This post appears as a column in the March issue of Truck News and Truck West Magazine - print & online editions.
I have been employed as a highway driver for the last 11 years. Truck driving is a catch-22 for me. I experience the feeling of freedom and independence one minute but I am left with a longing for my social network the next. I have experienced some of my highest emotional highs and some of my lowest emotional lows while at the wheel. I have a love/hate relationship with truck driving as a result. But the bottom line is, the trucking industry has me hooked.
Variation, challenge and independence. I think those are three ingredients that are always present in the commercial drivers life. Each of these elements possess a lot of pros and cons and that is where my love/hate relationship with the job is rooted. Let me give you an example.
In mid November of last year I started a trip from southern Ontario to Vancouver. I planned to be home for a day or two in early December and then squeeze in another trip before Christmas. I was counting my chickens before they hatched. My truck suffered an engine failure. The truck remained in the shop for three weeks until the engine was replaced. I never made it home until December 22nd.
So that trip saw me slip seating into five different trucks and spending a few nights in motel rooms. Luckily one of our Edmonton driver's was on holidays so I had the use of her truck for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately that truck needed an oil pressure sensor replaced a few days after I got into it so I had more downtime. I was cursed on this trip. Murphy's law. So let's go back and look at this experience in the context of those three elements I mentioned.
Variation in my day can certainly prevent me from becoming bored. It can also provide high levels of stress. I still had freight to deliver and a salary to earn. No easy task when my wheels are sitting in a service bay. As drivers we all face situations like this, or very similar ones, on an ongoing basis.
Challenge? Oh yes. Many challenges. My dedicated truck is my home and slip seating sucks. Spending three weeks living out of a couple of bags when you are accustomed to your own living, eating, sleeping and cooking space is stressful. As I was rolling down the road trying to focus on getting the miles in my mind wanted to focus on everything that had gone wrong. By the third week I was feeling that everyone I dealt with was conspiring to make my life miserable and prevent me from getting home. Sound familiar?
Independence is a good thing to have. I don't have a boss in my truck, I don't have anyone looking over my shoulder and I don't have anyone telling me what to do. These are all wonderful things. But when my workplace comes to a grinding halt at one o'clock in the morning there is nobody to deal with the problem but me. Independence may equal the freedom to choose my own way but it also gives me the responsibility to deal with all the situations that arise. That includes all the issues I didn't plan to deal with.
We are independents, lease operators and company drivers. We are teams and singles. Our workplace may be the city, the province, the country or the continent. We all have different levels of experience and skills. The example of my own experience with the breakdown shows that despite our individual differences we all face the same industry issues and the same personal and emotional fallout that can result.
When a group of experienced drivers get together discussion often turns to the camaraderie and mentor-ship that existed between drivers in the past and how that is now missing or on the decline in our industry. There is nothing better than getting together for a good jaw session with a few other drivers. The stresses of the open road melt away when you can share them with people that really “get it”. Things have changed rapidly in the last two decades. Technological change continues to speed along. Culture is slow to respond and our trucking culture is no different.
I said at the outset that I am left longing for my social network. Technology has brought the social network to our cabs in the form of internet access. Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, smart phones, internet sticks and netbooks. We don't have an excuse to not take part. Using these tools has become as simple as picking up a phone. Social networking on the internet does not replace face to face communication. It makes more of it possible. Join the conversation.
That's how I see it, over the road.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Prairie Night
Did a switch in Regina with Rubhouse last night. It was a great day on the prairies, didn't see a cloud in the sky all day. Rolled into Regina around supper time, fueled then drove around the parking lot at the doghouse a few times looking for some space to drop my wagon. That place is a dump. Regina is in desperate need of some truck stop upgrades. So, that done, I pounded on Rubbie's door and got him out of the bunk, figured he had to get heading east. I was wrong. Like me he had to kill a few hours to keep his book pretty and all his ducks in a row. We headed over to Horton's for a soup and a sandwich.
I always enjoy shooting the breeze with Rub. He was one of the first drivers I met that first month I started running here - man, almost 7 years now! - he came banging on my door when I was sitting at the Headingley Husky. Ha ha, I thought he was a local truck stop huckster looking to sell me some wares when he first jumped up on the running board. Too funny that. Rub's always got a story, he's happy, easy to talk to and he's got at least nine lives :). So we spent an hour or two catching up and solving the problem's of the world before we jumped back into it.
