FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
BY JOHN WHITE
Here we go again
With the Liberal win, the door has been opened to numerous suggestions from disappointed (to say the least) Western Canadians. Everything from the usual “Western Canadian Separation” to the radical, in my opinion, the idiotic suggestion of joining the U.S. as the 51st state has been floated around on Social Media. Then there are also those who loosely throw around words like tyrant or communist to describe our government. I generally pass those by because the writers obviously have absolutely no idea what it is like living under a true tyrant or in a communist country. To them, I strongly suggest looking up the governments of Russia, North Korea, or China before pretending to be an expert on those words.
Now, before I am subjected to a multitude of emails suggesting I am happy with the result of the election, let me state once and for all that I am not. But that being said, I accept the fact that we live in a Democracy where every single eligible voter has the right to have a say in who will form our government by casting their vote. For any voter to think their vote should count any more than anyone else’s or that their priorities should supersede anyone else’s, good luck with that. Millions worldwide wish they could have a say in electing their government.
Before we start pointing fingers and criticizing those who have different reasons for their votes than we do, we should look at the ones who do not bother to get their ass off the couch and vote at all. Only 67% of the 28.9 million eligible Canadian voters turned out for the last election. That means 9,537,000 Canadians did not find it important enough. I wonder how many of the absentee voters will bitch on Facebook for the next four to five years about what our current government is doing? Would their votes have changed anything? Who knows? But it would have given a better consensus of Canadian opinion.
Whether we agree or not, many Liberal voters have said they base their choice on believing that Carny is better equipped to deal with Trump and the economy. Trump’s tariffs are the number one threat to our economy today. When the economy is good, the trucking industry flourishes. When there is a depression or slowdown, the trucking industry is one of the first to suffer. Trump’s on again, off again, chest-thumping, I’m the King of the World, bravado has the world markets in total disarray. China is the only country unafraid to stand up to him. Their comment that giving in to a bully only increases the chance that the bullying will not stop makes more sense than cringing in fear with the hope that he will somehow change.
What can we do for ourselves without relying on foreign governments? First, remove all interprovincial tariffs, expand our export markets so that we are not so reliant on the whims of the U.S. Build a pipeline east, so that we can export our oil at world prices, and then put a tariff on incoming foreign oil so that Canadian refineries, have no choice but to buy Canadian.
On another note, I have mentioned before that Andy Roberts, President of Mountain Transport Institute, is my go-to guy for driver training in Canada. Andy first impressed me by using the Earn Your Wheels program as a basis for his driver training school. This program was meant to be the original MELT program of the Federal Government in the ‘90s. As usual, the spineless politicians of the day did not have the intestinal fortitude to implement the program nationwide. Graduates of MTI are actively sought after by many of the top-notch trucking companies in Canada.
I am happy to announce that Andy will now be a contributing writer in ProTrucker/Drivers Choice. You can get his take on our current MELT program on page 24.
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
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• Scott Casey • Dave Madill
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RIG OF THE MONTH by John White
Our May/June Rig of the Month is Ernie Erickson Jr., a well-known and respected driver from an equally well-known and respected Alberta trucking family. You would be hard-pressed to find a tighter bond than this family enjoys. Watch for a story on Ernie Sr. in a future issue:
I was born in January 1981 in Wainwright, Alberta. My trucking family are the ones to blame for me getting the bug for trucking when I was just a kid. My Dad, his brother Jim, my great uncle Robert Shopland and his sons Tim and Rod are all part of the truck industry.
My Dad taught me how to drive, and I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor. One day, when I was just 14, he pulled over and stopped outside Hardisty, Alberta. He turned to me and said it’s your turn to drive.
There I was, proud as could be, sitting behind the wheel of his 1990 Peterbilt 379 triaxle tanker - what a day that was.
In the summer of 1999, when I turned 18, I borrowed my cousin Tim’s R model Mack and an old high boy to take my test. I would like to be able to say that I went out there and aced it, but in reality, because of some silly little things that I knew better, it took a couple of times before I finally got my license.
Ernie Erickson
As I said, my Dad is my biggest mentor. He taught me safety, wrenching, and respect for others on the road. We have worked together since 2001.
