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By John White
Our October 2008 Rig of the Month owner is Willy Schnack from
Lundbreck, Alberta. This is his story.
I was born in Cranbrook, BC but in my younger years I spent time
in the U.S. at Lynden, Sumner, and Spokane, Washington. I also
lived in Cayley, Nanton, and High River, Alberta. When I was a
teenager I moved back to Cranbrook for a number of years and then I
moved to Blairmore, Alberta. I now reside in Lundbreck, Alberta
where I plan to spend the rest of my life.
I’ve always liked trucks which I’m sure comes from my Dad being
a truck driver for most of his much too short life. When I was a
small child my Dad would point to his rig and try to get me to say
truck but I couldn’t so I called them “vroom – vroom” instead. When
growing up, every chance I got, I would go trucking with my
Dad.
When Dad wasn’t making a living as a truck driver he worked as a
ranch hand and a butcher. I never picked up any of his butchering
skills, but I really loved ranch work, especially when I got to
work for my Papa and Granny, Albert and Deanie Holmes. They had a
ranch in Nanton, Alberta where I had the opportunity to work along
side their son Bill.
They weren’t my blood grandparents but they always treated me
like I was part of the family. They also had a Christmas tree farm
in Fort Steele, B.C. and in the fall I’d haul Christmas trees out
of the bush with their flat deck dodge pickup and a goose neck
trailer.
Dad was also a bareback rodeo rider and in the summer time he
would haul us around from rodeo to rodeo. It just came natural that
I do the same, so for a number of years I rode bareback horses in
rodeos all over Alberta and B.C.
When I was 19 years old CP Rail went on strike and many of the
lumber mills who normally shipped by rail were left stranded.
Trucking companies all of a sudden had to pick up the slack and the
company my dad was driving for at the time, G. Stacey Trucking, got
a big contract with the Slocan Lumber Mills. They were short
drivers so my Dad said, “If you want to be a trucker, here’s your
chance.” I had already been running double with him for almost a
year by then so I went and got my Class 1 and I’ve been driving
ever since.
Dad was a good driver and he expected the same from me. I soon
realized that being a quick learner was my only option as any
grinding of gears quickly resulted in a hard rap on the
knuckles.
I’m sure my Mom would have liked to have seen me do almost
anything other than trucking but I think she realized almost before
I did what I was destined to be. She understood my love for
trucking but she was also well aware of the hardships that came
with it, as during our early years she spent so much time at home
alone raising my younger sister Debbie and me.
The first truck I drove for G. Stacey trucking was a 1988 Volvo
that previously had had some trouble with the wiring. The dash had
started on fire three different times leaving a burnt plastic smell
in the cab, but in my eyes she was a beauty. I was so proud to be a
real trucker at last!
I drove that truck for about a year and a half hauling wood from
Quesnel B.C. to Christina Lake. Then they put me in a brand new
T800 Kenworth which was pretty cool for a 20 year old kid. When I
turned twenty-one they started running me down south all over the
five western states.
When G. Stacey sold out, I went to work for Outlaw Trucking
where I drove logging trucks around Cranbrook in the summer and in
the winter I pulled super b’s in the Grand Prairie – Peace River
country. It was a tough run in the winter because we had to haul at
night when there was lots of frost so we wouldn’t break up the
road.
I had some family friends in Grand Prairie at the time that had
a mentally challenged son who was a great kid and loved trucks. I
had a short run so I asked him if he would like to go for a ride.
Unfortunately, it turned out a little longer ride than I
expected.
I had just picked up the last load of logs for the night and was
coming back to Grand Prairie when I hit a log that was on the road.
It got stuck under the wheels of my jeep swinging the trailer off
the road and slowly flipping the truck onto the driver’s side.
I looked over at Josh and asked if he was okay and it was one of
the most comical sights I have ever seen. There he was with a big
grin on his face hanging above me by his seatbelt. He said, “I’m
okay Mr. Willy but I think we’re on our side…”
Trying to keep a straight face I said, “Yeah Josh, we’re on our
side.”
Every time I saw him after that he wanted to go for another ride
but I told him he probably wouldn’t like it because it wouldn’t be
nearly as exciting as the first one.
