Pro-Trucker Driver's Choice - March April 2023 ( Find Your Trucking Jobs)

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

BY JOHN WHITE

Looking Back After Five Years

Jaskirat Sidhu was the truck driver that pulled out in front of the bus carrying the Humboldt hockey team. He had taken a one-week driver training course, which was enough training in the government’s mind for him to receive his Class 1. He then trained with another driver for two weeks, which was enough training in the owner of the company’s mind. On the day of the tragedy, he was hauling one of his first solo loads. A tandem trailer laden with peat moss.

Jaskirat came to Canada in 2014 after getting his Commerce degree in India. His girlfriend, Tanvir Mann, came to Canada in 2013 after completing her nursing degree in India. They were married just three months before the crash.

They were building towards a successful life in Canada when Jaskirat took the driver training course to earn enough money to send his wife back to school. Previously he worked in a liquor store, and she worked parttime at Tim Hortons. She dreamed of working in her chosen profession, and he planned to return to school after she graduated.

I am not making an excuse for what happened, and at no point did Jaskirat attempt to hide from his mistake. On the contrary, he immediately accepted responsibility by pleading guilty to all charges instead of putting the mourning families through a long, drawn-out court case.

Implementing MELT programs was the government’s knee-jerk reaction to the Humboldt tragedy. Unfortunately, it only gave politicians the opportunity for photo ops where they could offer their “thoughts and prayers” and show their outrage at a broken system that they, apparently by their reaction, unknowingly, had condoned for so long. The federal government’s response to the tragedy was to put together a very loose minimum standard for new drivers, but they left the final details up to the individual provinces and territories, which is the problem.

The public was proudly told that the MELT program would ensure new truck drivers were trained to a minimum standard. Emphasis on minimum. While it is much better than the quickie course that Jaskirat took, it is still, no matter how you look at it, a minimum band-aid program that relies on the industry to finish the job.

While most companies are doing a great job of providing further

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training, there is still nothing stopping fly-by-night companies from cutting their recruits loose as soon as they come out of school. It reminds me of an ICBC inspector in BC who sadly, but in all seriousness, used to tell drivers, “Okay, you have passed the test. Now go learn to drive.”

Besides the limited instruction, one of the biggest problems with MELT is that no two provinces offer the same program. They are all different, from the course length to the curriculum itself. For instance, if you take the Ontario MELT course, you must take an air brake course before getting your BC Class 1. Then, of course, you have Mountain driving and chaining up, things that most provinces do not find necessary to teach. The problem is nothing is stopping these drivers from

by taking shortcuts and not teaching the whole program. The threat of using few and far-between spot checks by a minimal number of inspectors as a means of policing schools has never worked in the past, so why should it now? Remember that old definition of insanity? “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” a good addition to that definition is: “except in politics, where it is called leadership.”

The best way to ensure new drivers enter the trade as safe professionals is through an apprenticeship program culminating in trade certification. The next best would be a graduated licensing system where a driver must be certified every step of the way. Unfortunately, either of these would require government money, but it seems our politicians feel thoughts and prayers are good enough.

RIG OF THE MONTH by

Myrna Chartrand

Nick Bauer from Red Deer, Alberta, is our March/ April Rig of the Month Driver. He has worked extensively in and around the oil fields for many years. This is his story.

I grew up in Red Deer, Alberta, and my dad was a truck driver working in the agriculture industry. As a kid, some of my best days were spent riding along with my dad and his friends in their trucks. One of my dad’s proudest days was when my brother and I were driving trucks alongside him. You

couldn’t have wiped that smile off his face if you had tried. Growing up as a kid, it was always Western Stars, as that is what my dad drove. As I grew older, I knew I wanted to get into trucking. My mom hoped my brother and I would pursue different lifestyles, but we both got into trucking at about the same time.

When I was 14 years old, I started working for HL Powell Trucking in Red Deer on weekends and after school, where I helped load and unload trucks in the warehouse. Then a downturn in the Oilfield came, and I was let go. A couple of years later, I went to work for

Nick Bauer

R. Robinson Transport in Blackfalds, Alberta. They hauled drilling mud. I started out by helping mechanics and washing trucks in the shop; when I finished high school, I started working in the warehouse, loading and unloading trucks. It was fun working in the warehouse, and I learned a lot about axel weights at the same time.

It was around 2003/2004 that I started swamping on the deck trucks. At that time, many of the drilling rigs in Central Alberta weren’t running loaders on site. So we would haul the drilling mud to the site, and then we had to unload it off the trucks and into mud vans by hand. It was a lot of work hand-bombing 80 to 100 lb. bags of mud, but it was also a lot of fun. Eventually, I started doing hotshots running a single-axel deck truck and doing deliveries myself.

