I was born April 11, 1975 in New Westminster B.C. and for as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a Driver.  Dad used to haul for United Van Lines out of Ontario, so I didn’t get to see him as often as I would have liked.  I can remember every summer wanting to go on vacation just so I could hang out with my uncle riding around in his Kenworth w900 while he hauled gravel from morning till night.  The thrill of watching him shift gears and listening to the truck was enough for me and I’m sure that’s where my fate was sealed, and I was hooked.  When I turned 16, I started driving an old single axle International delivering milk around Vancouver and the Fraser Valley and did that till the age of 18, at that time I was able to get my air ticket to drive a truck with airbrakes!  From there, I started running Body Jobs doing local deliveries.  Pretty soon I became bored with the mainland and figured that it was time to pack my stuff and go on a road trip to Prince George to visit a friend.  This is where the real fun began, and the story on how I got my class one licence!  I was 20 years old, and a couple of friends of mine weren’t quite 19 at this point.  My friends wanted to go out to the bar with us so we thought it would be a great idea to doctor their ID’s so they could get in.  It worked so well that I decided to change mine as well, except I didn’t change my age, I changed my class 5 to a class 1!  So a few short days later, I thought I would test it out at a few local dealers taking trucks out on demos!  As luck would have it, my employer at the time happened to see me when I was out on one of my test drives.  I remember coming to work the following Monday, my boss asked me if i would move a trailer in the yard and I gladly said yes.  Much to my surprise, I did pretty well.  Later that day, my boss told me that he saw me driving in town and wanted me to fly to Vancouver to pick up a truck and trailer and bring it back to Prince George.  Since I hadn’t been on a plane before and I wanted to drive, I said yes!  By morning, I was on a plane to Vancouver, however, when I got there reality was sinking in and I was getting cold feet.  I was worried about getting caught, but had already committed and didn’t want to let my boss down.  I then decided to call my best friend John from high school knowing he had a class 1 licence and asked him if he wanted to go for a ride in case I got in trouble.  We had gone on many adventures together, so this was no surprise to him and was happy to come for the ride.  The trip from Vancouver to Prince George went off without a hitch needless to say.  I ended up doing a few more trips up and down through B.C. for this company which gave me some great experience, but what I wanted was to head to the prairies and this job wasn’t going to take me there.  I packed my things and headed on a new adventure out to Saskatoon, visited with some family for a while and continued on to Lethbridge where I got the erge to get driving again.  I decided it was time to get a REAL class 1 at this point, so I wrote my learners and 24 hours later booked a road test where I only got 11 demerits.  From there, I went on with H & R Transport driving a 1994 Kenworth T600 flat top with an N14 cummins, and a 13 speed transmission.  I drove all over Canada and the United States hauling whatever they would give me.  After a while I started getting a little homesick and eventually moved back out to Langley to be close to family and friends.  I quickly found work out there with Vertec out of Chilliwack.  My first trip was to New York state with two drops, one to Rockchester, and the other to Queen Elizabeth Ports in New York.  I had brought along a friend with me for the ride, however, just before we reached the Buffalo crossing my friend informed me that he did not have proper identification to cross into the United States.  So, panicking a little bit, we decided it be best that he hide under the bed in the sleeper while I cleared my load with the customs brokers.  After sweating for 45 minutes in 90 degree weather with the truck not running, we were successful in “smuggling” him in to the US.  We arrived to our first destination of a Rockchester golf course to drop off a small trailer, but arrived too late to make the delivery and had to spend the night.  It was too early in the evening to go to sleep so we decided instead to go out to a bar that was referred to us by a local guy.  After a failed effort in finding the bar he told us about, we ended up at a small peelers bar close to where we originally started.  So, after a few drinks and talking with some of the girls inside, we found out that the bar we were looking for was in fact a gay bar which wasn’t anywhere near our cup of tea...so to speak.  Greatfull that we didn’t find the recommended bar in the first place, we decided to call it a night and headed back to the truck.  Come morning, we offloaded the trailer for the golf course and headed on to our second drop at New York, New York.  By the time we arrived, it was late, and not knowing exactly where we were going, we flagged down another driver and asked for directions.  The driver informed us that we had already driven past the port, and advised us to be sure to honk until they let us into the port when we got there, as we wouldn’t be able to offload until morning.  He then proceeded to ask us what we had for cab security, when I reached my elbow over and pushed the lock, he grinned and said “that’s what I thought”.  The other driver reached down and pulled out a hand gun, and asked me to step up onto his truck.   Not going to argue with a man with a gun, I handed the phone to my friend and reluctantly stepped out of my truck and up onto the side of his.  He then turned on his interior light and proceeded to show me what the locals do for cab security, which included a sawed off shot gun, a Kevlar lined sleeper, and a ¾” steel plate under his mattress.  He then stressed once again, for our safety, to make sure that we get through that gate no matter what.  When we finally arrived at Queen Elizabeths Port, we did exactly what he said and had an uneventful night.  In a big eye opening learning curve, I have never been keen on returning to New York...needless to say.