Canfor came out and did a full accident investigation and they
determined that because of the visibility and the location of the
log it was completely unavoidable on my part. Their original
concern was road speed but they soon found that it wasn’t a factor
as I had just stopped to tighten the wrappers on my load and hadn’t
gotten back up to highway speed yet.
The mystery of where the log came from was soon solved when it
was reported that the driver in front of me pulled into the mill
without any wrappers on at all.
After that I moved to Alberta to work for Dude (Ron) Standquist.
This is where I got a real eye opener; the white knuckled, driving
experience of hauling logs off the BC/Alberta Rockies. We hauled
from up in the mountains around Crows Nest Pass to the mill in
Sentinel and it was quite an experience.
I made lots of friends here and had tons of fun, but the work
ran out when the mill closed. After that I bounced around to a few
different companies trying to find the right one. I ended up at
Glen Transport, which changed my life forever. This is where I met
my “little honey”, the love of my life, my wife Shelley.
It seems that almost all of my friends are owner operators or
drivers and every one of the important people in my life are
involved with the trucking industry in one way or another. Shelley
came from a very similar background as me, as she was raised on a
ranch for the first part of her life. She too used to compete in
barrel racing at a few rodeos.
Her Dad, Don, also had a great love for trucking so he changed
careers to start Glen Transport. Her Mom, Betty, and both her
brothers, Brad and Bob, always worked with her Dad and Shelley
ended up as the dispatch manager in the company.
Shelley and I have been together almost 8 years now, but I knew
her Dad and brother Brad before I met her. Her Dad, Don, had a big
influence not only on my life but on many other people who worked
for him. He was the one who encouraged me to become an owner
operator. Unfortunately, like my father, Don’s life was cut much
too short.
As Shelley and I were getting to know each other we decided that
it might be better for our relationship if we didn’t spend 24 hours
a day working together, especially since she was one of my bosses.
With it being her family business it wasn’t an option for her to
leave so I did.
This was when I became a driver with Vanee Livestock. With my
ranch work background and trucking experience all rolled into one,
this was truly my dream job. This is where I was when I was given
the opportunity to become a lease operator.
Vanee is also a family run trucking company and they are great
people to work for and with. Unfortunately, as everyone knows,
things slowed down in the cattle industry, so I decided to move on.
I now work with Shelley’s family’s new trucking company, Glen West
Express Ltd.
My brother-in-law Brad is a trucker, we work together every day
and we have a lot of fun. We haul everything now but we prefer to
pull specialized loads. Shelley, her mom Betty, and Brad’s wife
Tammy all work together in the company.
I now drive “Arnold” a 2003 379 Pete with 1.1 million kilometers
on it. Arnold has a 18 speed double over transmission; 370 gears
and super 40 rears and pushes out 1,000 hp. Arnold runs great and
I’ve had the opportunity a few different times to give guys a run
for their money and show what Arnold can do while pulling uphill
under a full load.
My sister Debbie is also married to a truck driver, Corey
Stishenko who was also raised in a trucking family. He worked for
Glen Transport before it was sold and he is still with the company
today.
I have 3 children from a previous marriage, my son Colby, and
twin girls Melissa and Miranda who live in Edmonton with their
mom.
Shelley has 3 daughters from her previous marriage. The oldest,
Alyssa, now lives on her own and is currently going to college to
become a practical nurse. Tristan and Shaylee are still in school
and they live with us. They are both actively involved in a local
dance studio where they participate in all types of dance from
ballet to hip-hop and Tristan is in her first year of teaching
dance at the studio. They also work at the studio both in the front
office and in the back where they organize costumes and props.
All the rest of my family live in the Cranbrook/Kimberly area
and all of Shelley’s family live in southern Alberta except for her
youngest brother Bob who lives in Toronto and works in the
automotive industry.
It’s great living in the beautiful foothills of southern
Alberta. We live on acreage with a couple of horses, a donkey,
dogs, and cats and when we wake up in the morning there are usually
ten to fifteen deer calmly feeding in our fields.
It is truly a great life, hard at times when you are not always
home for your family, but with their background they understand and
support me always!
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