Rig of the Month Story (John L. Welburn)

      I was born June 23, 1959 in York County (Toronto), Ontario. The second oldest of six children, I spent most of my younger years in the Burnt River and Halliburton areas of Ontario.

      A second-generation trucker, I always looked up to and admired my father, Randy Welburn, of McTaggart, Saskatchewan. He passed away on February 27, 1994 at the age of 58. He not only taught me to drive, he also instilled in me the importance of driving safely.

I loved to draw and when I was a kid hanging out around with the crew, I would draw them and any piece of equipment I could find. I also drew pictures of three of my Dad's trucks, an International, a Kenworth and a White Freightliner fueling up at a Truck Stop. I received an art scholarship from school but all they wanted me to draw was trees, so I quit. When I show my old drawing to friends, they are usually surprised that I was only eight years old when I drew them.

Dad used to haul wood chips for Martin Lumber and every chance I got I would ride with him in that old Mack. One time when hauling woodchips from Stony Creek to Tonawanda, our load was too high and we hit an overpass with so much force that it ripped the screen right off and left a storm of woodchips in our wake.

One thing I loved about going to Tonawanda was getting to stay in the cab while unloading. You had to drive onto the ramp and then the whole unit would lift into an almost vertical position. I drew a picture of that experience too. One time Dad took my Mom to Tonawanda and said, “Just wait in the cab. I'll be right back….” Not knowing what to expect, she totally freaked when the whole unit lifted up.

I had always wanted to drive, so when my career as an “artist” came to an abrupt end I got my Chauffeur's license and ran doubles with Dad. Talk about sweaty palms those first few trips. My dad would hop into the bunk to sleep but first he would coach me on what to expect up ahead. One time he said, “Watch for T-bone Hill by North Bay, you have to be in 3rd gear to make it up and over that one.” Well wouldn't you know it, here comes T-bone and I’m nervous as can be worrying about my RPM’s. I’m all ready to shift when suddenly that big old hand flew out of the bunk and grabbed the stick. “If you’re gonna shift it, then shift it!” he growled, as he pushed it into gear. He scared the heck out of me, but I learned how to shift!

Those were great days; everybody had a lot of fun telling jokes and being social on the CB. It’s a shame but nowadays all you usually hear is drivers complaining about four wheelers, loads, shippers or bosses.

In 1975, we moved to Winnipeg, MB where Dad leased his Kenworth Cab Over on with Gaulco. He hauled rolls of carpets from Winnipeg to Calgary and then loaded bales of scrap foam at Vita Foam in Calgary for Ontario, California. Those loads were only 4,000 lbs and his 350 Cummins loved them. She'd pull those hills with no problem. (I’ve always been a Cat man and we always teased each other about our engines.) We would then spend two days in the Los Angeles/San Bernardino area picking up skids of fruit and vegetables here and there. We would haul them back to Ottawa where we unloaded at Top Banana. We did two of those rounder's a month.

One trip, after loading in Calgary, Dad, before going to sleep, asked if I knew how to get to the border at Coutts. I had been there before but never while he slept. Full of eighteen-year-old confidence I said, "Sure do." The run to Ft. Macleod was fine and then I ran into road construction. Dad was always a light sleeper so he woke up. Sticking his head out of the bunk, he asked where we were. I proudly said, “On our way to Coutts”.

“We're not on the right road," he replied. We argued about it until he just shook his head and went back to bed. When I arrived at the Border, it looked like a ghost town. Right then Dad stuck his head out of the bunk, and said, “Now turn this ‘bleep'n’ truck around and get us to Coutts - without going through Calgary!” He was pissed. He didn’t say another word to me until we got to Vegas. Then after almost 24 hrs of silence, all he said was, "Next time pay attention!" I was only 18 at the time and like any 18 year old I didn’t realize I still had a lot to learn.

Running south suddenly ended for me when customs found out I was too young to interstate so I got a job with Trans-X hauling cowhides from Canada Packers in Brandon to Winnipeg. I drove a Ford Day Cab doing two runs a day. It was during that time that I met my wife Susan. Our daughter, Charmaine (Welburn) Mulder was born Aug/77.

After about a year Dad bought a Garage business in Highland Glen, Manitoba and asked if I'd come drive his truck. He put his KW on with Derby Transport and I hauled farm equipment out of Winnipeg to Saskatchewan and Calgary. Then I’d pick up drilling mud in Wilcox, Saskatchewan bound for Slave Lake. Next, I’d head to Edmonton to pick up bagged fertilizer for Saskatchewan. Susan traveled with me a lot back then while our daughter stayed with Grandpa and Grandma. After a while, Dad wanted to stretch his legs again so he went back on the road.

Looking for work, I opened the yellow pages and found Jade Transport, a new company owned by Jacob Dyck, Larry's Dad. He had a Mack that he named "Amy," after his wife, a Ford Louisville and Larry had an R Model Mack.

I drove Amy pulling tankers of asphalt for the Department of Highways, diesel fuel for CP & CN and containers down to South & North Dakota. Larry and I were like brothers and ran the Highways a lot together. We had great times shining our trucks and dressing them up with extra lights and chrome.

We ran north to Thompson, The Pas, and Flin Flon. We also ran the winter roads over frozen muskeg and lakes. Man, those roads were rough. One time I broke a spring off the trailer and had to chop down a tree, shoved a piece in, and tie it up with a chain so that I could carry on. Another time I broke through the Muskeg. I was stuck there for two days until the guys got back to pump out my tanker so we could pull her out.