Formula Powell Trucking purchased R. Robinson Transport, and that is when I got my class 1 and started hauling by myself. By the time I got my license, I was ready. The drivers at Robinson and Formula Powell were all good to me. They taught me a lot and looked after me out on the road. They would call and check in and were always available if I had questions. The first truck I drove at Formula Powell was a 2003 T800 Kenworth with a 48-inch Flattop bunk. It had a C15 Caterpillar engine. It was a beautiful truck. In 2007 I was asked if I wanted to help out with dispatch. I accepted and started working in dispatch as well as still driving when needed. It was fun to do both, but they were very different. In 2009, things slowed in the Oilfield, and I left Formula Powell.

I went to work for Ferus Inc out of Red Deer. At the time, I didn’t know how long I would work there or the places it would take me. I started in February of 2009, and there were some hurdles to cross as I was only 23, and they usually only hired people 25 years or older. They managed to bring me on board as a driver, and it was the first time I drove a tri-drive hauling cryogenics. I started off hauling liquid Carbon Dioxide to well sites in Alberta,

British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The first truck I drove at Ferus was again a 2003 Kenworth T800 with a 48inch flat top, so I felt right at home. It was a nice truck powered by a C15 Cat.

About a month after I started, the fracing industry began to slow due to the recession, and they had to reduce staff, but I made the cut, and they kept me on. At the time, none of us knew how fast things would turn around, and luckily it wasn’t long before things started to pick up and became very busy again. Eventually, I started hauling Liquid Nitrogen as well. Not long after that, they bought new trucks and put me in a 2009 Kenworth T800 with a 60-inch mid-rise bunk tri-drive. That was the first year with the Cummins ISX Engine. I only drove this truck for a few months before being approached by Ferus to help out in dispatch because they knew I had dispatch experience. I enjoyed what I was doing and agreed because it was only “temporary” until they hired someone full-time. What I didn’t know then was that I wouldn’t drive a truck at Ferus again any time soon. I spent the next three years dispatching for Ferus and eventually moved on to being the Logistics Supervisor and finally took over being the Logistics Manager. They were doing work all over North

America at the time. Over the years, we dispatched hundreds of loads into the United States, so I learned about crossborder shipments and the rules and regulations for each area we hauled. I met many great people over the years at Ferus, and I was treated like family. Some of our coolest projects were in North Dakota, delivering thousands of tons of products into the area. The logistics required to haul the products to the Border and then unload and reload them onto compatible trucks to North Dakota was pretty amazing to think back that we managed to pull it off without any delays or problems at the well site.

Through my time at Ferus, I saw many ups and downs in the Oilfield. Eventually, in 2021, Covid came, and Ferus had to downsize. They finally closed the Blackfalds shop where I worked. They offered me a driving job until things picked up, so there I was, back behind the wheel, driving a 2020 Peterbilt 567 Tri-Drive with a 72-inch bunk. This truck had the X15 Cummins and the Eaton Ultra Shift Plus automatic transmission. I wasn’t sure how I felt about driving an automatic transmission, as I had only ever driven an 18-speed stick before. The first few weeks were the biggest adjustment

looking for a clutch or reaching for a shifter that wasn’t there. It was also an adjustment to get back into the truck hauling C02 again.

My first haul was in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. Two other guys working in dispatch/ driver training also went back to trucking, and we had a lot of fun, but after a few days of hooking up and unhooking these heavy hoses, we all felt it. We weren’t used to the physical part and were moving around like old men - all stiff and sore. None of us wanted to admit it, but finally, we were all at the plant loading, and one of the guys asked, “Are you guys as sore as I am?” I said, “I don’t know how I got out of the bunk this morning.” Working in dispatch for so many years, we had all forgotten the physical aspect the drivers go through, hooking and unhooking hoses or chaining up multiple times a day. So this was a good reminder. Eventually, Covid really slowed things down for Ferus, and there wasn’t enough work to go around, so I offered to leave, not knowing at the time what I was going to do.

A few days later, I got a call from an old friend I had gotten to know while working at Ferus. It was Abu, the owner of Bizi Transport Inc out of Blackfalds. We regularly chatted about life and trucking. He just happened to call and see what I was doing. He told me to come to see him the following week, so I did, and he offered me a job doing Sales and Business Development for him. I accepted the job in May 2020 and started working at Bizi Transport.

I met a lot of great people at Bizi Transport and had a lot of fun while working there. During my time at Bizi Transport, they expanded into deck work, LNG hauling, Cryogenic work, Oilfield and Merchant, and specialty chemicals. The things Biz transport achieved in the two years while I was there were amazing. The different things we learned and had to troubleshoot while we were expanding made the job fun. The team at Bizi was very diversified, and Abu had

people from all different parts of the transportation industry there. It was great to learn about the other sides of the industry.

