Chester De Raspe is our September 2009 Rig of the Month driver. He is a regular at truck shows and on July 19th, he and his boss Glenn Swaile, hosted the first Cariboo Big Rig Show ‘n Shine at Quesnel. BC.

Chester personally won 3rd place in the log truck category at BC Big Rig Weekend this year and he was also presented with the Wow Trucks 365 award. This award is given annually to a Canadian trucker who best demonstrates professionalism and pride in his ride, and for the positive effects he or she has on the trucking community 365 days of the year. This award also means Chester’s truck will be featured in the 2010 Wow Trucks Calendar.

This is Chester’s story: I was born and raised and still live here in Quesnel, B.C. My Dad, who has been such a big inspiration in my life, was a driver. I started riding with Dad as soon as I was out of diapers so I got to see the ins and outs of the trucking business at a very early age. I was always crazy about trucks and after school I would wait by the window just to see him drive into the yard. I’m sure that all boys had toy trucks when they were small but I was a little different in that I used to modify mine into logging trucks.

When I was just a child I would go with my Dad on weekends and help work on the truck. He would put me to work greasing the rig and at first I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do – fast forward to today and it has become less than an ideal chore. From the first time I was able to hold a rag I’ve worked on every truck Dad has driven, washing, greasing, or best of all…riding shotgun.

Dad has seen and done it all and I’ve been there for a few of the interesting times. One winter Dad was driving a Western Star picker truck and we were on top of a mountain where it was snowing heavy. I was standing back watching while he unloaded and hooked up the pull trailer. Unfortunately the reach was not locked so the trailer slid ahead and bumped the truck which started the whole unit sliding down the mountain. Dad was still up on top of the truck so he tried to grab a stump with the picker to stop the slide. When he grabbed a stump the trailer would slide forward again, bumping the truck and the whole thing would start all over again. After quite a few bump, slide, grab, stop, bump, slide, grab repetitions, the outrigger got caught on a stump and Dad grabbed another one which brought the whole thing to a halt. He had quite a ride up top while I was chasing the truck down the hill as fast as my little legs would carry me. 

In 1998 my Dad went to work for Glenn Swaile and he stayed there right up until he retired this year. I got to spend a lot of time when I was young around Glenn’s shop washing, greasing, or riding with Dad. At the same time I was learning everything I could about trucking. Glenn was the one who turned me on to chrome. He showed me that polishing, adding lights, and detailing could turn a common working logging truck into a work of art.

Right after I turned 19 I wrote my Class 1 learners and then I spent a month in Kelowna at Taylor Professional Driving Service where they had me driving all over the Okanagan. When I passed my Class 1 I went back home and since Glenn was hesitant to let me drive just yet I drove with Dad for a while. It worked out great as it gave me time to work on my shifting and to gain some valuable experience.

From the time I was very young I had always imagined myself driving a 5 axle logging truck. But by the time I got my class one Dad was driving a super train hauling short bundles of logs to Prince George. Dad really enjoyed having me along as he got to ride shotgun while I did all the work. We both figured that this was only fair since, up until then, he had been driving me around all my life.

One day the outfit we were hauling for needed both of Glenn’s trucks but Glenn was out of town and there were no other drivers so Dad put me in the spare truck and away we went. It was great. I was finally alone, behind the wheel of a 95 Pete 378 with a tandem and pup. We ran together for a day or two until I got the hang of things and then Dad turned me loose. At the time we were hauling for S&F Construction and I was loading right behind my Dad so it was the perfect way to start.

It was a really easy haul as the place we loaded was only about 5 km off highway 97 at Quesnel and hauled the logs to Prince George, Quesnel, William’s Lake or 100 Mile House. It was kind of cool because you never knew where you were going until after the loader man handed you your delivery slip.

When Glenn got back from holidays he was a little surprised when I pulled the truck into the yard after a long days work. That’s when he realized I was now working for him. He was great about it and he has helped me out and taught me a lot since then. 

Winter that first year was pretty interesting. It got a little scary at times but somehow I managed to make it through. Chaining up, sliding down and spinning over the tops of some of those hills can get to be a little hairy but at that age, it was all fun.

I’m not saying that I didn’t have problems. I remember one time in particular when we were hauling to Prince George, I had finished the first trip and headed back for a second load. I was a little bushed but didn’t think I was too bad so I loaded up and was headed down the 500 road. I know now I was more bushed than I thought as I drifted off and closed my eyes for a mere second but that’s all it took. I drifted a little to the right, caught the snow bank and it sucked me in. Before you could say whoopsy daisy my truck was laying on its side in the ditch. I wasn’t injured, except for a severely bruised ego, so I crawled out of the truck and called Glenn. He wasn’t too far away and by the time he got there the picker trucks were already cleaning up the mess. I figured he would fire me on the spot but he just shook his head and said that trucks can be fixed and as long as I was okay nothing else mattered.

We cleaned up the mess and towed the truck home and while my truck was being repaired I ended up driving Glenn’s new 2002 Peterbilt, (the same truck that I now drive). After my truck was repaired, (I’m sure it was to punish me) Glenn had me drive around the rest of the season with a primered passenger door.

I worked with my Dad on the S&F side for three years until a position at Glenn’s Westfraser Mills short log division opened up. When I moved over to that job I was once again given the 2002 Peterbilt to drive and I’ve been in it ever since.