My first job was running a 5-ton Chevy for my Cousin Tim, hauling freight for a few months for Rosenau Transport. Then, one day, I got a call to help a driver in need who had lost his license due to MS. I ran his mid90s Volvo hauling grain for a few weeks until, sadly, that ended one night when I smashed up my pickup
Pictures
• $300 0 sign on b onus
• Increased mileage rate 10/2021
• Fuel Cap of 47 cent s p er litre
• Fuel p er formance pay program
• Direc t dep osit, paid t wice monthly
• Fast cards and passp or t s preferred
• No cost satellite communication s ystem
• Insurance/ license subsidy is upto 50% , equal monthly payment s, no interest
• Late model tractor preferred
• Safet y b onus paid quar terly
• Scales/tolls/fa xes paid
• Group insurance
• Excellent home time and exible dispatch
• Paid pick ups and drops
• All miles paid/prac tical miles
• Stable company in business since 1954
driving record • Mechanically sound tractor • Cross bo rde r ca pa
Letters to the Editor
John, I can’t figure out how we could have elected another Liberal government. It looks like we in the west are in for another 4 years of sucking the hind teat in Canada. Tony Ferdado
Editor’s note: I expect a lot of pushback on this, but don’t shoot the messenger. I did not make the laws or our constitution.
Most Western Canadians (myself included) are unhappy about how the election turned out, and there is once again talk of Western separation. What most people do not realize is that you can’t just have a vote and then go your own way. Canada is a Confederation, meaning that Canada owns the land within it’s borders. The provinces only have the authority to control certain things within their borders. Such as, “taxation in the province, municipalities, school boards, hospitals, property, and civil rights. They also oversee civil and criminal law, fines for breaking provincial statutes, prisons, marriage, provincial civil service, local works, and corporations with provincial goals.”
The Federal Government would have to agree to the separation for Canada to separate. Contrary to public opinion, Quebec has only held referendums, not votes on separation. Referendums have no legal power and only indicate what the voters would prefer. In the last Quebec referendum, they even failed to get a majority. Later, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that the unilateral secession contemplated in the referendum was illegal.
John, After the election the idea of becoming the 51st state doesn’t sound so bad.
Editor’s note: I decided not to print the name of the writer and only have this to say:
Pro-Trucker Driver’sChoiceMagazine
9 am, but they would arrange for another pilot. At 6 pm, I receive a text from my new pilot that he will be on-site at 8 am. Perfect.
Monday 8 am
The Pennsylvania permit comes in, but no pilot. At 8:15, I got a text from the pilot saying, “Sorry bro, slept in. I’m 3 hours away but will be there. I’m hustling.” Great. I hope you can read the sarcasm in that. With all the hold-ups so far, as much as I wanted to get a new pilot for the day, I knew that would take more than 3 hours, so I waited.
While I waited, I read the permit, and it didn’t make me any happier. Due to my weights I had to take a bunch of detours on state two lanes to avoid bridges, a theme that carried on into Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. When JR showed up, we got rolling, and he ended up being a really solid escort, so that was a bonus. Good enough, I forgave him for the lateness. I finally found a Cat scale that I could weigh on and found out my total was 179,410. I’m no mathematician, but if I subtract 64,200 from that, I get more than 106,000! More permit changes.
Tuesday 5 pm
If you have ever hauled heavy weights and something wide on a beam (rail) trailer, you will understand how much “fun” I was
having. If you haven’t, let me tell you this - it feels tippy. Scratch that. It is tippy, so the seven roundabouts I had done on my tour so far were clenching experiences. Two of them were downhill as well. Every tight turn has to be made slowly, and when you’re on the highway, the term rock and roll comes to mind. So after my tour of the Ohio countryside, avoiding bridges, I was coming back on to US30 from SR49. The turn is from a two-lane onto a four-lane, uphill and more than 90 degrees. I waited for a break in traffic, then pulled out, taking both lanes. I was maybe a bit too aggressive on the pedal, and when I looked in the mirror, to my horror, the crane looked like it was going to fall right over! When in doubt, throttle out! I kept my foot in it, and as I came around, it settled back to the right. Relief flooded over me as picking up a rollover is never on my list of things to try!
I dropped JR at the Indiana line and stopped 30 miles later for a bathroom break. When I walked back out to the truck, I was floored! The front fender on the trailer was pretzeled under and bent all to F! I thought at first someone had hit me in the parking lot, but closer inspection showed it was self-inflicted. When the jeep had turned tight, the trailer rolled to the left. As it came back straight, it caught the fender. No
structural damage, but it hurt my pride and my pocketbook.
Wednesday all day.
It was a mostly uneventful day other than reduced lanes and traffic in Chicago. Oh, and there was a phone call saying I couldn’t pick up the customs package over the weekend. Delivery was now Monday. Ugh.
Thursday all day.
RE route up to I94 (3-5 hours more) and two minor bridge issues in SD. Oh, and another phone call. Change in destination from Langley to Surrey, and now no delivery until Tuesday 6 am.