At the end of December 2021, I went to work at a shop Bizi had in Fort St John, BC, that we had been using as a satellite branch while working in the area. I worked helping get it set up and running as a full-time facility. I started by interviewing and hiring local drivers in the area, and then I would spend the day in the field checking on drivers, helping mechanics, moving equipment around and doing sales. I even spent days hauling frac sand on large projects when drivers needed time off.

During this time, I had a lot of changes going on in my personal life and felt I needed a change. I talked to Abu about this and finally, in June of 2022, decided it was time for me to pursue something else. Once again, I didn’t know what I would do, but an opportunity came for me to work for Trican Well Service Ltd. in Red Deer. I had known all the guys in dispatch for a while, so it made an easy transition. I was hired as a Sand Bulk operator in the logistics department but didn’t make it into the truck for a few months. I ended up jumping in and helping out in Transport Dispatch to cover for the regular dispatcher’s holidays. I eventually got into a truck, and my assigned unit was a gem. It’s a 2013 T800 Kenworth tandem with a 54inch High rise sleeper, 475 horsepower ISX Cummins, and an 18-speed Eaton Transmission. This beautiful truck is fully-loaded with a leather diamond tuff interior and a pneumatic blower. Trican buys beautiful trucks and equipment for its operations and maintains them to the highest standard.

At Trican I haul a little of everything. I have transported Nitrogen, Frac sand by hopper bottom supper b, or pneumatic trailers. I’ve hauled cement and moved equipment. I enjoy Trican because it’s something new every day. In logistics, we work with all the Frac, Coil Tubing, Cement and Nitrogen departments. It

doesn’t matter what department I work with; I always feel welcome with the crew. Everyone works well together and gets the job done. As a driver, a big bonus, as far as I am concerned, is Trican’s dispatch lets us know what we are doing and then allows us to do it. I hate being micro-managed. I’m treated like an adult. The managers at Trican are good, approachable, and knowledgeable. For anyone looking for a place to go or get into the industry, I would strongly encourage them to consider Trican. I feel I’m paid great for my work; the benefits and RRSP program are top-notch.

I enjoy the challenge in some of the places we go. The other day, I was hauling into a remote area full of very steep hills. I was fully chained up, and there was a large hill. As I was climbing it, all you could see over the hood of the truck was the sky. It was a beautiful area to see with the mountains around and a bit of a challenging drive. It couldn’t get any better, in my opinion. Although had you asked me to go there for my first winter driving, I would have been afraid. It’s pretty cool to think about where I was my first winter to how comfortable I am now. I owe it to many good people who gave me tips and showed me things over the years. It’s fun now when new drivers come on, and I can pass along what I know. One of my favourite parts is the people I meet on my travels and hearing their stories. It’s pretty incredible.

I still dispatch to cover for holidays and drive the rest of the time, which gives me the best of both worlds. I really enjoy the job. As I reflect back on how I got into the industry to where I am now, I can’t help but laugh and smile. It feels like I have gone full circle. I’ve met a lot of amazing people over the years that are passionate about trucking. A lot of these people have become lifelong friends that I hear from weekly. We all like to chat and hear about the adventures we have all been up to. It’s been a great career full of rewards and benefits, and I look forward to what the future has in store.

Letters to the Editor

Hi John

I don’t know if it’s just the fact I’m getting older, but I really enjoyed the latest Pro-Trucker. Almost every story triggered a memory. The old ERF photo in the Rig of the month story was great. They were fibreglass cabs and a little less draughty than the old Atkinson cab. The memory that one triggered was the day I started working for a company and was driving an ERF. I looked in all the nooks and crannies, and above my head was an inspection flap for the illuminated headboard. My mind was racing when I opened it and found three pairs of women’s panties. How did they get there? Who had been wearing them?

Ah, yes, the good old days. I hope you enjoy the latest ramblings from this Scot’s old damaged memory. Take care, John

tata the noo

Colin Black

Editor’s note:

Always enjoy your stories, Colin. Concerning the panties that you found in the truck, I do not have an appropriate comment at this time.

John,

I have to say... in your editorial, you talked about steep fines for not chaining up, and I, too, think it is time to start charging for stupidity. And before people say silly things about what I know about trucking. I have been around the block a bit more than a few years of trucking and pulled a few trucks, too (gosh, that’s fun ). I do miss trucking, but back to driving smart. I think making chaining up part of your road test would be a great start.

