by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Jun 16, 2025 | BLOG
For many women, stepping into the trucking industry can feel daunting. It’s a space where strength, skill, and determination are key—and where tradition has often dictated that men take the wheel. But barriers are made to be broken.
One woman recently defied expectations and earned her DZ license, proving that passion and perseverance make all the difference. She trained at Modern Training, a school where support and encouragement are the foundation of success. Their instructors go beyond technical lessons, offering guidance, pep talks, and motivation on test day.
“Stan was, to put it mildly, awesome! The other instructors, Kevin and Moe, were super nice and encouraging as well. They made a huge effort to get me ready for test day .”
Like many women entering a male-dominated field, she faced doubts—especially about mastering manual transmission. But her instructor, Stan, gave her game-changing advice:
“He told me my primary goal should be to get the license first—manual skills can come later. That advice was invaluable, as there was so much other information I needed to cement in my head before test day.”
Even after earning her license, she couldn’t shake the worry—would a company give her a chance if her manual skills weren’t perfect? That’s when Shelley Walker, CEO Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada , reminded her of something powerful:
“Just go for it! Don’t worry about whether you’re good enough. We are often our own worst critics.”
Those words stuck. Women belong in every industry, including trucking, and sometimes all it takes is a leap of faith.
Now that she’s passed, she’s aiming high, with a vision of joining a cement company and building a fulfilling career in a hands-on industry. She’s already taking steps to set herself apart, reaching out to Concrete Ontario to enroll in their Concrete Delivery Specialist program—proof of her commitment to excelling in the field.
Yet, like many women breaking into trucking, she acknowledges the challenges ahead:
“I still have some insecurities, but hopefully in time my confidence will grow, and I will fit right in with the rest of them.”
Her story is a powerful reminder that women belong in every industry—including those traditionally reserved for men. Whether behind the wheel of a cement truck or navigating new career paths, women are proving every day that they are capable, resilient, and unstoppable.
If you’ve ever thought about earning your DZ license, know that the road is yours to take. With the right support, determination, and a touch of courage, you can drive toward your own success story.
Ready to start your journey? Modern Training might be the perfect place to begin!
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Mar 12, 2019 | BLOG
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.
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Dec 21, 2018 | BLOG
‘Twas The Run Before Christmas By Ted Light
‘Twas the run before Christmas, in the cab of my truck, A hundred miles from home, I’m in need of some luck.
The kids hung their stockings, but are feeling quite sad, They must go to bed now, and they wonder, “Where’s Dad?”
With a kiss and a hug, all will be right, But alone in the kitchen, Mom grows more uptight.
Earlier that day, the children were grinning, As they speckled the tree, with bright balls and trimming.
Then sipping hot chocolate, and playing Christmas songs, And talking about Daddy, who’s been gone too long.
And now I can see her, her brow creased with fret, As the children start dreaming, there’s no presents yet.
Curled on the couch, running a hand through her hair, In the glow of the tree lights, hoping I’ll be there.
Then I imagine the morning, with my love at my side, In tumbling our children. I must finish this ride.
Howling winds, blowing snow, and ahead all is white, Doubts creeping in. Will I make it tonight?
Beside me in the cab, with the wind unforgiving, Pretty packages sit waiting, for sweet Christmas giving.
I’ve a truckload of wishes, and I must deliver, But the storm keeps on roaring, as my old engine shivers.
It’s hardy and stubborn, and it’s taken me miles, And I’ll need it tonight, to see my kids’ smiles.
Rolling over the drifts, rubber gripping the snow, My big rig keeps moving, but ever so slow.
I’m gripping the wheel, and grinding her gears, And that fierce wind’s just whistling, and I can’t hardly steer.
And great gusts are blowing me, to the side of the road, And I’m fighting my fear, as I steady my load.
What was that I noticed, with a glance to the sky, Could the weather be clearing, did a star catch my eye?
And then, in a heartbeat, not a moment too soon, The night sky emerges, twinkling stars and bright moon.
With clear road ahead, I quickly arrive, The children peek from the window, as I pull in the drive.
I pat the door of my rig, as my feet touch the ground, For on this special night, it brought me home safe and sound.
With a heart full of joy, and a smile on my face, I open our door, to a loving embrace.
The gifts round the tree, make a beautiful sight, Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
From all of us at WTFC we wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Shelley, Sylvie, Joanne , Margaret, Carol , Caroline, Jennifer, Samantha, Sud, Johanne, Kimberly
We hope you enjoy this new song by our friends The Danny Thompson Band
It’s a Small Town Christmas
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Oct 17, 2018 | BLOG
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 .
You can reach Carol at carolp@wtfc.ca
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Jul 5, 2018 | BLOG
As a child, on those numerous occasions when I thought that a task was too large or too complex for me, my father had one response that he used without fail, always phrased in the form of a question: How do you eat an elephant- answer: one bite at a time.
Much has been published in the last seven months in both industry publications and mainstream media outlets about the ongoing capacity shortage an elephant sized issue if there ever was one- particularly as it relates to the limited supply of trucks. In many ways, the solution to this industry challenge is no different than that of perceived challenges of my childhood. We need to simply start to fix the parts of the supply chain that we have allowed to break – one bite at a time.
I was thinking of this universal truth in light of an experience I have repeatedly experienced over my two decades in this industry- yet another typical example of the myriad ways that this industry attempts to diminish the value of drivers limited on duty hours.
We had a driver scheduled to load for a 3PL this morning- 6 am Pickup appointment with strict instructions for the driver to be on time. As often happens, the driver arrived at 6 am only to find out that the brokerage dispatcher on the order had neglected to provide us with the correct pickup number and trip number needed for loading, even though they were in her custody. After 90 minutes, the confusion was finally clarified at the cost of 90 minutes of the drivers on duty time.
Assuming that we have this issue happen once per day with half of our trucks, for a duration of 30 minutes per event – it means that in a small fleet like ours- 12.5 hours per day are being wasted with delays that are entirely avoidable. Most of us are aware that preventable delays are one of the main sources of driver frustration and exodus.
However, the other thing I would like us to think about is this when we think about our elephant eating challenge: that’s more than one 11 hour driving shift- so by extension for every day of operation, we have one truck running free of charge because simple things like pickup numbers are not provided – simply because people do not care enough to think about the downstream effects of their inaction.
In essence, this means that we have one truck that could be moving freight but is not- taking one trucks capacity completely out of the market, even though all of its associated expenses are there. If that’s true for a small 50 truck fleet like ours- imagine the number of trucks wasted if that math holds true industry wide?
Perhaps, instead of complaining about shortage of capacity and rising rates, forward thinking shippers and receivers can look internally at simple cost and efficiency improvements. I hope to explore a number of these themes over my next few posts.
However, with this challenge – there is also a call to action for those people responsible for operational decisions at asset based carriers. As an industry we need to stop saying “this is part of Transportation”- there’s no need for inefficiencies like this- and no need for the same folks who cause the inefficiencies to be complaining about rising costs. It takes true collaboration and partnership to drive inefficiencies out of a supply chain- the picture is much bigger than pure Transportation cost. It takes everyone’s proactivity and effort to improve conditions for everyone.
How do you eat an elephant: To solve our capacity crisis, we all need to be serious about one bite at a time!
Bio: Tony Gerber has been one of the Managing Directors at Flash Freight Systems of Guelph, ON since 2004 – an asset based provider of crossborder and domestic transportation and warehousing solutions. He’s passionate about operational excellence, the application of the lost art of common sense, coffee, and reimagining the status quo in the supply chain to improve everyone’s quality of life and service levels.
