed North, I stopped at a pawn shop and asked if they had a gun. He said he did, but it wasn’t much. It was a 44 long-barrel revolver, and he said it was dangerous because someone had filed the firing pin, and it could go off at any time. I told him that I didn’t want to shoot anyone, just let people know I have one. He sold it to me for $17 with a holster and 6 bullets. I mounted them on the right side of the driver’s seat. I only had to pull it out once at a produce house. As a guy opened my door, he saw the gun was across my legs. His eyes were the size of saucers, and it suddenly smelled a lot like Grandpa’s manure pile. Not every trip was bad, but a person has to know how to handle themselves in strange surroundings.
By Glen Millard
Glen “The Duck” was born in Saskatchewan. He has driven trucks for 50 years, mostly long hauling. He’s now retired, that is until another adventure comes along.
the middle of winter. The truck never shut off. One of the Eskimo men asked if I wanted to go to his house for the night. I asked the Eskimo agent if it was okay. He said it was a great honor to stay overnight. No one told me that it was an igloo. It was quite different to me. Their 3 dogs slept in the tunnel, and when we got in, it was cozy. There was a bench of snow all around, back to the tunnel where the dogs were. There were furs on the bench. In the centre of the igloo, there was a small fire that cooked and heated the igloo. We had raw meat strips cooked on a stick above the fire in the centre.
I eventually ended up hauling automobiles, and I owned the truck and trailer. I hauled from Vancouver and Edmonton to Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Seattle, to Hay River and other North and East areas such as Nipigon, Ontario. I also hauled Ford pick-up trucks for the government to Inuvik, Northwest Territories.
I hauled a load of government material, nails, windows, concrete bags, and hardware to build a shop at Cluff Lake, just south of Uranium City, in the 70’s. There were no roads, and the trail was just pushed into the bush. I left Saskatoon and went to Cluff Lake. The return took 17 days, and there was nothing there. Some Eskimo men and I unloaded the load. It was in
When it was bedtime, the man lay from the entry on the bench, then 2 small young children, then the mother, and then me. I will never forget this night. Everyone stripped bare and covered themselves with furs on the bench. My mother told me not to look at a naked woman, and it took my breath away, but it was normal for them. That is when I learned that when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
I got up with everyone and gave them all a hug, as well as the kids, and left in the truck, which I had left running because it was 40 below. The truck was loaded with empty propane tanks because it was too expensive to send them back to Saskatoon by airplane.
I honestly don’t think that there is another truck driver who has spent a night with a family in an igloo.
Leather
The story in last month’s magazine about green hides triggered a memory for me. I was working for a company called Lep Transport and got to know Bob Laurie, the mechanic for the trucks. We became good friends, and he told me many stories about when he was fed up with being covered in grease and oil while repairing other people’s trucks, so he decided to get his truck and become an owner-operator.
He bought an old two-axle flatbed truck with a ten-ton payload and, among other work, got a few loads of green hides going to Dundee for tanning. On a wet and miserable day, well, it is Scotland after all, one of the truck’s drive shaft joints gave up the ghost. Bob got his tools out of the cab and slid under the truck to see which joint it was. Not only was he wet from lying on the ground, but he also got soaked from above as the liquid from the green hides oozed through the gaps in the truck’s floorboards. But I suppose that’s life as an owneroperator.
Luckily, his sister lived in Dundee, not too far away from his broken truck, so he was able to go there and get cleaned up when he’d repaired the broken joint. I’ve never carried green hides, or any other nasty, slimy loads, thank goodness. Although I did collect a
few loads of leather from tanneries around Paisley. The leather was wrapped in hessian and thrown into the back of my box van by a conveyor beltlike stream of young guys. They came to the back of the truck, each with a bundle on their shoulder, and with one flick, it shot into the back of the truck. Those floppy parcels of leather weren’t as easy to move as those young guys made it look; each bundle had to be lifted and moved to the front of the truck. I couldn’t drag them on the floor because the hessian they were wrapped in caught on the rough, jagged floorboards.
By Colin Black Colin Black lives in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland
and has been driving truck for over 40 years. His story shows us once again that the problems drivers face are universal.
A lot easier to load were the Christmas hampers I used to collect from a company in Hamilton called Anthony Karpe. At the time, I was driving a smallish three-ton van for the railway carriers. When I had completed my parcel deliveries, I had three collections, one of them being the Christmas hampers. I backed into their door, and a conveyor belt was wheeled up to the back of my van. Although the truck was quite short, the conveyor belt put you under pressure to get a hamper, stack it neatly at the front of the van, then get the next box before it fell off the belt.
But conveyor belts are better for unloading than loading. Another company I went to in Paisley had a conveyor belt from the loading bank right into the factory. The truck was backed in off the street, and the door was closed. An extension of the belt was wheeled right inside the van to cut down the distance you had to walk between the boxes and the belt, sheer luxury. The only drawback with that company was your delivery time. If you were late and missed your appointed time, it was game over. You had to make another appointment for another day. If you drove for a local company, it wasn’t too much of a hassle, but if the driver came from south of the border and was stuck with that load because he’d been held up on the road, it was a couple of days lost revenue.
I’ve always considered loading and unloading as part of a driver’s job, but there are some drivers out there who think the truck should be loaded and unloaded for them. Maybe they’re from across the pond, where they pay lumpers to do the hand bombing.
How it is Done.
The secret to a long marriage is that we take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes on Tuesdays. I go on Fridays.
