Home, for the first six years of Trevor Cameron’s life was divided between Edmonton, where he was born, and Leduc Alberta, after which Trevor Cameron’s parents settled in Spruce Grove, where he has lived ever since.

Trevor has three sisters, the youngest, Debbie is a pilot who took her schooling at Trinity Western University’s Aviation Department, the school, and the department where Dave Nicholson, our August 2004 Rig of the Month driver was an instructor. Debbie has worked as an instructor at many airports around Western Canada such as Langley, Williams Lake, Yellowknife and Lethbridge. Trevor has two older sisters; Colleen who has a journalist degree and Charmaine who is a nurse.

When Trevor was just a year old, Gerald, his trucker Dad, started taking him on trips. His mother Lil would pack him up, throw in a bunch of diapers, and away they’d go.

This is Trevor’s story.

“The first memory of one of my dad’s diesels is a little 71 International (corn binder) 2000D. I loved riding in that truck with a screamin’ 6-71 jimmy under the hood that extended halfway through the cab. Dad didn’t keep it long as he couldn’t take the noise but he tells me how I would curl up in a ball on the passenger seat and sleep as sound as could be, ‘right beside the doghouse and ol’ 6-71.’

“Obviously my old man was a strong influence on my decision to get into trucking. He first became an owner operator in 1965 while working at ATCO Structures and is still there after 40 years. As a boy all I wanted to do was spend my free time around Dad and his trucks. He taught me the trade.

“I was twelve when I first drove his next truck, a “2070 A” International. On weekends, we’d go to the shop to fix & service the truck & lo-boy and if there was no one else around (for me to run into) he’d let me drive around in the yard. Then gradually, if we were on a trip out in the bush and were coming out late at night, he’d let me drive a ways.

“I thought, like a lot of truckers’ kids do, that my Dad was the best trucker on the road. To this day, he’s never rolled a truck or put one into the ditch. That’s quite a feat considering the many miles of oil patch roads he’s traveled. There aren’t many that can be described as roads let alone highways.

“When delivering trailers and setting up a camp, or ‘complexes’ as they’re called, you have to be exceptionally good at backing up. You’re always oversize and having to place them in tight spots. Dad got on me early and hard to learn how to do it right.

“Right after high school I wanted to go trucking. If my father was my biggest influence in that direction then I guess my mom would have to be described as my biggest opponent. She would rather have seen me do anything but drive a truck. 

“Once I hit 18 years, I couldn’t wait to get my license.  At the time dad was too busy to let me borrow his truck, so I rented a local driver training outfits’ truck and trailer.  Ironically it was a little “2000D” international single axle with 6-71 jimmy and 5 speed over transmission, (short four) and a two-speed differential.  The examiner was used to seeing this little truck, and he remarked on how well I could “get along” with the little critter.

“By now it was the end of the 80’s and truckers that were dependant on the oilfields in Alberta had seen some pretty tough times. The Liberal government of the late 70’s with their national energy program can take all the credit for that situation.

“Being young, dumb, and full of optimism, I told my folks not to worry and they finally agreed to help me get started as an owner-operator. We bought a new custom built lo-boy and an old beat up 1974 R Model Mack. My plan was to do the overflow work for Atco and hope it would turn into a full time job. It did turn into a job but the old Mack damn near broke us anyway. I spent way too much money rebuilding just about every component in the old beast. The down time was horrible.

“I knew I had to do something and since there was lots of work I ordered a new Western Star. I flew out to Kelowna and picked it up in late 1990 and I thought I was in heaven! To say I was in love with that truck would not be an overstatement. I strove to keep that thing as close to new, perfect, and spotless as possible. I spent damn near all my spare time and money on that truck for four solid years. The only way my best friend Lyle Geoffroys could see me was to come over and help polish aluminum.

“My dad thought I was crazy.  He’d never been too fussy over a truck. ‘Just a work horse,’ he’d say. In retrospect it’s fair to say, and anybody who has done any amount of off hi-way work knows, it’s not possible to keep them pretty for very long.

“Things eventually changed at Atco. The company re-structured all the divisions and suddenly, after 3 ½ years, I was without a contract. At the time I thought that was the worst thing that could happen. Lucky for me I had just paid my equipment off so for the next year and a half I kind of knocked around working for different companies. 

“I tried to stick to oil field work by doing a little rig moving, but I found that I didn’t care much for it and besides my truck was a bit on the light side for that type of work. I still mainly hauled shacks but these were bigger, heavier ones. I was making quite a bit more money per hour, but I couldn’t keep busy enough to make a go of it.

