by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Nov 16, 2016 | BLOG
My name is Sheryl and I’m 44. I have been driving since 2007. I came to trucking later in life when I needed a way to support my kids and be independent.
My mother told me that when I was 12 and I saw a big truck go past us, I swore that was what I wanted to do. Then when I got my license at 16 I got freaked out on a narrowed road and believed that if I was scared in a car I had no business being in a truck.
I had kids, got married and tried a variety of jobs.
I spent a fair bit of time working for Russell A Farrow as customs broker supervisor.
One young girl came into my shift and her parents owned a truck training school.
I took that as a sign to jump in and do it. I knew I was never going to be independent on $13 per hour.
I did it part time and am proud to say that at my school not one of the male trainees thought I could do it. (I was the only girl).
When I got my license on the first try, they all said it must be easy if I could do it.
Two of those men had to take the test twice.
I started out with a big company as no one wanted to take on someone new especially in the winter. I spent only 7 months there and I really learned a lot. I don’t think a day goes by that I am not thankful for all those slow maneuver courses they put me through.
After that I found a smaller company that was willing to take a chance and for almost 7 years I was part of the Flash Freight family.
I had gotten remarried and my husband and I wanted to try driving as a team so we found a different company that could accommodate us. Three months later and with next to no sleep we moved on to another company as solo drivers.
I tried my hand at training and was stunned at what passes for driver training. This student had never seen the inside of the engine compartment!
That one week gave me HUGE respect for the trainers who put their lives and heart on the lines to help new drivers find the love of the job.
I learned quickly that driver training was not for me. I can do my job, but I could not explain from the ground how to back up. I am so happy I got the chance to try and learn about another role in the driving industry. I hope that some of the wisdom I shared with her (the trainee) helps her along the way.
I think the hardest things for me in all of my job aspects is trying to feel like I belong out here. My perception has been that it is very hard to earn the same respect men get, without going way above what they do. I have also had to “grow a thicker skin”. I am still having to work on that.
I think my favourite dumb question from a man about me driving my truck was “Did you really drive that big truck all the way here by yourself?” I smiled nicely and informed him that driving it was much easier then pushing or pulling it all the way.
After a couple years of shuffling around, my husband and I have returned home to Flash Freight.
If I could pass on knowledge to a new driver it would be to be very careful who you trust out here. Remember to make time for family and friends… Don’t let this career be your life. That gets very lonely.
And never stop challenging yourself. There is such a huge feeling of pride in myself when I successfully back in where that seems impossible. Speed isn’t the key to a successful backing up. No damage to anyone or anything and getting into the dock is success no matter if it takes 5 minutes or 30.
Put yourself in the Drivers seat !!
Flash Freight Systems is a family owned and operated company located near Guelph, Ontario. If you are looking for consistent freight, lots of available miles and home time configured to your needs, give Heather a call at 1- 877-392-3171 ext# 249
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Nov 14, 2016 | BLOG
Have you heard the number one concern among carriers is the Driver Shortage while the number six issue is Driver Retention? Does anyone see disengagement from the obvious? This suggests to me that some carriers have lost their enthusiasm on retention in a climate of demanding drivers. It is this disenchantment within the industry that has made driver managers, safety and compliance personnel, and human resources unable to make the association between driver shortage and driver retention. Driver turnover in the trucking industry is unacceptably high and should not be an acceptable part of doing business.
Trucking managers want dedicated employees who worked diligently in their given role to the maximum benefit of the company. This is what the employer employee relationship has been for as long as I can remember and we are seeing with great enthusiasm on the driver’s part – it is not working. Empowered employees who work towards mutually benefiting both themselves and their employer are more satisfied and tend to stay longer.
Henry ford believed that coming together was a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success. To be successful the driver manager must engage their drivers and listen to their ideas. If the driver manager brings the drivers together with their many diverse ideas and accept and implement some of the ideas, it will inspire other drivers to look around them and come up with innovative thoughts as well.
“Trucking has not been very good at this and as such it has lagged behind other sectors of the economy and it has suffered ridiculously high turnover for years because of it. It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy for many companies” says Ray J. Haight. If you do not change with the industry, the industry will pass you by. There is a new breed of drivers in the market place who embrace technology, lifestyle, and are not the least bit interested in “old school trucking” methodology’s or perceptions.
A successful company of today embraces the new type of driver. You have to. If we are worried that the average age of the truck driver is nearing semi-retirement to retirement you must realize you cannot continue with the thoughts of those men and women. They may have built the industry but they did that to make things better for the next generation. Not only is the next generation of drivers here, there is a whole other group behind them entering the driving workforce as well. Companies are going to have to embrace the thoughts and ways of these younger people and begin modelling their business concepts around them – the Millennials.
The Millennials are looking for a whole different job description and way of doing things. If you cannot adapt to the Millennial they will move on with ease. And why not – they have their dis-enfranchised parents to back them up and support them. The same parents who have been, in their minds, putting up with the traditional workplace too long. A company must show and actively demonstrate opportunities for growth and education for all drivers. These front line workers are going to be the people coming up with ideas on new electronic programs and apps to make life easier, more bearable, while embracing safety, fairness, and strategies for the future. They are making connections. Those companies who view their Millennial drivers as a strategic advantage in the marketplace are set to move forward into the future. Are you one of them?