Byron Talbot

Editor’s note:

If road safety were something that the government was even remotely concerned about, we would not be having a conversation about new drivers having to know how to chain up before being cut loose.

John,

British Columbia has made changes to ELD regulations that most other Canadian jurisdictions either already have, or are likely to follow. The changes made to the rules and fine schedules, for even minor violations, have jumped from reasonable to considerably more than most truck

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drivers make in a day. For example, the government added or changed fines, from $120 to $270 and up to $520, for some of the simplest errors or forgotten entries. In logbook days, many of these were easily correctable on the spot allowing for adjustment at the scales or roadside, but the new ELD rules make this a thing of the past, bringing a “pay now, ask forgiveness later” approach to enforcement. Transport Canada is also considering implementing ELD penalties, which would only compound the costs of forgetting or making mistakes in drivers’ ELD entries.

James Cooper

Independent Transportation and Communications Advisor

Editor’s note:

It definitely brings to mind the old saying that BC stands for Bring Cash.

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Winter Storms

Winter began early in some provinces and states this ‘22/’23 season and has been particularly brutal in many locations. At least by now, one would think that the professional driver would have acclimatized to conditions as they change daily. Unfortunately, from what is seen and heard on daily news sources, it seems some have not yet adapted well to the vagaries of nature and end up in regrettable situations. Like the driver of a semi who encountered an icy patch west of Salmon Arm on the Trans-Canada recently and ended up entering the residence of an innocent sleeping homeowner. The tractor was pretty much destroyed, with considerable damage to the house structure. Every year one hears of multi-vehicle crashes on Ontario’s 400 series of highways. Just before last Christmas, there was one involving over 100 vehicles near London, many of which were semis, and Hwy 402 at the same time was shut down due to the many incidents caused by the same storm. There are safe havens along these routes. One might wonder why they weren’t bicycle parking – no room for anything bigger!

As a veteran operator and one-time safety supervisor, I often pondered

Better than Ethanol

why drivers do not accept that conditions are not conducive to progress and find a safe off-road location to park until they improve. Ultimately it is the driver who is captain of their ship and in control of its wellbeing, but one so often hears that dispatch “pushed me so that I had to keep going” or “I had to keep going or lose my return load.” Stop me if you think I’m wrong, but is it perhaps not more productive to be late with one’s cargo and reload rather than not arriving for either event at the estimated arrival time? Is Just In Time delivery adding to the problem? Certainly, in today’s market, many companies use the trucking company’s trailer as a moving warehouse to save money and depend on timely appointments to keep their lines of production operating smoothly. But then again, is it not better to give one’s employees a bit of a break rather than time off without pay due to a lack of resources?

There is speculation as to whether or not autonomous vehicles will be better inclined to interpret poor driving conditions and take the necessary safety precautions to avoid the grief

By Ed Murdoch

Ed has held a commercial drivers license for 65 years and has spent the better part of 50 years on the road. You can get Ed’s new book at www.drivingthroughmymemories.ca

and sorrow which often accompanies a bad decision when one or more vehicles experience an incident. Plus. ai is partnering with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to put the above problem to the test. The experimental performances will take place at the Department’s cold-weather pavement testing facility, paving the way for public discussion to support the growing interest in automation. The project will involve driving in all weather conditions, including extreme winter circumstances. Currently, over 1,300 fatalities and more than 116,800 persons are killed or injured every winter in the US of A, so it is important that increased safety factors and rigorous testing be initiated before full-scale autonomous units find their way onto public roads and highways.

As the first line of transportation in the US, trucking is a trillion-dollar business, and the founders of Plus. ai saw the potential of pursuing the industry as the model to emulate in

Sister Mary, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas.

As luck would have it, a gas station was just a block away. She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out but she could wait until it was returned.

Since the nun was on the way to see a patient, she decided to walk back to her car to see if she could find something she could use. She spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient and always resourceful, she carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gas, and carried it back to her car.

As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two men watched from across the street. One of them turned to the other and said, “If it starts, I’m converting.”

the progression of autonomy on the highways and byways. Currently, Plus.ai is working with the major truck manufacturers to produce safer selfdriving units than those operated by humans.

I believe fully automated transport trucks will be used primarily on line hauls where the routes are the same coming and going, and infrastructure is user-friendly. Living drivers will still be required for the random long hauls where the infrastructure has not yet been installed. That will take many years, so I am not prone to believe that there will be many idle drivers unable to find work in the commercial trucking workplace. And Canada, because of its variety of weather and motoring conditions, will likely lag further behind the Excited States. So relax! North America is already facing a critical shortage of qualified, experienced drivers, hence the increase in accidents involving heavy-duty

rigs, especially in inclement weather. One must remember that posted speed limits are intended only for optimum driving environments and are not a full-time mandatory requirement!

