Starting afresh as Truck Driver in Canada

Hey Andree, good luck with that.
i want to do the same as you.
since 1988.
hehe, still on the road

and i like it

Ed

 

After thinking about it for many years, I decided at 45 to seriously look at driving a truck for a living.

My present employment pays well and provides decent benefits but I was really starting to get frustrated as far as job satisfaction goes.

Too much time spent in a cubicle creating reams of seemingly pointless legal paperwork and very little time spent actually doing the job I signed up for 15 years ago. As a result, I decided it was time to take a look at my options.

I was always interested in driving truck so I took the plunge, got my learners permit and invested in a commercial driving course.

My plan was to take driver training on my days off in order to:

a) continue with my day (and night) job so that I could pay the mortgage and avoid putting myself in a difficult financial situation;

b) see if I had the necessary skills and;

c) find out if driving a truck is something I would actually enjoy.

Fast forward a few months later, passed my pre-trip and driving exams last week with flying colours, Wahoo! I am now a fully licenced Class 1 driver!

The driver training course taught me that not only can I handle an 18 wheeler with relative ease (driving in downtown Vancouver was especially entertaining...), I also confirmed that I absolutely love driving truck.

Few things are as satisfying as making that perfect smooth shift one after another, accompanied in between by the sound of the turbo spooling up under a heavy load. Music to my ears....

Of course now I was all set to quit my day/night job and go drive truck...

Now I find myself in a bit of a dilemma. Its not a bad dilemma because I know I am more fortunate than most to already have a decent paying career.

As luck would have it (perhaps because my present employer found out I was taking the course and getting ready to hit the road so to speak...), this very same week, I was offered a transfer to another location closer to home and work that should be more enjoyable ie: less time stuck in a cubicle...

I still really want to drive a truck but its hard to walk away from a secure job with good pay and benefits to start a new career, especially when the economy is still a bit sluggish.

One thing that did surprise me in school was the number of guys trying for their commercial licence who seemed to have very little interest or enthusiasm for learning about trucks, and/or the actual driving part of driving trucks...

Seems to me that if you are going to invest your time and effort, it would make more sense to do something that truly interests you.

In any case, sorry about my long winded post but good luck to you and hopefully I will see you on the road one of these days...

 

I hear ya Ed. In the past weeks the wife and I have done some talking, and have come to the agreement that I won't be coming off the road. It's the one job that I've had that I enjoy doing. Also, since I'm really lazy, it's a job that I can't ditch once on the road. No calling in sick when I'm already a day out. So, instead, the wife and I are coming up with a game plan that involves me buying my own truck. Hopefully before I'm 40, but if it's when I'm 41, then so be it.

Looks like I'll be on the road for quite some time to come.

 

yup, it realy looks like.

wish you good luck with your own truck.
got mine 3 years ago.
bought a new volvo 730.
doing good but not so good as i want to.
anyway, i am happy doing what i want.

Ed

 

I hear ya there. I plan to buy something for around $20k and run it for the first 2 or 3 years. See where things are by then. But I plan to run Canada only. Too many regs coming in in the US to make me want to run down there any more.

 

I found myself in the same position. I have what some people call a golden job which i absolutely can't stand but the pay and benefits are too good to just walk away. I was always looking at the picture with me and the truck and my diecast trucks in my cubicle daydreaming as to when i would get the chance to go back out on the road.

In 2002, i started yard shunting part-time nights and weekends to attempt to get rid of this "Road Calling" but it still wasn't enough. Now I do short haul loads for them as a spare driver. I am very lucky to have a job where i can change my work hours to work a 3 day week like others at my company are doing. I made sure that my supervisor was ok with this. So now i have a balance, thankfully i don't have kids and work for a very flexible company.