Written by
Heather Darrington CCLP
Flash Freight Systems
www.flashfreight.ca
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Oct 31, 2016 | BLOG
Even though I now had some long haul, mountain and border crossing experience I really had less than a year running the U.S so again it wasn’t easy to find a company to sign on with and I couldn’t afford to take too long between jobs what with a mortgage and all the other expenses of being sole wage earner. I got a road test with a company that had been around for a long time and is still going. When I was doing my road test I should have known what the company was like by the way their guy acted during the road test, he was one of those who waited until we were almost on an exit before he said “Turn here” and he was upset when I told him we were too close to make the ramp safely, I was hired to haul “cans” or containers to Red Hook and Port Elizabeth, NJ.
When I went to take my first load I could not believe how dirty the truck was inside but there was nothing I could do about it right then.
There were 2 other drivers going to the same place so I got to follow them for my first trip.
We ran the old 15 highway it was 2 lane back then and these guys were used to it they drove so fast on some of the curves that the trailer tires left yaw marks on the pavement it was dark and I had a hard time keeping up but we all got there ok.
I ran several loads for this company and tried to get to the delivery point in time to get some sleep. I heard many stories about how dangerous Red Hook and Port Elizabeth was but I never had one problem with people coming around my truck, it was trying to get the backhaul ready that took the time. We would drop the load we brought then be given the number for another chassis to get a container loaded onto for the trip back. The chassis sat in an unguarded part of the port and were often stripped of lights and other parts so they would have to be put in the shop to be repaired before they were road worthy this would sometimes take hours to get done then by the time the container was loaded the day would be half gone and the tires on these chassis were really bad they suffered from the salt air and the loads were really heavy so it was common to have tire problems. Back in the so called “good old days” when we were held up like this we were expected to mark the time a sleeper berth time so we could still make the back haul.
I had worked for this company for a few months and was always worried about some of this old equipment causing me a real problem on the road. One day I was told to take a container that was on a chassis that only had 3 hold down locks the fourth one was broken off on the one back corner but I was told to take it anyway,,,,, I wasn’t happy! But I headed out!
As I was rolling along the QEW a Roadlink Transport passed me this wasn’t the first one that had but today I paid attention, on the back of the trailer was an 800 number I got on the CB and asked the driver, who I needed to talk to for a job, he said “Ask for Joe” they were looking for drivers I jotted down the number and when I got to the Grimsby scales I pulled in and called.
I told the person who answered the phone that I needed to speak to Joe Pio she told me he was on vacation but Mike Norton was handling his calls when Mike came on the line I decided to use the same tactic that had got me a couple of good jobs back in the 70’s. When he asked me how he could help me I said “Are you looking for any good drivers?” He said we are always looking for good drivers. I told him to write this name down and gave him mine, because you’ll want to hire this driver. He chuckled and then asked me what I was doing now I said “Heading for Red Hook with a piece of junk chassis that I may get fined for hauling” He asked me if I could come in and talk to him on Monday morning, I did and he had a Ryder truck waiting for me and sent me out, no application no road test and I was gone for 12 days, I had to call in for directions to get back to the yard, LOL. This was the start of the best years I had had with a company hauling freight so far.
This was where I got to drive my first NEW truck a 5 star General that I went right to the dealer and picked up! I felt like I was living in a palace on the road.
I heard recently that Mike Norton has gone on to that big Truck Stop in the sky , but if any of you who read this remember some of the drivers or anyone else who worked for Roadlink tell them I said “Hello”
Working for this company showed me that trucking for people who actually knew what they were doing (most of the time 😉 could be a good experience. It wasn’t always perfect but it was pretty good for several years.
The new trucks had set back front axels which made them prone to lay down on a ramp this was something new to most of us, if you went into a ramp too fast and braked in the turn the cab would tip over, there was one week when 5 Generals laid down on the job! Paul our mechanic asked how I managed to keep my truck from being one of them. I told him I always tried to take the ramps at half the posted speed and use a little power to pull the load around the ramp.