Friday was slow and uneventful, and I am now doing another reset because I have the time! This trip is far from normal for me. Usually, I have one or two hiccups, and life goes on. I try to look at this as a test, a lesson in patience or resilience. It is not easy when we are out here, and things go sideways. Honestly, if this was the norm, I wouldn’t be out here, but it’s not, and when I look around at the struggles and sacrifices of others, it makes this easier. It doesn’t have to be from some Civil War battlefield, either. Look to what our own ancestors persevered through. Look to people with disabilities, terminal diseases, etc., it all brings a bit of perspective to help us carry on. All of life’s issues are just setbacks, and they are meant to be overcome.
Surprise!
When a young man and woman got married, the husband noticed his wife carried a metal box and put it at the top of their closet. The wife then told him to never to look in it. Over the years, he kept seeing that box, but never opened it. One day the wife had a stroke and the Doctor said she was not going to recover. The husband sat grieving and then thought of the box. He rushed home and got it and pleaded for her to allow him to open it. She said, “I suppose now would be the right time.” The husband unlatched the hook and found two crocheted dolls, and 10,000 dollars! The wife said, “When we got married, my mother gave me this box and told me that whenever I got mad at you, I should go to the bedroom and crotchet a doll,” The husband was thrilled and couldn’t believe his wife had only been mad at him two times! “That is amazing!” said the husband to his wife, “But what about the 10,000 dollars?” ”Oh,” said the wife, “That’s the money I got from selling the dolls.”
Dave Madill
Sadly Dave Madill passed on May 1st of this year. He will always be fondly remembered and missed.
The Stranger
He walked into the diner, on his face a tired smile,
The lines etched on his face showed every weary mile. He was slim and not too tall, and had started to turn gray The hollows underneath his eyes showed the price that he had paid.
The waitress poured his coffee; she had seen his type before She knew he was a driver before he hit the door.
He sat there sipping coffee and listened to us chin, I knew that in a minute he would chip in.
The talk was all on trucking, the places that we had been, The weird loads that we had hauled and people we had seen. I saw the stranger give a start; Pete said he’d been everywhere; Said he, “Hell’s one place you haven’t been; I know you ain’t been there.
“Coming home one midnight, overweight and out of time, I came around the corner, astride the yellow line: I never even seen the car; it happened much too fast, That ride took me down to hell: it was a fatal crash.
You see, what really happened on the midnight run, I came around the corner and killed my wife and son.”
You could have heard a pin drop as he walked out the door, His footsteps echoed eerily as he walked across the floor.
We heard his diesel starting, but never saw him leave,
Just a shadow across the window and sulphur on the breeze. Now, driver, you’ve done many things and you’ve been everywhere; I’m hoping where that stranger went; you never will go there.
Driving Wellness: SafetyDriven Expands Mental Health Support
SafetyDriven – Trucking Safety Council of BC (TSCBC) is a dedicated organization focused on promoting occupational health and safety within British Columbia's trucking, transportation, and related industries. As a certifying partner with WorkSafeBC, SafetyDriven offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to enhance workplace safety and ensure compliance with provincial regulations.
Established to address the unique occupational health and safety challenges faced by the trucking sector, SafetyDriven provides resources and support to employers and employees. Their offerings include safety program development, training courses, and the Certificate of Recognition (COR) program, which guides participants on how to create efficient operations that meet safety standards for a COR audit. By fostering a culture of safety, SafetyDriven aims to reduce workplace injuries and incidents,
contributing to a more efficient and responsible industry.
SafetyDriven’s mission is clear: to reduce injuries, save lives, and create a culture of safety that extends from the cab of the truck to the boardroom. Their initiatives are grounded in research, best practices, and a deep understanding of the realities faced by those in the trucking industry. From fatigue management and collision prevention to ergonomics and mental health, SafetyDriven’s programs are designed to meet the diverse needs of the industry.
A Growing Focus on Mental Health
While physical safety has long been a cornerstone of SafetyDriven’s work, the organization is increasingly recognizing the critical importance of mental health in the trucking industry. Truck drivers face a unique set of stressors that can adversely affect their mental well-being. Extended hours on the road, pervasive isolation, continuous pressure from
tight delivery deadlines, and the demanding physical nature of their work all contribute to a complex psychological landscape. These factors can significantly impact mental health, making it essential to address these issues with the same urgency as physical safety.
In its ongoing commitment to fostering mental wellness, SafetyDriven is taking bold steps to expand its mental health resources and support systems. One of the most significant initiatives is the offering of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training courses tailored for the trucking industry.
