My name is Jordan, and I am a professional driver. I want to learn to drive truck. Currently, I drive school bus. I have maintained my B now for two years and love what I do. The precision movements, the attention to detail, the constant testing of my spacial awareness, and circle checks, please! To some this all sounds like a burden, but to me it is both gratifying and fulfilling. I take great pride in what I do and I believe that shows in my work.
Like most, I obtained my G1 as soon as I was able. That night, my mother took me out for my first “lesson”. I had of course, like any other delinquent teen, driven many times prior. Little laps around the block when I was just supposed to be switching the cars in the lane way, (sometimes a little further). But nothing like what I experienced that night. A couple of wrong turns left us on a road that emptied onto the 401. We should have stopped and switched, but under my mothers direction, I merged onto the highway. There were three of us in the car, a 1992 forest green Dodge Shadow. I remember the sound of the horn as a truck came up behind us and my Dad in the back seat shouting “Punch it! Punch it!” as he maintained a death grip on my head rest. I looked in the mirror and read ‘MACK’ spelled backwards and kept the pedal on the floor. I laughed as the adrenaline pumped through my body. I knew we were fine, I knew even then that I had full control over the vehicle and that I may have upset the driver with our poor choice, but we were safe. And I was hooked. I drove everywhere from then on. I was good. I am good. I wish that I had been exposed to racing at that time in my life. It is my dream to race. Although the two jobs are very different, they both require a immense amount of skill and a formidable grasp on the movements of the vehicle. That is why I want to drive truck.
I am a professional driver. I started my career as a driver about 5 years ago, a little later in life than most. So far my age has not stood in my way of being awesome and learning new things. My life had just changed rather unexpectedly and I found myself a job working as a car jockey at a local car and truck rental company. I did detailing, customer shuttles, shuttling rentals from city to city as well as small maintenance. What I learned from the experience was that driving the bigger vehicles was the highlight of each day. From there I moved from position to position getting the experience I needed to achieve the credentials I wanted. My goal is to climb my way through opportunities until I achieve my AZ License and am teaching driving to others.
Written and submitted by: Jordan Janse-French
Jordan asked us to share her story in hope of inspiring others to explore the trucking industry.
According to a survey completed and published by Insurance Business Canada only 15% of Canadians surveyed said that they were confident that they feel ‘very prepared’ financially if the get too sick to report for work. 23% of Canadians answered that they are not at all prepared financially if they pass away too soon, the study also discovered. Only 16% said that they have purchased life insurance that would cover their remaining mortgage payments should they ever pass away.
If like me you can sometimes feel somewhat sceptical about stats it does however strike me that far too many of us are not prepared for the unexpected, the chances of experiencing a financial loss if you are unable to work due to injury or illness are frankly very worrying. There are of course a number of reasons that can be attributed to this; perceived cost, understanding of coverage, availability, where to get it.
As someone who works largely with Income Protection Insurance and other living benefits my advice would be to work with a broker, a broker works for you their client and not a specific insurance company this means that they can take the time needed to understand your needs and then advise you as to the best options available from the very many insurance companies.
Insurance has to be exact and legally binding for your own protection but it does not need to be difficult to understand, when you work with the right broker it will be explained clearly and without jargon so that you have the peace of mind of knowing that if and when the time comes you and your loved ones will be properly protected.
We all know that at some point we will die and we hope that it is at a ripe old age and so we can more readily accept the need and payout of life insurance.
Income protection of the other hand is a different story because we are more easily swayed that we will be fine because; • ‘I’m a healthy person’ • ‘ I’d just carry on going to work’ • ‘I can’t afford it’ • ‘I’ll dip into my savings’ • ‘my family will help’
The reality is that if we lose our ability to work and earn a living everything else will suffer, friends and family while might be willing to help will usually themselves be using all of their income for their own needs. Savings will be depleted this will have a negative impact on the subsequently growth of any capital that was invested and there will also be tax implications of withdrawing from your RRSP.
The bills will continue to come in and the family needs will not be reduced in fact if you have a family member in need of medical care it is more likely that the other wage earner in the family may need to take time away from work to become a carer, long or short term. If you are self-employed you may need to employ someone to carry work load of the lost worker, you.
When I am speaking with clients about their need for Income Protection far too often I am asked to complete insurance for them for accident coverage only. It is my job and ethical responsibility to explain the pit falls of this choice, what if you get sick? It might be that you are newly starting in business and so may need to start at a lower amount than you would like in order to suit your budget or that money is tight. Start where you can and work your way up to where you need to be if you have to. Just don’t have nothing. If I were to ask you how many reasons do you think there could be for not being able to go to work what would you say?
The answer I give is easy, it’s 2, if you become injured or if you become ill. It’s that simple. If you can’t work how will you keep the lights on, put food on the table and keep your home warm or even just keep your home. I could quote stats again but I don’t need to, I have firsthand experience of having to remind clients or their partners that no they are not covered for the sickness that has befallen them because they wanted to wait and add it later or they just didn’t think they needed illness coverage. It is the worst, the very worst phone call because by the time I receive it it’s too late, there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it.
