Full time Class AZ Driver Toronto,Ontario

Full time Class AZ Driver Toronto,Ontario

Compensation: $70,000 +
Benefits: Medical and Dental after six months of service, and self-directed pension contributions and
one year of service.
PACART, Canada’s most respected fine art transport company has a full-time position available in our
Toronto location, for an Ontario licensed class AZ driver who is energetic, careful, conscientious, and
pays attention to detail.
The successful candidate will possess good interpersonal skills, be customer service oriented, and up to
learning about the unique experiences and challenges in the exciting world of fine art transportation!

Requirements:
• Must be able to work flexible hours
• Possess a valid AZ class Ontario Driver’s License
• Supply a current CVOR or drivers abstract
• Possess a valid passport or PR card and able to travel between Canada and USA when required
• Provide RCMP or provincial police background check
• Pass a pre-employment drug test / screening and participate in a Drug and Alcohol program in
accordance with USDOT regulations
Assets to the position:
• Relational knowledge of Metro Toronto
• City driving experience
• Knowledge of basic computer programs including Microsoft office
• Bilingual ( Not a requirement )
• An interest in the Arts
Scope of work:
• Local driving throughout the GTA and Southern Ontario – both solo and with second driver/tech
• Long distance driving – both solo and with second driver
• Overnight or out-of-town driving up to a week at a time, and on rare occasions up to two weeks
• Some onsite and warehouse packing
*All training and equipment for packing and handling fine art will be provided by our trained drivers and fine aet technicians*

 

Please send your resume with CVOR and drivers abstract to employment@pacart.ca

Skills Ontario- DZ Driver, Trades and Tech Truck Driver and  Program Facilitator

Skills Ontario- DZ Driver, Trades and Tech Truck Driver and Program Facilitator

Skills Ontario is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting careers in the skilled trades and technologies to
Ontario youth through a variety of programs and competitions across the province.
We are looking to add a new member to our team in brand new position! We are adding a DZ driver and Trades and Tech
Truck Coordinator to our staff. Our employees enjoy a casual work environment, flexible schedules, and have a real
opportunity to make a difference! Skills Ontario also offers a pension and competitive benefits. The successful candidate
will be based in the Kitchener/Waterloo area.

Skills Ontario is strongly committed to fostering diversity and inclusivity within our organization and is an equal opportunity
employer. Representation throughout all programs is essential to Skills Ontario. Accommodations are available on request for
candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

DZ Driver – Skilled Trades and Tech Driver and Program Facilitator
(35-40 HOURS/WEEK)
STARTING AT $30.00-$35.00/HOUR (depending on experience)
Pension and benefits effective after completion of probationary period

The successful candidate will drive the mobile classroom across the province as it travels from school to school reaching
communities from Windsor to Cornwall to Thunder Bay. However, while possessing a DZ driver’s license is an essential
qualification, this is not purely a driving position. The driver will also help with set up of the vehicle and delivering the
program.

The Trades and Tech Mobile Classroom is a custom 2022 Freightliner M2-106, equipped with hydraulic slide outs, giving us
approximately 470 square feet of experiential learning space. This “classroom” is loaded with skilled trades equipment and
trainers for use by students in elementary and high school.

Skills Ontario is looking for a candidate who is willing to not just drive but also engage with students and be a part of our
team, working to ignite a passion for the Skilled Tech and Trades sectors in youth across the province.
The incumbent will be responsible for set up and take down of the mobile classroom (including operation of generators,
slide outs, set up of stairs and wheelchair lift), fueling and cleaning the truck, as well as maintaining ELD logbook records
and vehicle maintenance records.

Breakdown of duties:
• Driving – 25% of time
• Working at home or on site at a school/event delivering Skills Ontario programming – 75% of time
Successful candidates will:
• Have a DZ license
• Have a clean driving record
• At least 2 years driving experience
• Be passionate about or have experience in the Skilled Tech and Trades sectors
• Be able to help set up of equipment
• Experience working with youth would be an asset
• Fluency in French will be considered an asset
• Be willing to be away from home

How to apply: 

Applicants should send one document which includes a resume and cover letter in PDF format outlining how they meet the specific
requirements of the position to Emily Collard ecollard@skillsontario.com no later than May 20th, 2022. Interviews are expected to
take place virtually during the month of May 2022.
While we sincerely appreciate all applications, only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.
At Skills Ontario, we are committed to creating a safe and healthy environment for all youth. As such, the selected candidate will be
required to submit references and a vulnerable sector–criminal records check.
Proof of COVID vaccination will be required upon hiring.

Emotional Support dogs in the trucking industry

Emotional Support dogs in the trucking industry

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.

You can reach Carol at  carolp@wtfc.ca

Living with PTSD

Living with PTSD

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