“That’s when I found out that it’s quite difficult to work for several different outfits with just one truck. It was the same old story, they all need you at once…or, they all didn’t need you at the same time! I found that I always had to say no to someone and they were never very sympathetic to that fact that I could only be in one place at a time.

“There was lots of work but as usual, rates were coming up very slow. Also, as usual, the guys who would work the cheapest were the busiest. (Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.) By the fall of ’94 I’d had enough so I sold out.

“Everyone knew my equipment was immaculate so the fellow who bought it paid me very well for it. Lucky for me this was about the time that used truck prices were starting to skyrocket and new truck sales were going thought the roof.

“After I sold my truck I took a long break and looked around trying to find something that I’d rather do besides trucking. I never found it. There was nothing I could find that I wanted to do with the same passion as trucking so I gradually went back driving. I started working for other people; mostly filling in part time and then eventually I went back full time.

“I drove for several companies (all small fleet operators-6 trucks or less) hauling oversized, specialized loads. Then for about 3 months I tried flat deck super-b’s but I couldn’t get used to the idea that so much of a person’s time could be worth so little so I went back to the patch.

“It was during this time, that I realized a dream of mine. I’d always loved Hayes trucks.  And in the fall of ’96 I bought a ’74 Hayes Clipper with intentions of restoring it. I knew in my mind just how I wanted it, so over the next two years I gradually acquired all the components I could.  Originally I had thought I would work the truck, so no expense was spared.

“In the spring of ’99 I quit my job to work full time on my project. I had done some stuff the previous fall, but most of the work was still ahead of me. I did the majority of the rebuild on the truck at Strathmore, Alberta, at Tristan Jacksons’ place. Tristan was the original owner of “The Smokin’ Gun,” which is now owned by Gord Cooper of Calgary. It was originally a project truck with a normal engine until Gord bought it and then got the racing bug. Today it’s the fastest super drag truck in Canada.

“I did most of the work myself but there were many other people who added their special touch to the job. There are some people out there who are experts in their field and do outstanding work day after day. Tristan Jackson is amazing at wiring and plumbing and he loves to get involved in any custom work or trick items. Edmonton Kenworth is very attentive to detail; they did a great job on the body work and paint. Ron Wyatt who owns Wyatt Upholstery caught on real quick to what I was trying to do and he did a fantastic job with the upholstery.

“Along the way I learned a lot about building a truck and I learned how far I would push myself to see a dream come true. In the end, the truck turned out great! I love it but, as only those who have done a project like this can tell you, it’s not easy. When it was finished in the spring of 2000 the truck was pretty well brand new with a price tag to match.  Not only was it an “every nut & bolt restoration,” but every rivet too, as the entire cab had been taken right apart. (skin off) 

“After all that work I realized that my original idea of putting the Hayes to work was not something I was still willing to do. It was just too nice to beat up in the bush so I decided that I’d keep it for show. I’ve taken it to many shows around Western Canada like Saskatoon, Big Rig Weekends in Edmonton and Mission, Duncan and I even drove it to the big Antique Truck Historical Society show in Reno in 2001.

“After I finished the Hayes it was time to go back to work but here I was a trucker without a truck so I accepted a driving job offer from the guy who owned the shop where I stored my Hayes. I worked for Dwight Boyne for about two and a half years - back in the bush hauling shacks. Unfortunately it was the same old story, there was less & less work as other companies were cutting rates. Finally Dwight and the fellow he had his trucks leased on with packed it in and got out of trucking.

“I could see how things were going and had left just before the end to look for something else. Of all the people I drove for, Dwight was about the best.  He knew me, knew what I could do, and let me work. If I said any thing was wrong with the equipment, he’d fixed it right away. I didn’t like the way that it turned out for him; he really tried hard and was super to work with.

“About this time, it looked like things were starting to get real busy at Atco so I decided to pay them another visit. When I worked there before I was under a special contract but not leased on. They hadn’t taken on any new lease operators with trucks since putting a hiring freeze on back in 1980. The traffic manager, Gord Hoffman, asked me to come back and suggested a similar deal as before but I said no. I told him I wasn’t interested in trying to live off “extra” loads and if he wanted me to work for him he had to lease me on. He was a pretty good dude and I’d known him since I was a kid so he told me to leave it with him for a week or two and he’d see what he could do. Next thing I knew I was the first and last, new hire on the Atco fleet in over 20 years. I quickly found a little used ’99 Eagle 9300 with only 350,000 km on it and went to work.  That was 2 ½ years ago and I’m still going steady.