The solution to making sure this is not you is simple: 1. Work with a broker that you like and trust. 2. Get insurance while you are healthy if you can, but you can still get good coverage if you have pre-existing conditions. 3. Review your coverage regularly 4. Just don’t have NOTHING, please. Be prepared for the unexpected and rest easy with the peace of mind that you and your family will be financially secure when the time comes. Make the call today to speak to a trusted adviser.
Fiona Stone – Owner Contact Fiona at fiona@stoneinsurance.ca
Sassy is my emotional support dog. She’s a very necessary part of relieving my general anxiety and I thought I would share her with you as well as how this is accomplished in the trucking industry.
I picked her carefully looking for a submissive personality as well as no anxiety. A support dog is to comfort an individual and they being stressed can have the opposite effect. I also allow her time to be a dog, run in the park, socialize and walk trails with me. Most people know the road is difficult to manage to eat properly never mind care for a dog but I make time work the best I can for both of our sakes. She is happy and healthy and thriving out here and I take better care of me because I make the time. The breed of dog doesn’t matter really, it’s the bond you form with your dog that centers you. She needs an hour a day and I need an hour a day to get things done and still drive the 600-700 miles I need to everyday. We get lucky a lot where we deliver and I usually unhook and take off to the nearest park to run around. I plan where I reset my hours to make sure there’s a park close by.
I have talked to a few other drivers with Emotional support dogs and it seems anxiety and depression are common factors. Social anxiety requires their dog to accompany them into truck stops and restaurants so the dogs can be taught different skills according to what your needs are. There are lots of sites that encourage you to register your dog but I know ESD’S do not require registering or cards in fact depending on the state or province, people can not even ask because of privacy laws.
I do know according to a service dog site that in Ontario you require a note from a doctor or nurse in a restaurant or shopping center. I would research though before you end up somewhere with your dog that you shouldn’t be.
Over-the-road driving is tough on a person for many reasons, lack of time to live outside of the truck and feeling like you’re a wanderer with no home can really do a number on your emotions and minds out here. Sassy provides the grounding necessary for my life and I am thankful to have her.
Carol and Sassy
Carol Pritchard is an owner operator at Pride Group Logistics . Carol is also a director of WTFC.
I wanted to share with you about my PTSD. I am not going to go into details of my past trauma but I wanted to show what living with my brain has been like all these years. When people hear I have PTSD most do not understand which is normal actually, its hard to describe and subject to individuality.
To start I am going to describe what I remember when I realized the full scope of what I had to deal with. Imagine living in fear with a flight or fight response continually. That’s what I remember as well the panic attacks, the anxiety and feeling bad that I felt this way. I tried so many ways to cope and nothing would or could relieve me. When something traumatic happens it actually causes your brain to change, neurons are made and your brain changes to cope. It is individual because there isn’t just way one for things to change.
In 1997 I had a boyfriend who transferred vehicles, trucks for a living and I used to go with him. The garbage trucks were stinky but for the most part I enjoyed hanging out. I got in my first Peterbuilt, it was an old one and I was agog over the dash and gauges. I decided right there I was going to do everything I had to drive one. I was 27 and never even had a driver’s license when I went to get my first permit. I was terrified as usual but determined and I made a firm plan of 5 yrs and how I was going to accomplish my goals. My boyfriend enjoyed torturing me for 2 yrs teaching me to drive, he never let me drive during the day and always during the worst weather mother nature could throw at me. I panicked all the time, would stop and center myself and begin again. Over and over this cycle continued until I could cope and not panic, then he let me drive on a sunny day. I am always grateful to Bill Coates for taking on me with my issues and making sure I knew how to drive and to be able to do so without panicking. I did accomplish my goals and end result being my AZ and it was a difficult journey but not my last. I made myself work at a job driving through every license, GZ, D, A. I stepped up as I was capable and felt comfortable. I planned and executed this despite my PTSD.
In 2007 the auto industry went to Mexico and drivers were laid off. I was one of them and I decided to attend college and study accounting. School was exhausting really because dealing with people for so long in a day stressed me out considerably. Determination and hope I would get used to it kept me going and I finished with a decent average. So now I had my AZ and a college diploma and was quite happy because I started with just a damaged brain really and no education, no hope for the future. I got a job just out of school covering a maternity leave as a CSR with a trucking company. I have to say I hated the job but I needed to make money so I went and did my job. It was then that I found out about a brain retraining program for PTSD. I was excited and attend the orientations and was interviewed and accepted into the program only to have my boss say it’s the program or the job and since I needed the money I stayed with the job. I decided to research and try to change my brain myself. I discovered my limitations but slowly with self analysis I figured out what kind of triggers, what happens during a trigger and how to catch myself before my brain does what it does to shut off a lot of the panic. I learned how to ignore my impulses to react that used to frustrate me to no end.
So now I have my new challenge which is owning and I have slowly through the years become quite balanced. I still have a brain that has impulses to panic and fear but I have learned how to do what I want anyways. I still am struggling with relationships and until I figure out a way to get through that limit I am just loving, accepting myself with all my flaws, there’s really no use beating myself up over something I cannot change.
Carol and Sassy
Carol Pritchard is an owner operator at Pride Group Logistics. Carol is also a director of the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada .
Sassy is my emotional support dog. She’s a very necessary part of relieving my general anxiety and I thought I would share her with you as well as how this is accomplished in the trucking industry.