Westfraser Mills is great because it means I actually get to stay in town instead of running all over the country. It is also interesting because there are five or more contractors working for Westfraser Mills so I get to jump around instead of having the same run all the time. Logging can get a little boring if you only haul for one contractor but with this job there have been times that I’ve hauled from three different sites in a day.

Lately, during breakup, I have been on the highway pulling super-b lumber trains to the coast and to Alberta. One break up I ended up driving an 05 Kenworth super-b end dump for Lava Inc. I hauled rock from the volcano in Nazko down to the coast and also into Alberta. I had a lot of fun with that truck and, although I enjoy being out on the big road, I’m always waiting for that call that will take me back to my forest roads.

I have to say that the best thing about this industry is the people involved in it. From the loggers in the bush to the long haulers on the road and all the truckers in between you get to meet some great people and make friends. Despite not seeing them some of them for months at a time these are friendships that will last a lifetime. The truckers, the DOT and even the people behind the desks in the offices are a special breed and I have enjoyed meeting them on the road or at one of the many truck shows. I am still fairly new at this, having only been in it for six years, but it has been good so far and I have a lot more to do and see down the road.

Over those six years I have learned a lot of skills and tricks of the trade. Not all these lessons are easy like coming down an icy, muddy hill in the bush can be a real challenge. I can remember both my Dad and Glenn constantly telling me that if you start to lose control and the wheels start locking up - you have to get them turning again.

“To do that you take your foot off the brake - turn the damn Jake off! - and put your foot on the throttle and, if necessary, grab another gear!” they’d say.

I understood the concept but trying to make your body perform this function for the first time is another task altogether because instinct tells you to keep your foot on that brake pedal - NOT to give it the beans! It took some time to train myself to perform this manoeuvre but I had to get it down pat because, with the trailer I’m pulling now, it’s a fulltime job to show it I’m the boss even though it out-weighs my truck when I’ve got a full drag on. Keeping it behind me is a chore especially in the winter months and muddy conditions. It can shove that poor little tandem truck around pretty good and sometimes I’ll look in my mirror and that trailer will be putting on a show for me. It can be very entertaining at times and definitely gets the ticker going.

I had a few tricky hauls this past winter out behind Wells, BC, where it always snows a lot. On one pull out of there, on a good day you needed a set of triples and on a bad day it was two sets of triples and hope and pray you make it over the top.

I like hauling out of Wells. If I could haul out there year round I’d truly be in trucker’s paradise. (Actually a year long truck show would be a close second) Whether it’s out the Bowron Road or the 3100 Road behind Ghost Lake or the Cariboo River, it’s just you and nature. There’s nobody around except the truck half hour ahead of you and the one half hour behind you. The scenery is spectacular all year long with nothing but mountains all around you for miles.

One winter when I was younger and riding shotgun with my Dad, we hauled out of the back of the 3100 Road and at 3121 km there was a kilometre long avalanche section that we had to cross. It was just a narrow corridor where the mountain went straight up on one side and straight down a few hundred feet on the other. One morning my Dad and I were headed out for a load with another truck following about five minutes behind us.

We got to 3121 and went through with no problem but the truck behind us didn’t make it. In that five minute gap an avalanche came down and he had to wait for the grader to come clear the road. The whole time my Dad hauled out there I never heard of a slide coming down on anybody, it was either right before or right after a truck went through. It must have had something to do with the vibration or noise from the trucks.

The Pete has been a good truck and I’m sure we’ll keep it for quite a while since we’ve done so much to it. It’s got a 270 wheel base, which is good for what I do, and considering all the work Glenn and I have done to it I’d hate to see it go on the lot, or worse, have somebody else drive it. Since I started driving it I have been the only one to sit behind the wheel.

Each year I like to trick the truck out a little more by adding something new. I’d like to do a few more things like shave the roof, remove the horns and regular cab lights and install bullet style cab lights. I’d also like to get rid of the stock headlights and go with the old school double round headlights instead. I’ve got lots of plans for it but it all takes time and money. I’d like a big Texas bumper too but I have a hard enough time already with my new trailer being is so low to the ground.

It is a two bundle quad trailer which we custom built to fit 22.5 low profile tires to keep it low so we could extend the stakes to pack more of the light Pine Beetle “buggy” wood we are hauling now. It doesn’t take much for it to hang up and I may have to get a push, pull or drag from a nearby skidder or cat now and then but it always gets the job done. I’ve got to the point where I can get my weight right on or at least close enough and it can sure pack a lot of wood.

We have been in the last couple Quesnel, Billy Barker Days parades and it is gratifying to drive the parade route having my home town friends cheering for me and my truck. I also enjoy taking it down to the coast to show it off to other truckers at B.C. Big Rig Weekend. But that’s just part of it. I also get to see all the friends I’ve made at past shows as well as meet new people.  Then there is the show itself where you can get new ideas from seeing all the other trucks.

Glenn has been great to me over the years and has let me do just about anything I wish to the truck. Every break up I strip all the wheels and fuel tanks down and give them a real good polish job and we have added a ton of lights and chrome to the truck. Some of the old timers scratch their heads about my trying to make the truck stand out and yet keep it working in the bush. It has been a lot of work but I think the end result makes it all worth while.