SafetyDriven has certified facilitators trained by Opening Minds, an initiative established by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC). This program represents the largest systematic effort in Canadian history focused on eliminating stigma surrounding mental health. The MHFA training
courses are designed to equip participants with the skills to recognize and respond to signs of mental health issues. Much like physical first aid prepares individuals to provide immediate assistance in medical emergencies, mental health first aid empowers participants to offer immediate support to colleagues who may be experiencing a mental health crisis or showing early signs of mental health challenges.
The course will cover a range of topics, including:
• Recognizing the signs and symptoms of common mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders.
• Providing initial help to someone experiencing a mental
health crisis.
• Guiding individuals toward appropriate professional support.
• Reducing stigma and fostering a supportive environment for mental health discussions.
By offering this training, SafetyDriven aims to create a network of mental health first aiders within the trucking industry—individuals who can provide immediate support to their colleagues and help break down the barriers that often prevent people from seeking help.
Looking Ahead
As SafetyDriven continues to expand its mental health initiatives, the organization remains committed to its core mission of promoting
safety and wellness in the trucking industry. The introduction of the MHFA course is just one example of how SafetyDriven is adapting to meet the evolving needs of the sector.
The MHFA course will soon be available, and interested individuals can stay informed about this training opportunity by visiting Safetydriven. ca or by reaching out directly at Info@SafetyDriven.ca. Together, we can build a safer, healthier future for Western Canada’s trucking industry. SafetyDriven is not just about keeping trucks on the road—it’s about keeping people safe, healthy, and connected. Because when it comes to mental health, every conversation matters, and every action counts.
The First Time
If you’re an old trucker like me you’ll no doubt remember a lot of First Times.
I remember the first time I got to drive my pal’s father’s van. We were about 12 or thirteen, so still in school, and obviously we didn’t have a licence. He took us up to the quiet back roads in the hills above his house. There was next to no traffic, and I probably didn’t get out of second gear. The van was an old Austin A35 with a seat in the back, putting a seat in the back of a van was the cheaper option for family transport back then, because as funny as it may seem today, you paid more tax if there were windows in the van.
My first job a week after leaving school at fifteen was in a garage servicing trucks and cars. When I got my first wage packet I went home and handed it to my mother unopened, because that’s what I had seen my father do. My mother then took out my dig money and gave me the rest to go crazy with. I couldn’t wait to get my driving licence, so the experience I got shunting cars and trucks in and out of the shop was a big bonus. If there was a job to be done outside, one guy called Bill put a couple of L plates on his car and let me drive to the breakdown and back. When I did get my licence, one day Bill borrowed a company flat back truck to clear out his garden, it was a Saturday and we’d worked all day cutting down bushes and clearing rubbish.
When it was all loaded on the truck, it was quite late in the day, as
I lived very close to the garage, he asked me if I could take the truck back to the garage and he would come in on Sunday to empty it. As the truck was under three tons unladen weight it could be driven on an ordinary car licence. I was on top of the world sitting in that cab. As it was an old truck, the cab was wooden frame covered in sheet metal, compared to modern trucks it was like driving a motorised garden shed. Of course, it wasn’t a truck back then, that Americanism wasn’t adopted until much later. I was a lorry driver, driving what looked like a garden shed on the inside, loaded with garden rubbish.
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.
He unlocked the head, inserted the disc, and locked it again, taking the key with him because dumb drivers couldn’t be trusted with such an important task.
At the end of my day, he came out with the key, unlocked the tachograph and removed the disc. He looked at the disc confused; it was blank, and he’d put it upside down. That’s probably why he had a desk job.
The truck was an old Albion cabover, one of the few remaining petrol-engined trucks left in the fleet. If the battery was flat, it could be started with a half turn of the starting handle that was permanently fitted through the bottom of the radiator.
Another first that made me smile was when tachograph discs superseded driver’s log books. I was working for a company called Lep Transport at the time. My truck was an old Atkinson with a 220 Cummins and a David Brown six-speed transmission, with an overdrive top gear, and it was a flyer. The original dash was left as normal, and a tachograph head was fitted on top. On the first day of use, I was hooked to my trailer and ready to go when the depot manager came out with a tachograph disc and the key to unlock the tachograph head.
But I had to wait until I retired for some of the biggest firsts of my life. Ten years ago, when I was 65, I gave up trucking. I took some cash from my pension pot, and my wife and I went into the passport office in Glasgow for our first passports. Then, I booked our first-ever flight to a foreign country.
After a short? 9-hour flight, we landed in a country where I thought they spoke the same language as me. But the amount of blank looks we got from the citizens of Vancouver and those at the Pro-Trucker Big Rig Weekend, said otherwise, eh? Driving on the “wrong” side of the road affected my wife more than me, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. There are not many more firsts to go now, but maybe a wee lottery win and a million pounds would see me into my dotage.