I worked at Jade until just after our son James was born in August of 1985. That was when I decided I didn’t want to be away from home so much so it was time for a change.

Jacob had already retired and it was a very sad day sitting in the old office with Jacob and Larry and telling them I was leaving.

I went to work for Domo Gas Corporation and was given the position of Manager of Transportation. No, I didn't sit behind a desk; I ran one truck and two tankers and was in charge of keeping thirty-two gas stations full with the help of two other drivers. One of those drivers was my youngest brother Ken Welburn, whom I taught to drive. For the last thirteen years, he has been on with Federated Co-op doing a scheduled grocery run around Manitoba.

Domo got monotonous after several years so I took my 1988 Peterbilt and started long hauling. James would always come with me during school holidays and on one trip James and I were going from Toronto to Wilmington North Carolina. On the way, the truckers were talking about the USS North Carolina destroyer that was there so we decided to check it out. The truck stop was tiny but we wiggled in there and got to bed. Getting up early to check out the big ship, I looked out my windshield and there's a 6 foot crocodile (or alligator, how would I know?) just sauntering across the parking lot. We managed to see the battleship and she was amazing.

On another trip, James and I were hauling from Edmonton to Laredo, Texas. It was hot and we were 12^th in line to get unloaded. It was near noon when the, “Mexican coffee Wagon", pulled in. We were really hungry so we ordered 2 super burritos' each, and 4 cans of pop. James ordered his with this green relish. We got back in the truck and he took his first bite, which was pretty much half of the burrito. He turned to me with a mouth full of food and a look of terror in his eyes. He desperately flayed his hands in the air trying to tell me that it was - HOT! I handed him a cold can of pop but instead of opening it, he stuck it in his mouth sideways to cool down his burning tongue and lips. It turned out that the green relish was made of jalapeño peppers! I couldn't help but laugh; the look on his face was just too funny. Poor kid …but tough kid, he ate both those burritos and drank all four pop.

I had great times running south but the money was not there anymore so I decided to move to Bowden, Alberta. At first, I hauled logs in BC and tires in Alberta trying to find my place. Then I found Freightland Carriers. I met with Wendy Sickel and Ron Giles and told them about my determination to make it out West.

“When can you start?” they asked.

“Yesterday", I replied. My first load with Freightland Carriers was on Feb 23, 1998.

So far, in my trucking career, my greatest employers have been Jacob Dyck of Jade Transport and now Wendy Sickel and Ron Giles of Freightland Carriers Inc. Shortly after I started with Freightland Carriers, I was on a trip to Saskatoon when my wife Susan had a near fatal accident where we almost lost her. She was riding James’ dirt bike when she ran into a log fence. She totally crushed her larynx/cartilage/vocal cords and tore her esophagus. Fortunately, James did a great job of keeping his cool and getting her to hospital. She was taken by air ambulance to Foothills Hospital in Calgary where three Doctors spent eight hours doing the initial surgery.

Susan then had to stay in Winnipeg and go through many more surgeries. During that time, James came with me in the truck and did home schooling. Freightlands did everything they could for us at that time, scheduling a lot of BC to Winnipeg runs so James and I could see Susan. Finally, after her recovery she was able to move here to Alberta.

One thing I like about working at Freightland Carriers is there is always something different and challenging everyday. In the 12 years I've been with them, I cannot say I've ever been bored. With pipe hauling and the oil patch, you never know what to expect. There is never a dull moment. Wendy is a busy woman, a great boss and a friend. The calls come in and she does what it takes to juggle the loads and keep her customers happy. Hats off to her, she has been doing it for over 25 years and she is good at her job. I've hauled lots of yellow-jacket, casing, shacks, rig mats, equipment of various sorts for the oil patch. Then there are the back hauls, of lumber, IPEX pipe, coils, garbage bins, steel beams, rebar, soil and other commodities. This takes me all over Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. I run my 2005 Peterbilt with 625 Cat, pulling Freigthland's trailers, 53 ft highboys.

In November of 2008, our Daughter's husband, Trevor Mulder, a dispatcher at Reimers for 15 years, announced that he had had enough and wanted to move to Alberta and become an owner/operator. Needless to say, we were very happy that our daughter and 2 granddaughters would be moving close to us! Trevor is now a lease operator with Freightland Carriers and doing a fine job.

My son James is now 24 yrs old and has been working at Red Deer Peterbilt for 6 yrs as a Journeyman Mechanic. He is a 3rd generation trucker (even though he is wrenching) and I know his grandfather would be as proud of him as I am. That is why, when I bought my 2005 Peterbilt, I passed the 1988 Peterbilt on to him. She is his baby now and we definitely do not intend to sell her.

I am proud to say, thanks to my father’s teaching, that every year I have received a driver safety award from Wendy and Ron for no violations or convictions towards their profile. Freightland also entered me as driver of the month with AMTA, which I was awarded in December of 2005. Another highlight of my career was when I was awarded my million milers club jacket, certificate, and buckle by CAT.

James, Susan and I have always very much enjoyed and look forward to the Pro-Trucker Big Rig Weekend every year. I’m proud to have won the trophy's that I have won (especially this year) but it's not all about winning. It’s about taking pride in our rides, seeing all our friends and enjoying a great weekend! If it were not for the shows, we would not have met some very special people like the Glenn Family, "Motor" Mike Rosenau and of course John, Donna, Tori, and Ben.

I'd have to write a book to tell it all, but you probably noticed that I do not have really anything bad to speak of, why bother, life's too short. I love trucking so…would I change anything about my trucking life? No, not a thing. Will I ever quit? No, I doubt it!!