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.
After 10 years in the commercial livestock industry 6 months ago I decided I was done. Done with the late nights, snow storms I had to power through, last minute dispatch, missing holidays and bailing last minute on plans. I wanted a life. With my management experience finding a new career shouldn’t be that hard, right?
You’re just a truck driver…
I started to hear this a lot, I started to really believe it. A dispatch job came up with an established but rapidly growing company. They just werent ready for me yet. Wait til the new year. I wasn’t shy about my intentions and my coworkers knew it had nothing to do with the company or the industry, I was just tired. I was at the apex of my career. My company had spent 4 years building me a near show quality kenworth that always turned heads and it was no secret how much I loved that truck. I’m sure “Kenny” was the envy of many and I smiled every Monday when I pulled the shop door open. Hell I even talked to him like he was listening! I carried on doing my job like always and waited for the new year.
And then December 17, 2018 happened and it all changed. can’t even say the date without tearing up.
You’re just a truck driver…
December 17,2018 at 10:55 am a 78 year old woman failed to look and pulled out 300’ in front of my loaded cattle liner on a 100km/h stretch of busy highway. As I dove into the oncoming lane, full on the brakes, she noticed me and dove into the oncoming lane with me. I tagged her, caught the snow in the ditch, started down a 12’ embankment hitting a major cross road hydro pole just behind my head. The pole ripped the bunk of my truck in 1/2 and stopped me almost instantly and the truck laid over. I grabbed my dog, who was amazingly unharmed, and climbed out the roof of my truck and walked sockfeet in the snow to the front of my truck. Is she ok?? She was walking down the road in a daze. Ok whew!!
4 of my coworkers that I had been running with were minutes behind me and raced to help me. Big hugs all around, “here take my jacket” and “let me get you a cup of coffee!” It’s all gonna be ok. I was never so sure that I belonged.
Maybe I’m not just a truck driver? Maybe I’m family.
My small company (about 30 trucks, only 6 company trucks) commended me the next day!
The owner shook my hand, offered me his play toy – a jacked up little flat top Pete that rarely leaves the barn. Our shop manager sat down with me. “If you’re going to stick around, I need your wish list for your next truck” Wow…. I was on the spot. Stay or go, now was the time. All I could say was…. “there will be very be another Kenny, id like a Peterbilt”
So here I am, 6 weeks later. The flood of texts and phone calls, the hugs and handshakes from customers. Guys that genuinely cared. All my plans changed in a second and I cried every day for 3 weeks. I realized I’m not just a truck driver. I’m a valued member of an amazing team of drivers with a company that’s got my back!
Don’t be just a truck driver. Be a lady, be a gentleman. Be a teammate. Let people know that they matter because it means so much. This story isn’t about me, it’s about the people around me that help
Make my job amazing.
Ps the dispatch job came up and I politely declined. My Peterbilt has been bought and is currently being customized to my specifications. It’s amazing how things change in a second.
Hi my name is Jess Dutchak and I’m a woman in the transportation industry. When people see me in a truck the first question they ask me is “What made you want to get into driving trucks and equipment?”
And I hate that question because it’s sometimes hard to respond to, telling a stranger that my Dad passed away and I knew if I didn’t get behind the wheel myself I wouldn’t be in a truck ever again. The thought of that didn’t sit so well with me because I grew up going on trips across Canada with my Dad who drove long haul.
So that’s my reason for getting into it, but my reason for STAYING in the construction/transportation industry is a lot happier! Ever since I started working construction it’s changed my life completely! I started off majoring in auto tech in high school which is where my journey really started because it was the only class I ever actually liked we had a blast working on vehicles and my teacher was and still is the best you could ask for. A few years later I started in construction as a flag-person just to get my foot in the door and ever since doing that I’ve gotten my Class 3 license with air brakes, I’ve operated rock trucks, skid steers, loaders, plow trucks, I’ve hauled heavy equipment, backed up trailers, fixed potholes, paved roads, raked asphalt, greased drive shafts, cleaned shops times a million, and my favorite part of all keeping the roads safe! Every opportunity that came my way to jump into a new machine I gladly took it. I was nervous for every single one but once you try it and get used to it. It just came naturally. It wasn’t always easy, it took awhile to get jobs without experience it took everything I had to prove myself in a male dominated industry. The proving never stops, you have to be a real tough cookie sometimes! Through the breakdowns, the maintenance, operating, trying to never screw up and break things and doing everything in my power to NOT have to ask any of the guys for help! (Nothing against the boys!) I just prefer to do things myself so nobody can tell me I couldn’t do something. It took a lot of determination and dedication and a lot of frustration to get into this industry but it’s been so rewarding for me.