I’ve told this tale before, but it is worth repeating again … and again. Now I was never one to shirk from driving in adverse conditions. In fact, I always welcomed the challenge. However, when danger was deemed imminent, I would find a safe spot off the beaten path to sit out the real or imagined hazardous situation. On one occasion just west of Cochrane, Ontario, the highway surface was a veritable skating rink, and one could swing the steering mechanism back and forth without changing direction. I was already going at a snail’s pace but opted to pull into an abandoned service station and wait for the sand and salt trucks to venture forth. After a few minutes, one of our intrepid ownerops went by and shouted on the 2-way

radio, “Come on, Birddawg, you won’t make any money sitting there!” I answered that I would see him down the road, and I did once the situation had improved where I felt it would be safe to continue. Unfortunately, not that far along the way, I saw the rear end of our highway hero’s trailer resting in the ditch while the rest of his rig was buried in the bush. I encouraged him to get going as he wasn’t making any money sitting there. In fact, it cost him $750 to extract his combo from the forest fringe, plus a day lost and a few minor cosmetic repairs.

Take refuge when in doubt and arrive alive even if your shipment might be received later than predicted. I had a saying that aptly described my working philosophy, “I’m never early, and I’m never late. I’m always on time.” So please be safe out there and enjoy your life … 10-4!

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Sports and Life Lessons

I’m a sports fan, and I love playing, cheering and coaching them. Soccer, football, skiing, boxing, volleyball, golf, basketball and hockey all have provided me with countless hours of enjoyment. If you’re a fan, you know there’s also been a large share of heartbreaking moments sprinkled in there too! What I am increasingly struck by as I get older is the life lessons sports have given me. I know a few people who say it’s a waste of time, but nothing is farther from the truth.

I have never been what anyone would call gifted at any particular sport. I would be picked near the middle of the pack in gym class in almost everything. In elementary school and up, I wasn’t given any red ribbons for track and field, and until I played hockey, I never received more than a participation trophy for anything. The first organized sport I was involved in was Tae Kwon Do, and I never won a sparring match. Regardless of my lack of killer instinct, I followed our leaders’ instructions and worked my way up to a blue belt. That was in grade four. By grade five, my neighbours convinced me that my prowess at street hockey would translate onto the ice, so despite barely being able to skate, I joined organized hockey.

What does this all have to do with trucking? Well… nothing and everything. Honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought until a recent run of

audiobooks I listened to on sports figures. It started with “Open” by Andre Agassi, an astounding tale of a man who made an incredibly successful career in tennis despite hating the sport! His father had a crazy obsession with making him the best which drove him to be the best, despite his complete disdain for the sport. It rid me of any and all thoughts that my parents should have pushed me harder.

Next, I read “Burke’s Law” about NHL GM and analyst Brian Burke. It was absolutely fascinating to read about the failures and successes that came together to make him a Harvard-educated lawyer who ended up working for both the players and the league.

Then there was “You Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins. I can’t imagine there are more than a handful of people in this world that have endured a tougher upbringing, let alone used that as motivation to become one of the world’s foremost endurance athletes. Oh, and I forgot to mention he succeeded in completing training as a Navy Seal and an Army Ranger, finding out only after several ultra-marathons that he did it all with a congenital heart defect that could have killed him at any time!

I also recently finished Mark Messier’s “No One Wins Alone” and Stu Grimson’s “The Grim Reaper.”

By Greg Evasiuk

Greg is a third generation trucker with over a million miles and 20 plus years in trucking. He now sells trucks for Nortrux.

This isn’t a book report, so suffice it to say those were both great reads and windows into the minds of very different types of NHL players.

These books made me think about all the traits and life lessons sports have taught me. One of my friends once told me my golf game only suffered from Loft. When I questioned him, he smiled and said it meant a lack of F’n talent! Hmm, that pretty much describes my problem in most games, but it also helps me. You see, a lack of Godgiven ability has required me to work harder just to be proficient. If you’re willing to work that hard at play, you will most definitely do the same in work.

If you take playing the games or any actual athletic endeavour out of it and are a fan, coach, manager or official, there are many lessons here too. Organizational skills, teamwork, leadership, camaraderie, loyalty the list goes on. If you have ever participated in or cheered on the sidelines of any sport, pat yourself on the back. The benefits of the practice go far deeper than mere exercise and adrenaline!