Back in the truck the irony of my rest break sets in. It's full dark now and it's a 3 hour jaunt up to Saskatoon. I'm feeling pretty tired but according to the wisdom of the hours of service gods I'm rested and good to go. So I go. It is a pretty night for a drive after all.
I left the lights of Regina behind me and my thoughts turned to Deb. We celebrated our 31st anniversary yesterday. I phoned her before pulling out of the Husky. It's our standard routine. Every evening around the same time she receives my call. As long as she hears my voice and knows I'm still kicking she can rest for the night. It's easy to forget the stress this job puts on the people we care about most. I never miss making those daily calls. I need those daily calls as much as Deb does, probably more so. I lose myself in warm memories. An hour has passed as I approach the town of Chamberlain. I am brought back to the present moment with the need to slow down, drop some gears, ease through town. The town is asleep. I'm starting to feel that way myself and wonder if I should have joined the truckers parked in Chamberlain. Too late now, I've already found the big hole and I'm back up to speed.
I try to get off the road each day by midnight and put myself in the bunk. I know I am more alert and far more engaged in the present moment during the day. At night, in the dark, even my well rested mind wants to spend time within itself. Outside stimuli don't grab my attention in the same way as they do in the full light of day. Sensory deprivation? Who knows. Maybe I'm just funny that way. That been said, driving at night holds a strange attraction for me. Last night the desolation of the prairies deserved a quiet cab and a quiet mind. I just sort of slipped through the night. There was a lot of coyotes out there last night. Just watching me. Strange.
The lights of Davidson appear on the horizon. They are incredibly bright tonight. Wait, that's not just Davidson. The northern lights are making an appearance. A long strip of soft light stretched from the town of Davidson off to the northeast and out of my sight. The ribbon of light just above the horizon with the intensity of a soft aura. The beautiful thing about the northern lights is that they are alive. It's a phenomena that is not static. The light moves and pulses and grows. Sometimes for hours, at other times for short bursts. To the northeast a burst of pulsing light broke out, now with a whole ribbon of light at it's base stretching from the town of Davidson in front of me off to the east and out of my sight. Awesome. As I move through Davidson the light fades with an occasional soft pulse as I continued north to Saskatoon.
The last hour of my drive is a battle with fatigue. Staying focused is an effort. The northern lights put on a final show for me just south of Saskatoon. Two in the morning sees me crawl between the sheets. It was a good night.
I always enjoy shooting the breeze with Rub. He was one of the first drivers I met that first month I started running here - man, almost 7 years now! - he came banging on my door when I was sitting at the Headingley Husky. Ha ha, I thought he was a local truck stop huckster looking to sell me some wares when he first jumped up on the running board. Too funny that. Rub's always got a story, he's happy, easy to talk to and he's got at least nine lives :). So we spent an hour or two catching up and solving the problem's of the world before we jumped back into it.
Back in the truck the irony of my rest break sets in. It's full dark now and it's a 3 hour jaunt up to Saskatoon. I'm feeling pretty tired but according to the wisdom of the hours of service gods I'm rested and good to go. So I go. It is a pretty night for a drive after all.
I left the lights of Regina behind me and my thoughts turned to Deb. We celebrated our 31st anniversary yesterday. I phoned her before pulling out of the Husky. It's our standard routine. Every evening around the same time she receives my call. As long as she hears my voice and knows I'm still kicking she can rest for the night. It's easy to forget the stress this job puts on the people we care about most. I never miss making those daily calls. I need those daily calls as much as Deb does, probably more so. I lose myself in warm memories. An hour has passed as I approach the town of Chamberlain. I am brought back to the present moment with the need to slow down, drop some gears, ease through town. The town is asleep. I'm starting to feel that way myself and wonder if I should have joined the truckers parked in Chamberlain. Too late now, I've already found the big hole and I'm back up to speed.
I try to get off the road each day by midnight and put myself in the bunk. I know I am more alert and far more engaged in the present moment during the day. At night, in the dark, even my well rested mind wants to spend time within itself. Outside stimuli don't grab my attention in the same way as they do in the full light of day. Sensory deprivation? Who knows. Maybe I'm just funny that way. That been said, driving at night holds a strange attraction for me. Last night the desolation of the prairies deserved a quiet cab and a quiet mind. I just sort of slipped through the night. There was a lot of coyotes out there last night. Just watching me. Strange.