I’ve hauled to the Northwest Territories and the four western provinces as well as Texas and California and it looks like I have a trip to Alaska coming in the near future but the worse trip I can remember was in the spring of 1994. It was down the Reno road just south of Entwhistle into the oilfield country. The day before I got there they had to use a Commander to move the oil rig. For those who have never seen a Commander it can best be described as a huge Skidder about forty feet long with a deck on it for hauling anything and everything through mud in the oil fields. They’re about fourteen feet tall, and oscillate between the cab and the deck, like a skidder does. They have huge floatation tires. It was still raining when I came on the scene and a D7 hooked on to me to pull me in but we only got in about 100 feet before we spun out. The engineer kind of sauntered over and I asked, “Now what have you got for a plan?” He said we have another D7 cat coming, which hooked on to me, one in front of the other and started pulling as I muttered something about being four feet longer by the time they got me in.

They pulled me about a kilometer into where he wanted the trailer and along the way guys would stop and laugh because after a short ways the mud had bundled up under the trailer so much that the wheels quit turning and were just sliding on the mud. The mud packed up under the front wheel also and ended up cracking one quarter panel but when they got me out the engineer was real good about it and signed to have it fixed. They only needed one D7 to pull me out and when I got back to the highway the mud was still packed up over the rear ends. Most of the gumbo stayed there all the way back to town where it cost me $400 to have the truck and lo-boy washed.

“On another trip three winters ago I, with several other trucks, loaded an eight unit complex in Spruce Grove. We were to head out into the bush southwest of Grand Prairie for a night delivery. Some of the guys had tridem trailers and some, like me, had tandems. Nowadays some of the newer shacks are too heavy for 5 axles and for some reason I got stuck with one of the bigger units. My drives were only at 13,500 kg and the trailer was 18 and change and I tromboned right out.

We were in search of the site at 2:00 in the morning and as usual we had lousy directions. (every trucker that ever worked in the oil patch knows all about these directions)

By the lay of the land the lead truck figured we were heading down to a creek or river and that we should probably chain up. Ok, better safe than sorry. One set couldn’t hurt. Away we went, spaced out all the time keeping tabs on each other by the radio. Sure enough down at the bottom was a creek with a one lane Bailey Bridge then a hairpin corner before you had to go straight up the other side.

I made the corner and just as my tractor was getting up over the steepest part, she spun out and backed. I knew I was toast. I couldn’t back down, my only hope was to put on more chains. I dynamited the brakes called out on the radio to stop the last guy from coming up behind me and then I got out and got busy…FAST!

It’s a scary, uneasy feeling to be putting chains on a truck that’s trying to slide backwards down the hill you just spun out on! If I hadn’t put the one set of chains on she would never have held (warm tires on ice).  As I put the next set on I could hear & watch the wheels creeping backwards even with the chains and brakes on. I was definitely sweating a bit that night.

“Like a lot of truckers, I can’t say I’m real happy about the direction that trucking has been going over the last few years.  As we all know, the rates are way too low in relation to how much the cost of living has gone up. Realistically, other than truckers, no one wants to see rates go up. Big business doesn’t want freight increases to cut into their profits and politicians don’t want to offend big business. Big Business pays for their campaigns, not truckers. 

“Yes it’s busy out there and now is the time to get rates up but sadly, nothing changes.  You still have the guys who come into the business to “give it a try.”  They come and go and generally keep the rates down while they’re finding out how much it costs to run a truck. The go part comes in when they finally find out. And then you have the ones who figure they can make it on volume but like my dad used to say, ‘If you can’t make money on the first mile, you aren’t going to make it on the rest!’

“For the time being, I’m content with what I’m doing for a living but if a young person asked me if I’d recommend a trucking career I’d have to tell them that unless you’ve got a passion for big trucks, working long hours and being gone from home a lot, you might want to look elsewhere.

“In all honesty my Mom was looking out for my best interest back when she wanted me to do anything but trucking. She knew first hand the many sacrifices that are made by a trucker and his wife and she also knew very well the passion that truckers develop for the job.

“It’s a tough life and you have to be willing to make some sacrifices but there’s one thing that makes it much easier and that’s having someone to share it with. I’ve finally found that someone. Her name is Lavilla, (blondie) and we’re getting married in the fall. She calls me her, ‘soul mate,’ and I have to admit that I feel the same way.

“So like my Dad before me, I’ll continue to do what I do best and I too will do it with a good lady who understands the sacrifices. I know there will be a lot more guys who will come and go in this industry but there will always be the lifers that will keep the wheels rolling.