I learned a lot working for Roadlink a few customers were not happy with the treatment they had been receiving from some drivers and I found I had to make them know they would get the best treatment from me that I could deliver, I remember calling a customer in Champaign IL, (we delivered rubber to them and hauled tires from them) to let them know I would be delivering a load Monday morning. He said well if you’re a Roadlink driver I’ll see you when I see you. I said I was sorry for the treatment he had received but if I was going to be late I would call ,,,, he hung up on me! I did my best to turn this customer around and a couple of years later I had a load cancelled that I was supposed to pick up in Chicago on a Friday, dispatch told me to run down to Champaign and get the load that was ready there. It’s only around 140 miles but I had run over night from Toronto and had been waiting around for the load that was eventually cancelled and I was tired! I stopped at a truck stop on the way for a nap I had time for about an hour and could still get to pick-up before 11 pm. But that saying about “The best laid plans” was about to come true! I awoke with a start at 10:30 pm and I was still a long way from destination, I called dispatch and explained my situation and asked him to call and see if I could pick up later or in the morning, dispatch put me on hold and when he came back on he said “No dice, you’ll have to wait till Monday!” I asked if he told the customer it was me? He hadn’t so I called, and when “R” heard me he said “ They never told me it was you” He told me to get some sleep and come on in in the morning that he would leave my paperwork with the gate guard and if I ever found myself in that situation again to let him know and he would have my load moved across the street to the truck stop the paperwork would be with the fuel desk person, but he said “I’m won’t do this for any other driver until they learn to treat us with the same respect you have” This made me feel very proud and it made me want to work harder to make my customer know who I was. I always introduced myself told the customer who I was and then the company I drove for. I heard so many drivers call a customer and say “ I’m a driver for Whoever I’m supposed to pick a load up” They never made that personal connection some seemed to think it didn’t matter but it worked out well for me many times.
Another time I was going into Bayonne NJ on a Friday to pick up and I got stuck in traffic, the customer closed at 3 pm and I wasn’t going to make it,,, so I called and got hold of the dock foreman I had delivered here many times and it’s not an area you want to spend a night in let alone a weekend. As soon as I said “HI It’s Bev the Roadlink driver” He knew who I was I told him the situation and he said no problem you come on I’ll wait for you I felt like I had finally arrived! Getting a New Jersey dock foreman to stay late on a Friday was not an easy task I had heard many drivers tell how they had to layover somewhere because the customer wouldn’t wait for them.
Roadlink had O/O’s and company drivers and sometimes it seemed like a competition, I remember one time I was on my way to the customer in Champaign when an O/O blew past me in his long nosed bright red Pete! He spoke to me on the CB as he was pulling away “ Sorry Bev, but I’m taking your load at Champaign, I need to be home and this load will get me there” There was nothing I could do, my General couldn’t keep up let alone out run “The Bullet” so I let it go.
Sometimes someone else has a greater need. This O/O had family problems and needed to get home and since there was really nothing I could do about it there was no use raising a big stink.
This happened at more than one customer until the company made the loads driver specific.
At another customer near Philadelphia I met 2 young men who had earned money while they were in college working as lumpers unloading trailers, when they graduated they started their own company and hired guys to unload trailers, these boys were great workers and if one of the hired hands didn’t work as hard as they did they were let go. I was there the day they got the tshirts with their logo on and they said they would like to give me the first one, I was honoured! I still have it.
I pulled in there one time with an O/O who was always buying things on the road and hoping to make a little extra money by selling them to someone else he never had anything illegal and I don’t think he ever made any money at it but this time he had folding knives and he asked the one young partner if he wanted to buy one for $10 we were walking across the yard at the time the young man never missed a step as he said “Why would I need a knife? I carry a 9 mil”. My buddy almost fell down! He couldn’t believe that this well educated clean cut young man was armed! All legal we were assured.
Not all customers and runs were perfect there were times when I thought when I get back to the yard I’m quitting, but I was making good money and I had the travel bug so I kept showing up and heading out. I passed “The lady in the Harbour” so many times going by on the Cross Bronx Expressway that I swear she waved back a couple of times.
I even met a customer in Flushing NY who helped me out after he got to know me , I picked up baled scrap paper there. The first time I went I met the owner Tony he could have had a part on the Soprano’s big guy no neck but a good heart! He also had the biggest Rotty I had ever seen,he told me he had found him by the dumpster 4 years ago as a nearly dead starved puppy and kept him in his warehouse, I was nervous of the dog but Tony said just don’t go anywhere outside the yellow line and you’ll be fine. Apparently he had trained the dog to keep an eye on drivers while he loaded their trailers.
This was one of the only yards I had been to that wasn’t fenced and there was not a bit of graffiti on any of the trucks or anything in this yard which was really unusual for NYC, Tony told me he was the 3rd generation of his family to take over this business and he said “If you are ever laid over near here and need a safe place to sleep come here, I guarantee no one will bother you”
I never had to take him up on it but a few months later I got turned around in the construction going there to pickup and called him for directions and he sent his son out to lead me in!
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Oct 25, 2016 | BLOG
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
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Oct 21, 2016 | BLOG
Hey… I am currently in training for my Class 1 at Breton Commercial Truck Training school in Cape Breton ! They are awesome to learn from and deal with. I can’t wait to finish and hit the open road!
This is my first week. I have a few pictures I’ll share more through the next 11 weeks ! I am the only girl in this class of 9. There were 2 girls before my class and one starting a class after mine ends
I keep forgetting to ask my classmates to take pictures of me driving lol.
We are in our training yard with our trailers today. We have been around the industrial park on the actual road with our trainers learning to shift. We then learned backing up just bobtailing… And now that we have that down we are working on backing up trailers.
Kryssy Tracz – Class 1 Student
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