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The Piggy Bus Encounter

It was a Monday morning in October, and things were running normally around our place. It was a school day but we were also shipping a couple of Hogs off to the slaughterhouse for our use and picking up some others for local families. My Uncle Len would be doing all the pickup with our 10ton stock truck, and for a change, I did not have to help and could catch the school bus. Len loaded at our place and then went next door to his place, and I just happened to be passing his driveway as he was pulling out. To save the three-mile walk to the bus stop, I hopped in with Len and helped him load at Hermans and Charlies, and then he dropped me at the store, where four other kids catch the bus.

The bus trip went as normal until we came down the 9th concession, passed the slaughterhouse, and turned on the side road to the highway. Now this was a turn from a narrow road onto another narrow road, and the bus was a 48-passenger model, so it had to

then the road went uphill in a “C” configuration to the highway about 100 yards away.

Unknown to us on the bus, Len had just turned off the highway to the slaughterhouse and was starting down blind as trees along both sides of the road blocked visibility. I guess Len and Harry saw each other at the same time, and both reacted by hitting the brakes. Now, this worked on the bus 3/4 of the way around the corner, but it had a much different effect on Len. This road was or had been, gravel over a clay base, but over the years, the gravel had washed away, so Len was on wet leaves over wet clay, and when he hit the brakes, he said it felt like a skating rink. Instead of slowing down, the truck picked up speed. Now things went really bad. As Len was sliding toward the bus, the right front wheel hit some gravel and almost stopped, but the rest of the truck kept going, and Len was now sideways in the road. Next, the left front bumper and fender hit the bus spinning the truck again, so now it was backwards, and the truck and bus merged side to side. Finally, the truck bumper hit the rear wheel well of the bus spinning the truck, so now it was back on to the bus and crossing the road. Finally, things came to a halt. I

was sitting in the third seat behind the driver on the aisle side, so I had a good view of all this, and I saw Len getting bounced around pretty badly.

After disentangling myself from the young lady, I had been sitting with, I made my way to the front and had Harry open the doors so I could get out and get Len out of the truck. The door to the truck was difficult, but I managed to get it open to find Len slumped over the wheel and unconscious. Len sort of came to as I dragged him out, and then a couple of the bigger guys took him from me and crossed the road to a clump of cedars while I grabbed the First Aid kit. Len had one good cut on his forehead and several glass cuts on his arms, but he woke up and seemed okay. One of our guys ran back to the slaughterhouse and called the OPP, Ambulance and bus company.

When the OPP and others arrived, Len was taken to the hospital, and the kids were taken on another bus to school, but because it was our truck, I stayed until the Cops cut me loose. Then, I wiggled the truck out of the mess up, checked it, and got the OPP’s permission to take it to the slaughterhouse. The accident only made a few lines in the local paper, but it got its own page in the yearbook that year as the Great Piggy Bus Event.

Dave Madill

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All Experience…

One day I had my truck in a repair shop in Chilliwack, BC, when another customer that owned Regier Trucking asked if I knew Saskatchewan very well. He told me that a shop employee said I was born there. He said he had a chance to bid on a job in Estevan to haul gravel for some roads, gas plant sites and tank yards. He said it would be a good way to keep his workers working for the fall and part of the winter. I suggested he take his foreman and drive to the site before he bid on it. I told him the land around Estevan is level with ravines, gravel, and stones, and around Regina, the land is perfectly flat, with no trees or stones. I also told him you could see from Regina to Moose Jaw, which is 40 miles away. Prince Albert, on the other hand I said, is solid bush – small tamarak trees that are only good for fence posts, and there are some lakes.

I saw him again two months later and asked how he made out. He said he was glad that he drove

What a Guy!

out. As he entered Saskatchewan, about 6 or 8 vehicles were going the same way (east). They travelled 140-150 kilometres per hour, so he joined them. After about an hour, they slowly turned off, one by one, leaving him by himself. When he came over a small hill, he saw a cop sitting in the median. After a few moments, the cop was behind his pickup flashing red and blue lights. He stopped on the shoulder, and the cop pulled in behind him with his front wheels turned to the right.

The cop walked up and asked, “Why didn’t you slow down when you saw me?” Just about then, a Buick station wagon ran into the back of the cop’s car, sending it into the ditch right up to the fence. The Buick did a 180 and stopped beside our door facing the way he came. We could clearly see that the driver was drunk! The cop jumped over to the

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.

Buick and asked, “What the hell is going on here?” The driver looked at the cop and slurred, “I don’t know, officer! I just got here!”

We offered to take the cop to the next town, but the cop said, “No, my radio still works, and this guy is coming with me. I’ll tell you one thing, though, there is another cop in the median just ahead. Slow down and carry on”.

We went to the place where we were to bid on the job. It was too small a job to bring the machinery out here, so I didn’t bid on it. As we turned around the next day, we looked at each other and said, “These people from Saskatchewan are strange.”