Always on the lookout for something better, I managed to find a company called AJ’s Driver Services, and against what other people had said about Driver services companies being the shits, I took the position anyways.  I wasn’t disappointed, it was one of the best companies I have ever worked for.  AJ’s had a contract with Martin Brauer hauling McDonalds food and supplies from Vancouver to multiple locations in Alaska.  Some of the best stories I have are from my days of running to Alaska with these drivers...we were like family.  I remember my first trip to Alaska, I was paired up with and old cowboy/log hauler who had done pretty much every kind of driving possible!  Lee Voth is and has always been a great inspiration to me, and was a great mentor teaching me everything he knew about driving truck.  To this day we still laugh at our first trip together.  We had pulled into Fort Nelson BC on our way back from Alaska, ate breakfast and headed back out onto the highway.  It was my turn to drive, so Lee went to bed for a rest as he had driven all night.  I had only driven about half an hour when my stomach started to turn and make all sorts of noises!  I knew I was in trouble and had to find a washroom FAST, but there was nothing in sight but the highway.  I knew I couldn’t wait, so I slammed on the brakes so hard that I ended up rolling Lee right out of the bed.  Poor guy didn’t know what hit him...or what the emergency was!  I’m sure I looked pretty funny because I don’t think the truck had even stopped yet as I was running by the front to find the nearest bush!  I wish I could have seen the look on the two ladies faces as they drove by in the other direction.  As I headed back to the truck, Lee asked me what the trouble was, and I replied that it was now taken care of.  It was a running joke after that about guys with those types of emergencies always coming back missing a shirt pocket, a sock, or a whole sleeve.  That was just one of the many crazy trips we had together.  After 9-11 things changed for us up north and I felt I wanted to try something different and decided to try my hand at hauling lumber.  This turned out to be a very non lucrative career move for me, and ended up having a few local jobs in Vancouver over the next few years.  I became Alberta bound to make some money, ending up in Red Deer finding a company that would apprentice me to run picker truck delivering pipe to drilling rigs.  I ran 18, 25, and 45 ton stiff boom and knuckle pickers, working long hours doing rig moves with some great and not so great swampers.   This only lasted about a year, and when things slowed down, I ended up getting laid off.  At that time, I started hauling and running equipment in and around Red Deer, but only lasted a short time as things slowed down even more.  A friend of mine out in Lloydminster had said things out there were booming and that I could find work in a heart beat, which I did.  After a couple of not so great choices, I managed to find my current employer Jeff Bergquist.  Jeff is the owner/operator of JTB Trucking Ltd., whom I have been driving with for 7 months now with no intentions of leaving any time soon!    I am presently driving a Kenworth T800  with an 18 speed and a few upgrades that I think I will just keep under my hat.  We haul heavy construction and agriculture equipment, mostly being oversized needing special permits and sometimes pilot drivers between BC and Manitoba.  We have a variety of custom trailers from 6 to 9 axles with boosters and jeeps that can accommodate just about all types of heavy equipment.  Every day is different and has many challenges as equipment, weather, and locations are always changing.  Jeff and I have a great working relationship which has turned into a great friendship all around.  It has been a great experience to work for someone who realizes the importance of not only the job, but the importance of family and the time that they require of me as well.  Since he has five children with his wife Sarah, he understands that I to need time with my fiancé Julie and our combined six children as well.  My relocation to the Lloydminster area has been the best move of my life, which now has me setting down some real roots, and finally being able to call somewhere HOME.  I met my fiancé here, I found my career here, and I found some true friends.  I am adjusting to farm life with ease, as city life is just not for me anymore.  Julie and I are getting married this coming June, joining our two little families together.  My four children, Matthew, age 13 who loves to ride quads and motorbikes, Mackenzie, age 11 who is a tough yet soft hearted girl, Morgan, age 8 who loves animals (all of them), and Mitchell, age 5 who loves heavy equipment and truckin’ with dad.  Julie has two children, Alison, age 13 who loves to ride horses, and Fox, age 7 who loves his Hot Wheels.  It has been relatively easy to have them all together with them already calling each other brothers and sisters.  Believe it or not, Jeff is actually going to be my best man at my wedding!

A final note that I would like to add is a little tid bit that people told me dad used to say... “The day you think you know everything, is the day you should hand in your licence.”  So for any of you new drivers out there, take the advice that the old boys tell us as they have probably been there and done that!  Catch you on the flip flop...greasy side down.