Mike Stigant

When you first meet Mike Stigant he comes across as a neat, quiet, conservative fellow – not at all what many people might consider the stereotypical truck driver. But once you see Mike's ride, and start talking trucks, the quiet conservative side of his personality disappears and you realize that first impressions can be wrong.
Mike’s has a 2007 W900L Kenworth big shack coupled to a set of dresser 2004 Doepker Super B’s which he has earned through hard work and commitment to the industry. He readily admits that it hasn’t been an easy ride and without the help of both his and his wife Dawn’s families he says he probably wouldn’t have survived some of the troubles he’s encountered along the way.

Their financial support and faith in his ability kept him going and the fact that Dawn’s Dad is a millwright sure helped during those all night repair jobs that he helped him with. But Mike says that all that would have been for nothing if he didn’t have Dawn’s total commitment and support in his choice of professions.

Mike was raised in Horseshoe Bay B.C. and educated in West Vancouver. Both his parents were teachers, which made things a little difficult since his father was also his teacher for two years of high school. Mike graduated in 1987 and that first summer he worked as a labourer on a ranch near Valemont B.C. On the ranch near Mount Robson he had the opportunity to do a little bit of everything from taking out trail rides to maintaining barns and fences.

In school Mike enjoyed his shop related courses and he always loved tinkering with things so when he returned from Valemont he went to work pumping gas at a local garage. He tried mechanics and liked working on the older models but wasn’t comfortable with the computers in the newer vehicles so he started driving the garage’s tow truck. In his spare time he rebuilt his ‘75 Firebird.

He left the gas station to go to work for Payless Towing where he ran a five ton straight truck. In 1989 while he was at Payless he got his Class 1 license. He talked about how he really liked working there and then he got a sheepish look in his eye as he explained that he might still be there if he hadn't tangled with a low bridge while hauling a forklift. Payless was really good about it but he figured it was time to move on.

He landed a job driving a gravel truck for Roberge Trucking and it was just what he was looking for at the time. He started out driving a 1980 Brigadier with a 6/V92 and a 13 speed transmission and over the next three years he graduated up to truck and pups with transfer boxes. He also had the opportunity to do a bit of highway driving hauling gravel in from Chilliwack. While on the road he watched the fancy highway rigs and he often thought about how it looked like it would be a good job.

Mike left Roberge in 1993 to drive gravel truck for Bobell. He didn’t have a reason for changing jobs he was just young and felt he needed a change. He made good money hauling gravel but after about a year Bobell started to get more involved hauling garbage and wood chips so he felt it was time to move on again.

Mike took about four months off to try and decide what he wanted to do the rest of his life and then went over to Vancouver Island to check out a job building the new Island Highway. While he was there he met his future wife Dawn.

He didn't take the job but he wanted to see more of Dawn so he applied to a few local trucking companies. When he approached H.A Davis he met "Windy" who told him they didn’t have anything right then but Howard over at their sister company, Hiway Transport, might. Mike talked to Howard Vaux who told him that he was always looking for hard working young guys and if Mike had a truck they would put him to work. With the help of his Mom (down payment) Mike bought a 1987 Freightliner, day cab with a Cat and a 20 speed transmission. This is when his owner operator education began in a serious manner because the transmission went first week out. Through some family connections at 99 Truck Parts, and Carmichael’s shop in Ladysmith, Mike got it up and running and he’s been driving ever since.

When Howard Vaux was away one of the drivers, Bill Ward, would come off the road and take over dispatching. Mike figures that somehow he struck the right note with Bill and Howard because they seemed to like him and helped him out a lot.

He would often get dispatched on trips with Bill who had a good way of passing along his years of experience. Bill would strike up a conversation and indirectly pass along pointers while talking about various trips he’d been on. Mike said that it worked well because he never took it personal and he learned a lot.

Things were going well so Mike and Dawn decided to get married. During this time Mike admitted that even though he was home every night he was working lots of hours.

During this part of our conversation Dawn looked at Mike and said, “Tell Dennis about the swamp.” Mike got a bit embarrassed but with a little prompting he related the story.

Apparently he had been working day and night for some time and finally got a day off. He spent the day cleaning the truck, doing a full service, and then setting up the tractor brakes. The truck was parked on a little downhill slope so he put the truck in gear and let the maxi brakes off. By the time Dawn called him for dinner he was getting tired so he took the evening off to relax.

Mike had to be on the road by 2 A.M. so he slipped out to start the truck while the coffee was brewing. He sat sidesaddle with his feet out the door and hit the starter and this was where it got interesting. The truck had an air starter, which has more power than an electric starter, and as it started it immediately jumped ahead. By the time Mike got into the seat, the truck had mowed down a power pole and was nosed into the swamp. Mike doesn’t know to this day how he got the truck out. He figures fear and embarrassment had a lot to do with it as he jammed it in reverse and put the hammer down. Mike recalls that as he roared back up the bank he saw a sight that even then put a smile on his face. There was Dawn running towards him “Au Natural”.

All things considered it didn’t turn out too bad, he had to replace the power pole and fix a bent bumper and even his extensively bruised pride finally healed.