The lights of Davidson appear on the horizon. They are incredibly bright tonight. Wait, that's not just Davidson. The northern lights are making an appearance. A long strip of soft light stretched from the town of Davidson off to the northeast and out of my sight. The ribbon of light just above the horizon with the intensity of a soft aura. The beautiful thing about the northern lights is that they are alive. It's a phenomena that is not static. The light moves and pulses and grows. Sometimes for hours, at other times for short bursts. To the northeast a burst of pulsing light broke out, now with a whole ribbon of light at it's base stretching from the town of Davidson in front of me off to the east and out of my sight. Awesome. As I move through Davidson the light fades with an occasional soft pulse as I continued north to Saskatoon.
The last hour of my drive is a battle with fatigue. Staying focused is an effort. The northern lights put on a final show for me just south of Saskatoon. Two in the morning sees me crawl between the sheets. It was a good night.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Halifax
So last night I was in Halifax. A full load of office furniture delivered to a job site in the downtown core. It's hard to believe that I have been driving professionally for 11 years and this is the first time I have been into the Atlantic provinces.
I felt like a new driver yesterday. It was a good feeling. I didn't know what surprises were waiting for me around the next corner.
The first challenge was getting across a bridge into the downtown. My GPS gave me the shortest, but it turns out not the best, route. "No trucks over 3200 Kg's" reads the sign. Wonderful. Five o'clock in the evening in a city you've never been in before and it's time to start winging it. That's why we get paid the big bucks right?
The folks in that grocery store parking lot didn't think too much of me as I wheeled in to make a u-turn. C'est la vie! So I found a bridge that accepts commercial traffic - there was only one other bridge - and continued into downtown. Turns out the narrow street that doesn't appear to be a truck route is the only way of reaching a large container port on the other side of town. I'm safe. I'm also patting myself on the back for having the wisdom to stop outside of town and slide my trailer tandems up. There were a few tight corners down there. I was only 10 minutes behind schedule when I arrived and the crew was just getting ready to work on the unload. All was good and all went smoothly.
When I finished my drop I drove up to Aulac, NB and parked at the Irving truck stop for the night. My pick up is in a couple of hours just up the road in Dieppe. Then it's home for a couple of days.
This was a great little trip. It got the blood pumping and brought back some of those feelings of adventure I experienced in abundance my first few years out on the road. It's amazing how doing a job that presents different situations everyday can still become routine in a way. Funny that.
I felt like a new driver yesterday. It was a good feeling. I didn't know what surprises were waiting for me around the next corner.
The first challenge was getting across a bridge into the downtown. My GPS gave me the shortest, but it turns out not the best, route. "No trucks over 3200 Kg's" reads the sign. Wonderful. Five o'clock in the evening in a city you've never been in before and it's time to start winging it. That's why we get paid the big bucks right?
The folks in that grocery store parking lot didn't think too much of me as I wheeled in to make a u-turn. C'est la vie! So I found a bridge that accepts commercial traffic - there was only one other bridge - and continued into downtown. Turns out the narrow street that doesn't appear to be a truck route is the only way of reaching a large container port on the other side of town. I'm safe. I'm also patting myself on the back for having the wisdom to stop outside of town and slide my trailer tandems up. There were a few tight corners down there. I was only 10 minutes behind schedule when I arrived and the crew was just getting ready to work on the unload. All was good and all went smoothly.
When I finished my drop I drove up to Aulac, NB and parked at the Irving truck stop for the night. My pick up is in a couple of hours just up the road in Dieppe. Then it's home for a couple of days.
This was a great little trip. It got the blood pumping and brought back some of those feelings of adventure I experienced in abundance my first few years out on the road. It's amazing how doing a job that presents different situations everyday can still become routine in a way. Funny that.
Friday, 19 February 2010
Oh The Prairies
 | |
| Light fog heading into Saskatoon |
 |
| Westbound #1 near Portage La Prairie, MB. |
 |
| Heading back toward Winnipeg |
There is no doubt running the prairies develops your mental muscle. Setting yourself up on cruise control for hour after hour and for days on end can really put a hurt on your brain. Staying mindful of the present moment is very challenging on those long uneventful days.
Those long days have really sucked the life out of me this winter. I have not been getting any regular exercise in and my sleep patterns have been totally out of whack. It's amazing how that effects your daily outlook on life. Usually not for the better.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Winter Olympics
The opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics were certainly a celebration of everything we think of as Canadian. We gave ourselves a collective pat on the back. I can't help but wonder if that same energy will be turned towards the social, political & environmental challenges we face when the world packs up and goes home. It's easy to sit back for a couple of hours and take in a slick production that touches all of our patriotic buttons and leaves us feeling good about ourselves and the country we live in. It's quite another thing to participate in the dirty work of making that same democracy work for the benefit of all.