His manners were impeccable he not only knew his food but he knew which fork to eat it with. He was a regular MacGyver. This man could fix anything, with anything. Not like me. When I change a fuse, the whole street blacks out.”

Passenger: “Wow, he was some bloke then”

Cabbie: “He always knew the quickest way to go in traffic and avoid traffic jams, not like me, I always seem to get stuck in them. He seldom got lost but when he did he would quickly stop and ask directions then carry on his way.”

Passenger: “Mmm, there’s not many like him around.”

Cabbie: “And he knew how to treat a woman too. He was never late coming home and absolutely never went out with the boys. He would bring his wife flowers and he always knew how to make her feel good. He was very diplomatic and never answered her back even if she was in the wrong. He was a dandy, his clothing was always immaculate and his shoes were always highly polished too.”

Passenger: “He sounds like an amazing fellow. How did you meet him?”

Cabbie: “Well, I never actually met Frank.”

Passenger: “If you never met him then how do you know so much about him?”

Cabbie: “I married his widow.”

Dave Madill

Winter Dispatch

Snow drifts across the highway; and I drop down another gear, The road looks like polished glass and I find it hard to steer. There is no need to hurry, trucks shuffle into line Dispatch sees it differently; they want me there on time.

Still, out on this highway, I’ll have the final say

I am the one who’ll choose to drive, or to wait another day. Safety is my watchword; no load is worth my life

I have too much to live for, my children and my wife. Still at times I push the edge; it’s the only life I know Steadily I push on, through a night of ice and snow.

Halcyon Days of Trucking

When I think back to the early days when I was a young inexperienced driver, the trucks were basic, nothing like the warm, quiet, and over here in Scotland, the mostly automatic transmission cabovers we have now .

But who would’ve thought that forty-odd years later, I would remember those early days as the best time of my life, especially as I spent much of it duct-taping gaps in the engine cowling to keep the draughts out and throwing an extra blanket over in winter?

Bob, an old buddy of mine, said that when he went to some English docks to pick up a load, his freight might be on a lower deck and not due to be unloaded off the ship for another day or more. With a small gratuity to grease the wheel of the guy in charge on the dockside, he could find out how long it would be until his freight was ready to collect.

Then he found a call box and phoned his boss to tell him the freight wouldn’t be ready to collect for a day or so. His boss usually said, “Right, Bob, that freight is urgent so I need you to park up there and wait for it. That was Bob’s cue to go to some of the clearing agents, get a load he could deliver, and be back in time to pick up his freight when it was ready. Back then, some agents paid drivers cash to deliver loads, so it was pocket money for Bob since his wages were already being paid. Unlike modern drivers, who are monitored every minute of their working day, that was one of the big benefits of not having a cell phone or any in-cab monitoring.

I wonder what drivers who pass their class one test now will think

about their early years in forty years’ time.

My old buddy, Mel McConaghy, who wrote for ProTrucker for many years before his death, and encouraged me to write, also wrote a book called The raven, where a driver from the future was transported back in time to 2021. His story went something like this.

Mathew walked into the dispatch office; it was November 10, 2203, and as he looked at the big clock over one of the driver’s dispatch cubicles, he thought to himself, ‘22:47. Good,’ ‘I’m not scheduled out until 0100 that will give me lots of time to check my routing, manifests and destination.’

He walked over to the coffee robot and ordered his coffee, “Give me a seven-ounce coffee, no milk, one sweetener, I want coffee in unit 743 for an eighty-hour trip and listen you tin can, get it right this trip. I want real coffee not some of that crap you’ve been trying to peddle”.

“Yes Sir”, answered an arrogant, metallic voice from the robot as it dispensed the cup of coffee and repeated the order for the Highway Move that Mathew was to take on this trip.

He took his coffee and walked over to the secure dispatch cubical, turned on the security screen and sat down in front of the computer. As he turned it on, he put his face up to the eye scanner. As he sat waiting for it to analyze his eye scan and give him his security card, he sipped his coffee and said to himself under his breath, “What a bunch of crap,” glancing up at the surveillance monitor for any indication that it heard him.

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.

The computer started feeding out his security check and the card that would allow him to get to work.

‘Mathew Hallam, security number 18464-W, Prime mover 743, Cargo containers number 628 and 629 staged at exit 4

Waiting for your inspection, enter code number to continue,’ the screen on the computer read. ‘Boy, this Truck Driving isn’t like it was in my great, great grandfather’s days,’ he thought as he started his pre-trip.

He spoke to the computer, “Start pre-trip, prime mover number 743. “The computer started networking with the unit in the prime mover and reading the data from it.