Things were changing rapidly for Mike and Dawn and 1996 was a year of learning both at work and at home as Thomas, their first son, was born in September 1995

Mike says that running the Island was good training for him because it gave him the opportunity to haul all kinds of freight on all types of roads and under all weather conditions. Another advantage was the trips were short so he had an opportunity to ease into the tough stuff. It wasn’t unusual for him to haul a bridge up a steep logging road one day and then haul lumber or chips the next. The opportunity was also there to haul chips at night if he wanted extra revenue - something he often took advantage of.

He decided to add a sleeper to the 87 but looking back he feels this was a bad idea. It opened up the chance for longer highway trips but then his truck wasn’t long enough with the sleeper on to haul chips. The other drawback was that the truck was an 87 and the longer trips soon took a toll on it.

Mike opted for a new truck and left Hiway Transport for what he thought was a better job. Moving around to various companies he found that the grass wasn’t any greener no matter where he went to work and with the new truck he was now financially behind the eight ball. Things weren’t working out very well, as he seemed to lose money with each company he worked with.

On top of that he was having a terrible amount of trouble with the new truck and despite being on warranty it was a strain on the finances. (I think we have all been there at one time or another.) The best thing that happened during this time was the birth of their second son, James, in 1997. Both Mike and Dawn agreed that things seemed to start getting better after James was born.

Early in 1999 Mike went work for Columbia Bulk Transport where he met the owner Marshall Tyson. With Marshall’s help Mike got rid of the 1996 that was giving him so much trouble and bought a Peterbilt that was spec’d out for the work that Columbia was doing. At this point Mike was on the verge of loosing everything but for some reason Marshall saw something in him and helped him get back on his feet.

Within a few months Mike realized he had found a place where he fit right in. He said working for Marshall was easy - if you did your job. A normal trip would be an Edmonton trip with a re-load out of Hinton, Alberta but some weeks he would do four Williams Lake runs in a week. The trips to Williams Lake paid well but they were always just a bit more stressful. The roads were not as good and the weather, especially in the winter, was always an unknown. One thing that he really liked was that everyone at Columbia was treated the same and he soon found that the move was good both business wise and for his family.

He really liked the fact that he didn’t have to run south anymore like he had been doing. He says that the added expense of insuring, pro-rating and road taxes seemed to take any extra profit out of what you made.
In 1999 their third son David was born and then in 2003 their fourth son William arrived. It was just after William’s birth that Mike heard rumours that Columbia was being bought out by Can Am. When the deal went through Mike opted to stay on. He says that there were some minor changes but basically things stayed the same or got even better. In 2004 Mike bought the set of Doepker Super B’s he is pulling today. He has always had great looking equipment and these dresser trailers fit right in with Mike’s image. In May of this year Mike took delivery of his new W900L Kenworth with a Cummins ISX 565 that makes light work out of Super B loads. Mike admitted, when he took me for a ride that after years of running Cat engines the new Cummins was taking some getting used to.

Mike and Dawn were married in 1995 and Mike is proud of the fact that he has been on hand for the birth of all four of their boys. Dawn winked and said he didn’t stick around long afterwards but at least he was there. The kids take turns going on trips with Mike which he enjoys but he also feels it’s important for them to see him at work so that they know that you have to work to get what you want.

When I first interviewed Mike he was living in Nanaimo but they have since moved to Wetaskiwin, Alberta where he says the boys are having a great time exploring their ten acre property. With the land and housing prices in B.C. the way they are, they felt they would never be able to buy a place here so the chance to buy a house with acreage was too good to pass up.

The move to Alberta also means more time at home since he won’t have to commute on the ferry. That wasn’t always bad though as he said for a long time he had the best of both worlds. When his parents lived in Horseshoe Bay he could leave his truck and dirty laundry and walk on the boat for the weekend at home. When he came back he’d grab his truck and clean laundry and go back to work.

Recently Mike’s parents moved to Victoria where his sister, a physician, and her husband live. Dawn’s father (the millwright) is now retired and lives in Cedar, just outside of Nanaimo. Both Mike and Dawn agree they will miss being close to them but they are only minutes from the airport and both of their families will visit often. Dawn’s mom and two sisters live in Saskatoon and she has another sister that lives in south eastern Saskatchewan and this will help fill some of this gap.

As I wrote this Dawn’s father was visiting and Mike’s parents were getting ready to come up and help Dawn get the kids ready for school in the fall

As with most trucking families Dawn helps with the books and keeps a close watch so Mike doesn’t get carried away dressing up his ride. For this reason Mike made sure when he ordered his new truck that it came with all the trick stuff he wanted. He said it’s almost impossible to get approval from Dawn for eye-catching goodies if they aren’t going to increase his income. Dawn remarked that she has the responsibility of stretching the nickels to make the “must have” list work while at the same time trying to put a dent in the “I want” list the kids have.

Dawn and Mike are now settled in their new home and the future is looking bright. They both insist that it is because of the help that they have had along the way from their families and from very special people like Howard Vaux and Marshall Tyson. There are many unsung heroes in the world, people who through their kindness and support, make life a little easier for someone else.

That being said it’s takes a lot of hard work and depth of character to keep it all together long enough to make it through the rough times. It’s easy to see that love for family and a strong work ethic is the foundation that keeps this trucking family on a steady course.

 

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