As a women in this industry I try to encourage people as much as I can, a lot of women and MEN have asked for advice since I’ve gotten into trucks and equipment and I just have so much good to say about it I can’t say enough to people when I start talking about my job and the experiences . And I tell everyone that asks me, you already have the tiny spark in you just by asking me these questions, that spark is gonna turn into a fire once you get into trucks or equipment. It’s a passion! It’s an adrenaline rush! The people are amazing, even though construction workers get labelled rugged/rough/dirty and cartoons and TV shows show us as all as cat calling pigs and red necks. It’s quite the total opposite, you’ll never find more caring people than the ones in trades/construction! I’ve worked with the most amazing kind hearted people, these people become a second family because in reality we spend more time with our crews/coworkers and our equipment then we spend with our own family! I’ve laughed enough for a lifetime in the 5 short years I’ve been in construction. Ive learned so much and I continue learning everyday the challenges have always been rewarding and I’ll gladly spend the rest of my life in this industry!
I’ve also gotten into the safety aspect of things since starting as a maintenance worker, I became a safety rep at my yard and then a regional safety rep for my region which has me now working towards an NCSO (National construction safety officer) certification. But I know if I become a safety officer I’m going to have to convince the construction company that I work for to let me play in the trucks and equipment once in awhile just to get my fix.
The opportunity’s are there, you just have to take that first step! Reach out, there is so many people willing to give advice and help someone who is ready to start in this industry. And don’t give up because it’s never going to be easy! Your gonna cry, swear, yell, laugh, smile, and be forever tired and everything else in between but it’s all worth it.
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 .
We exchange our time for money, that’s what being a grown up is. As drivers we exchange A LOT of time. Most of us try to fit in bits and pieces of “real life” when we get home, before we leave again on our next time exchange mission.
I’ve hauled livestock in western Canada for a decade. I have a fabulous husband who does the same for a different company. We are very good at making time for each other, at least one day a week… except spring and fall, our busiest seasons. Summer is a flurry of vacations and galavanting and trying to make up for lost time before we go back to trying to figure out who has time to do laundry and groceries that week.
Something happened last night that made me sad. I let my sister in law down. Her dog is very sick, I promised to drop off a special med that I had and some other things this morning before I went to work (assuming I had to work this morning, cattle dispatch is fly by night at best) I got home at 9pm, showered and started to gather things for her. Dispatch called “break down, you need to fill in NOW. You’ll be gone 3 days”. Cursing and swearing I packed my bag and left. The dog forgotten, not that I had time to prepare my hocus pocus potion now anyway.
I realized this morning that the only person who can actually depend on me is my dispatcher. My husband and I have a long standing agreement to expect that things are always subject to change. My mother in law often invites us to dinner and I’m sure she’s used to ‘I don’t know if we will be home.. ‘ as an answer. Neither of us have kids, thank god.
My company and Jason’s are similar. We are both valued “dependable” employees. I’ve been bribed with a beautiful 700hp 2005 W900L that I was allowed to custom design in my first year here. It’s “my” truck and no one but me has keys for it. They pay me well most of the time and I don’t complain. Jason has been bribed with a 2018 w900L flat top glider that he also had a hand customizing. The latest in a long line of beautiful trucks his company has bought for him.
I guess you’re probably thinking ‘what’s the problem???’ Well… is this the payment for being unreliable to everyone but the guy at the 1800#? The little bonus for not only exchanging my time, but also being on call 6 days a week 24 hours.