Fuel cells, -----OK and operating. Electromagnetic propulsion and suspension system, ----- OK.

Electro-magnet braking system, ------ OK.

The computer rambled through the system check, OK- green light, Ok- green light.

Maybe drivers in forty years’ time will tell stories about how they actually had to stay awake for the whole trip and control the truck, “oh yes, you youngsters have it easy.”

Although, just like Mel’s version of a pre-trip, drivers today have to rely on a computer to tell them, among other things, if the engine oil level is ok. Either that or they have to tilt the cab to access the dipstick.

Time to Reset!

Bobby McFerrin sings, “Now listen to what I said, in your life expect some trouble

But when you worry, you make it double

But don’t worry, be happy, be happy now.”

He’s definitely onto something. Being a worry wart as I am, I most certainly feel like I make the situation way worse by dwelling too much. I came to a point in late January where I ended up taking myself to the hospital. A few nights before, while en route home from Iowa, I had started experiencing chest pains that hurt my breathing. With that came headaches that were so uncomfortable that even my teeth hurt. Both of these are very rare for me. I rarely get headaches, and other than maybe slight heartburn from eating late and then going straight to bed, I never experienced chest pains to this degree, either. The week had been a bit stressful for me, but I hadn’t thought it was bad enough to give myself an anxiety attack, so I thought I’d try to get a good sleep and deal with this the next day. I didn’t feel much better the next day, but I just wanted to get back to our yard and see what I felt like then. I thought this pain would go away once I was back in the yard safely. Unfortunately, it did not, so I drove to the hospital at midnight that night. I got in quickly, and the doctor did numerous tests to check my heart. All tests came out good, so he suspected it was just heartburn. I didn’t think that’s what it was myself, but I was content at least to know my heart was working as it should. That trip had been a bit unpleasant because I was dealing with equipment repairs and weather that was quite unfavourable. I didn’t feel overwhelmed, but maybe my body absorbed that stress more than I knew. Within the next day or so, I felt

normal again. However, the next week, I ended up under some workrelated stress again and got the same headache and chest pains back. Now I thought all this pain was due to my work worries and stress. Thankfully, it wasn’t as severe this time and didn’t last as long.

I don’t know how others deal with life on the road and its stress, but my mind is a constant whirlwind of thoughts, especially in the winter. I’m not a “go with the flow” type of gal. I once saw a Facebook meme that said, “I’m not a ride-or-die type of girl. I need to know where we are going, who’s driving, how long it will take to get there, etc.” This is me in a nutshell!!

When I hear about weather warnings or real cold spells on their way, I’m always trying to plan ahead. I’m thinking about where I will get fuel, and I call ahead to truck stops to ensure their pumps are working. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m finding so many truck stops these days have fuel pumps that are out of order, and that’s often on good weather days as well. I try to plan my trip accordingly to put in #1 diesel or make sure that I have access to enough additives. Another issue is getting DEF at the pumps. In the cold, many of the pumps are frozen, so I have to look for alternate places or buy jugs of it. If the cold spell spans more than a few days, truck stops are often out of the jugs. Then I worry about idling my truck in the cold if need be. I’ve definitely had my share of emissions-related issues after excessive idling. This definitely isn’t my first rodeo!

I find that many people don’t realize that we drivers spend most of our time in trucks and have to deal with issues daily. I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but many days I get to a breaking point and wonder if this is

By Myrna Chartrand

Myrna was born and raised in Oak Point, Manitoba and was our April 2019 Rig of the Month driver.

even the life I want to have anymore. I eat, sleep, breathe and live trucking and my company. I try to remain positive, but some days it’s a struggle. Even one small insensitive comment can ruin a whole day or trip for me. I don’t like having negativity in my life, and although I know it will always be there to some degree, I hate letting it get the better of me.

I give 150% every day, and some drivers give, let’s say, 85%. At the end of the day, it seems we are all painted with the same brush. The other day, I vented to a good friend, and he told me not to think that way. He reminded me that, in the end, it’s my reputation that matters the most. He explained that it isn’t necessarily a competition but what sets me apart from the others.

Even when I take a few days off from the road, I feel like I’m still thinking about work stuff. Checking the upcoming weather reports, planning my trips to work around personal appointments, etc. The only time I really shut my brain off from work mode is when I take vacations. I tell people that I work to pay for holidays. It’s the only time I feel like I can live in the moment and enjoy what’s happening around me. Luckily for me, I have a big vacation to Italy and Greece in the works for this summer. I’ll be able to send one of those typical emails to the staff saying, “I’ll be out of the office from this date to that date, so please forward all your questions and concerns to someone else because I’ll be soaking up the sun!” (LOL)