My name is Deborah and I was raised in Quebec as a member of a small transport company which was owned and operated by my grandfather and two of his sons. So twenty one years ago I
decided to follow in their footsteps after having completely a degree in Psychology and working in various different areas ranging from assistant manager to training race horses. I have thoroughly enjoyed this career which has taken me all over the United
States and Canada visiting and seeing some of the most beautiful country in North America as well as  seeing and stopping in some of the most dirty and somewhat sketchy of areas.

In my twenty one years I have met and remained friends with people from all walks of life. I remember one trip I made with a company to the Carolinas, I was driving down the interstate
and a car pulled up beside me and a little boy in the front seat with his dad looked up at me and beckoned me to pull the chord on the air horn, so I did. He and his dad began talking with me using the CB they car mounted in their car. The little boy asked
me where I was going so I told him, he then turned to his dad and said something. After which he asked me if I would like to come and spend Thanksgiving with them, the little boy said “You shouldn’t be alone on thanksgiving it wasn’t right”. I graciously thanked
him but declined since I had an appointment to make. Another time I was running reefer for a company out of Calgary AB when I ended up doing a reset in a little town in Arkansas. I met a lady on Facebook and we became friends.  When she learned I was doing
a reset in the area she invited to me spend the down time with her and her family. She had a travel trailer she used in the summer to take the grandchildren on vacation, she offered it to me for the reset.  When I arrived she met me and took me back to her
home and we ended up having a wonderful time. She gave me a tour of the town and the big university which supported the town and introduced me to her family and friends. The day my reset ended and I was ready to go back to work, so she drove me back to the
truck and invited me to come and stay anytime I wanted. Unfortunately that was the last time I was in her hometown.

I realized then that there were people who did appreciate drivers and women as drivers, since at that time twenty one years ago women weren’t but a few in the Industry and were still
not being completely accepted.

Since that time I have gone from town to town and listened to women congratulate me and tell me they are really amazed that I am able to do this career for as long as I have. Many
have told me that they don’t believe they would be able to handle such a large piece of equipment but my answer to them is that anyone can handle it with good training and a good professional company behind them. I have been extremely fortunate to have been
employed by some great companies and received great training.

I began my career with SGT 2000, went to Highland Transportation for some years as a driver and a driver trainer, after which I found myself working for a company out of Troy Alabama
for 2 years…between Highland and Wiley Sanders Trucklines I gained mountain experience and West Coast along with East Coast training and have been running west coast mountains ever since. I later went to work for Kriska Transportation (after they bought
out BMD in Lansdowne) . At that time I owned my truck and wanted to have a change. Kriska was able to help me obtain that change and I went back to being a company driver and driver trainer. After almost five years I started getting the desire to run California
and West Coast and found myself on a plane to Calgary where I worked for a refrigerated company for a couple years running West Coast back to the East coast.

I am now working with another exceptional company in Ariss Ontario, Flash Freight Systems, who stand behind and support their drivers completely.

It has been an amazing career so far and I can only hope I will be able to carry on in this wonderful industry filling various rolls and be able to influence and give other women the
chance to learn and excel in the industry.

Submitted by Heather Darrington 
October is Women’s History Month. The Women’s Trucking Federation Of Canada is celebrating this month by sharing stories of Women in the Transportation Industry.  If you’d like to share your story please email shelleyu@wtfc.ca . Please include a picture. Thank you