My grandfather, George Grimmer, started in this industry long before there was an industry. Back in a time before trucks were even invented, he used a horse and cart to make his daily deliveries for Uplands Dairy. When the first delivery trucks rolled off the assembly line, my grandfather drove one making him a pioneer for what would eventually become the transportation industry.
My father, Patrick McChesney, devoted his life to the road spending a total of 31 accident-free years behind the wheel of a transport truck. Most notably, he was one of the many men who delivered materials to build the C.N. Tower in Toronto Ontario. Both my grandfather and my father supported stay-at-home wives and 4 children in upper-middle-income homes and both were home with their families every night for supper.
Before I was old enough to even tie my shoes, I dreamed of driving a big truck just like my Dad. Like all children who idolize you and want to be just like you, they mimic everything you say and do. They pay very close attention to everything you say and I was no exception. As soon as my Dad walked through the door after work and took off his work jacket, I would run over and put it on. It didn’t matter that it would drag the ground causing me to trip, I would just pick myself up and carry on playing trucker.
Everyone and their brother had a C.B. in their cars so they could talk to each other and the truckers on channel 19. Even I had a C.B. handle and would talk to anyone willing to talk back. They called me Little Bit. There were movies made about truckers and songs written about them. They were the heroes of the highway, the knights in shining armour and I was going to be just like them when I was big enough to reach the peddles in a truck. My Dad told me that I had to be 21 years old to drive a truck because of the insurance. I didn’t understand that but I decided I would be a diesel mechanic until I turned 21 and could finally drive an 18-wheeler. Life doesn’t always go the way you plan though no matter how hard you try.
Unfortunately, it was 5 years after my Dad passed away that I had the opportunity to learn how to drive a transport but I know he has been in my truck with me many times riding shotgun in the passenger seat. There have even been a couple of times I have called out to him while standing on the brake peddle begging him to help me and make my truck stop when I had a bad situation in front of me. Because he has been with me, I now have 25 accident-free years behind me and still love being a trucker.
I started down this career path with nothing more than a learner’s permit at C.J. Rush Transport in Windsor Ontario. They hired new drivers right out of school but believed in me enough to put me in a truck before I even passed my road test. I had a trainer with me for the first few weeks but it didn’t take long before my trainer was replaced with a newly licensed driver who couldn’t change gears and couldn’t back up. I was teaching them how to be truckers and they were my licensed driver so I could get enough experience to pass my road test and drive on my own.
I spent 6 years as a driver supervisor and 5 years as a commercial driving instructor in addition to racking up a million and a half miles accident-free. I have traveled all over Canada and the U.S. meeting wonderful people along the way and sightseeing in the most beautiful places that look like they belong in Norman Rockwell paintings. Even after all these years, I still feel I have a great deal to learn about this industry.
Today I am a Driver Trainer at Highlight Motor Group in Concord Ontario. I love my job teaching the newly licensed drivers entering the industry. I get the opportunity to pass along my passion to the next generation and teach them what the schools fail to teach. In my spare time, I work on this site. What these pages contain are my experiences, thoughts, dreams, knowledge, and visions based solely on my memories. No part of this site is the opinions of anyone except for me.
It saddens me to see what this industry has become today. It doesn’t even resemble what my grandfather and father helped to build. Truckers who were once proud to call themselves family have been replaced with steering wheel holders whose only concern is their paycheque. Gone are the days when one would make an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. We are no longer heroes on the highways and our armour often resembles that of homeless folks rather than knights. The rules of the road are often ignored and some feel they just need to go as fast as they can to get that extra few miles in before they run out of hours.
We need a lot of change in this industry. Some for the protection of our wages which have not been protected. Some changes are necessary to accommodate future advancements in technology or utilize what is currently available to us. Safety is at the top of the list but not just our safety. The safety of other road users also needs to be addressed along with changes to driver training for all licenses. Changes to improve driver’s health and wellness and return some of the pride and dignity that has been stripped from us.
It’s time to reverse the destruction of the industry that I grew up loving every aspect of. It’s time to restore what has been stripped from us and once again allow us pride and dignity. It’s time to take modern technology and use it to our advantage instead of it being used against us. It’s time to stop the discrimination against truckers by our governments and their suffocating over-regulation. It’s time to clean up our highways and interstates making it much safer for all drivers before it gets any worse. The time has come for truckers to be truckers and not just steering wheel holders.
If we don’t stand together, we don’t stand a chance.
Joanne McChesney
Updated February 18th, 2024