Our athletes have shown time and time again that their hard work and commitment to excellence and teamwork extends out to the community after they leave the playing field. We need to follow their lead and do the same.
Our athletes have shown time and time again that their hard work and commitment to excellence and teamwork extends out to the community after they leave the playing field. We need to follow their lead and do the same.
Friday, 5 February 2010
EOBR's & Mentoring
This past Tuesday I woke up in Whitewood, Sk feeling worn out, tired and grumpy. That's unusual for a truck driver! *sarcasm* I was trying to figure out how to get from there to do a drop and a pick in Winnipeg then get back to Edmonton by Thursday morning without showing a violation on my EOBR. It wasn't going to happen.
Now we all know that the sun is always shining, the roads are always clean and dry, there is no construction, traffic on Canadian highways always travels at 100 kph and there is a bypass around every town in northern Ontario.*more sarcasm* So it makes sense that when I leave Ayr, On. and my total trip is 6,400 km that it will only take 64 hours plus the required time for pretrips, pick & drops and fuel stops. Well under the 70 hours I'm allowed.
You can imagine my surprise when my EOBR (hooked into the trucks ECM & wired to a sensor on my drive axle) tells me it takes 72 hours and 29 minutes just to drive it! *even more sarcasm* That's before I log any on duty time.
Hmmmmmmmm.
I'm not opposed to running actual time/miles. Just citing that example to make it known that we all have work to do on this issue. The changes lay in communication and training. At least in this truck drivers opinion. More on this down the road.
Mentoring and training keep coming up on my radar lately. Maybe it's because I've been testing the EOBR for a while and I'm a target for information, and that's okay. I was surprised to hear from a newer driver that the first company he worked for paid him a whopping $150 a week for spending time with a driver/trainer. Ummmm, $150 per week? I thought he was pulling my leg. He wasn't. As companies grow in size and smaller companies are eaten up by them I can see an increasing problem. We can have tremendous training been done at the entry level that stresses safety and following the rules. But once you have your ticket and are sent out on the road the picture changes. There's too many driver's out here still white knuckling it through the mountains and wondering why they are on the log audit s**t list every month. It's not from wrong intent or lack of effort. It's lack of knowledge and experience. A little quality mentoring goes so far in this business. It puts the new person at ease and builds their confidence. Throw them out there on a hope and a prayer and you shatter their confidence and stress them out.
Seasoned driver's talk about the good old days. I think what they really miss is the network. The mentoring of new drivers and sharing in the good times and the tough times. We manage much more by the bottom line these days. Big corporations, big money, lots of employees. Glad I work for a privately owned small to mid size company that focuses on values. I heard a saying many years ago: "Profit is the result of good management, not the reason for it". I have always liked that.
Now we all know that the sun is always shining, the roads are always clean and dry, there is no construction, traffic on Canadian highways always travels at 100 kph and there is a bypass around every town in northern Ontario.*more sarcasm* So it makes sense that when I leave Ayr, On. and my total trip is 6,400 km that it will only take 64 hours plus the required time for pretrips, pick & drops and fuel stops. Well under the 70 hours I'm allowed.
You can imagine my surprise when my EOBR (hooked into the trucks ECM & wired to a sensor on my drive axle) tells me it takes 72 hours and 29 minutes just to drive it! *even more sarcasm* That's before I log any on duty time.
Hmmmmmmmm.
I'm not opposed to running actual time/miles. Just citing that example to make it known that we all have work to do on this issue. The changes lay in communication and training. At least in this truck drivers opinion. More on this down the road.
Mentoring and training keep coming up on my radar lately. Maybe it's because I've been testing the EOBR for a while and I'm a target for information, and that's okay. I was surprised to hear from a newer driver that the first company he worked for paid him a whopping $150 a week for spending time with a driver/trainer. Ummmm, $150 per week? I thought he was pulling my leg. He wasn't. As companies grow in size and smaller companies are eaten up by them I can see an increasing problem. We can have tremendous training been done at the entry level that stresses safety and following the rules. But once you have your ticket and are sent out on the road the picture changes. There's too many driver's out here still white knuckling it through the mountains and wondering why they are on the log audit s**t list every month. It's not from wrong intent or lack of effort. It's lack of knowledge and experience. A little quality mentoring goes so far in this business. It puts the new person at ease and builds their confidence. Throw them out there on a hope and a prayer and you shatter their confidence and stress them out.
Seasoned driver's talk about the good old days. I think what they really miss is the network. The mentoring of new drivers and sharing in the good times and the tough times. We manage much more by the bottom line these days. Big corporations, big money, lots of employees. Glad I work for a privately owned small to mid size company that focuses on values. I heard a saying many years ago: "Profit is the result of good management, not the reason for it". I have always liked that.
Monday, 18 January 2010
Resolutions & Democracy
It has been a rough start to 2010 on the resolution front for me. One of the things I resolved to do was to post to my blog at the end of every week. I'm kinda sorta doing that. I also resolved to keep up a fitness program through the winter months. Not easy to do out here on the road plus I injured my right leg running in the snow back on the 9th of January....... and...... I'm making excuses so you know where I stand on that one. It's not going so well but, there is always tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and so on. So how's it going with your resolutions? Don't give up. If you fall of the wagon just keep starting over!!
Over the past couple of weeks I have become a "CAPPhead". CAPP is the acronym for the facebook group "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament". Last night the numbers in the group topped 200,000. Discussion in the group has been civil, non partisan to mildly partisan for the most part. (there will always be the extremes - a minority) I have never participated in political discussion to such an extent before. I have felt empowered by the experience and for the first time in my life (yes the first-really) have been firing letters off to our MP's and political leaders expressing my opinion. I have had thoughtful replies from my MP and some canned replies from the opposition leaders but no replies at all from our governing members or the PMO. Hmmmm. They have been saying for a month now that they want to consult with Canadians. I'll try writing again this week. Show your support for our democracy by attending a rally in your city on the 23rd of January or just go to the facebook site above and participate by joining the group and adding your voice.
It felt like a really slow start to the year out here in the truck. I arrived in Vancouver over a week ago and sat for a day and a half. Then I headed up to Edmonton and sat there for almost two days. Now I'm back in Vancouver along with several other drivers. So I expect to be here for a day or two again. There is lots of freight coming out to the coast. Olympic effect? Probably. Not a hell of a lot of freight going back east though. No worries. After all, January, especially the first half, is typically slow. As I passed through Calgary yesterday I stopped at our terminal for a shower and struck up a conversation with one of our Calgary drivers on this topic. He told me that a number of years ago he was working for Grimshaw Trucking and had one trip in the whole month of January. $70. It was a trip from Calgary to Edmonton. So things are not that bad after all. Let's just call it a blip and not a trend.
There, I did it. My post is done for this week. :)
P.S. Don't forget to make your donation for Haiti earthquake relief. Those folks are suffering beyond anything we are likely to experience in our lifetimes, at no fault of their own. Living a good life starts with a generous act.
Over the past couple of weeks I have become a "CAPPhead". CAPP is the acronym for the facebook group "Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament". Last night the numbers in the group topped 200,000. Discussion in the group has been civil, non partisan to mildly partisan for the most part. (there will always be the extremes - a minority) I have never participated in political discussion to such an extent before. I have felt empowered by the experience and for the first time in my life (yes the first-really) have been firing letters off to our MP's and political leaders expressing my opinion. I have had thoughtful replies from my MP and some canned replies from the opposition leaders but no replies at all from our governing members or the PMO. Hmmmm. They have been saying for a month now that they want to consult with Canadians. I'll try writing again this week. Show your support for our democracy by attending a rally in your city on the 23rd of January or just go to the facebook site above and participate by joining the group and adding your voice.
It felt like a really slow start to the year out here in the truck. I arrived in Vancouver over a week ago and sat for a day and a half. Then I headed up to Edmonton and sat there for almost two days. Now I'm back in Vancouver along with several other drivers. So I expect to be here for a day or two again. There is lots of freight coming out to the coast. Olympic effect? Probably. Not a hell of a lot of freight going back east though. No worries. After all, January, especially the first half, is typically slow. As I passed through Calgary yesterday I stopped at our terminal for a shower and struck up a conversation with one of our Calgary drivers on this topic. He told me that a number of years ago he was working for Grimshaw Trucking and had one trip in the whole month of January. $70. It was a trip from Calgary to Edmonton. So things are not that bad after all. Let's just call it a blip and not a trend.
There, I did it. My post is done for this week. :)
P.S. Don't forget to make your donation for Haiti earthquake relief. Those folks are suffering beyond anything we are likely to experience in our lifetimes, at no fault of their own. Living a good life starts with a generous act.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)