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By John White
Lynne Perkins from Okotoks Alberta is our Rig of the Month
driver for August 2007. This is her story:
I was born into a trucking family in Taber, Alberta and then
shortly after my birth we moved to Oliver, B.C. My father, both
grandfathers and a few uncles are all drivers so it was only
natural that, even against my father’s wishes, I’d become the first
female driver in our family.
My Dad has been driving truck all his life. When he was fourteen
he worked for Home Oil in Williams Lake B.C. where he started out
moving trailers around the yard. By the time he was fifteen he was
running up and down the highway. I have always admired the fact
that he has been on the road for 46 years and has never had an
accident or ticket of any type.
As far back as I can remember I have always wanted to drive a
truck so when the chance came along, to my father’s great
disappointment, I jumped at it. I had been working as a waitress at
Shaw Springs truck stop in Spences Bridge, BC when things slowed
down in the winter and I was laid off. Like most small towns there
weren’t a lot of job options in Spences Bridge and I ended up on
income support until early March when I decided to go after my
dream of driving truck. I wanted my Class One but when I approached
my financial worker she said she couldn’t help me. I asked her what
I could do to change her mind and she said, “If you really want to
do this then find a trucking job and get me a letter stating that
they will hire you when you have your license.”
That sounded simple enough so I went home and got out the
Vancouver yellow pages and began phoning different trucking
outfits. I would say, “Hi I would like to drive truck, however, I
don’t have my Class One but I can get it if you will write a letter
to my worker saying that you will hire me.” It sounds corny
but that’s what I would say and each time I would get the same
reply, “Sorry we need 2 years experience.”
Sitting at my parent’s kitchen table my mom would encourage me,
telling me not to give up. On the other side of the table was my
father, who kept telling me to give up - no one would hire me. I’m
not sure if this was his way of getting me mad so that I would work
harder or if he really thought he could talk me out of driving
truck because a truck was no place for his little girl.
Finally, I lucked out when I phoned Michawn Transport out of
Aldergrove, B.C. They wrote me a letter and I took it to my worker
with a big smile on my face. She looked at me and said, “I didn’t
think I would see you again - the funding will be available for you
in a few weeks.”
My father, realizing that I was serious about getting my Class
One, decided I should go through his little test. First, he made me
chain his truck. I didn’t have a clue how to do this and he was no
help. Finally, I showed him I could get the chains over the tires
but it wasn’t even close to the way it was supposed to be done. The
chains were kind of just piled up on top of the tire. I felt that
if he could see I was strong enough to get the chains up there he
would help me out a little which he finally did but only after he
was finished laughing at me. He then made me lift the hood. When I
was able to show him I could do this with no problem he looked at
me and said, “I don’t think you will be able to reach the
pedals.” Anyone who knows my dad knows he’s just about as
short as me so I looked at him and said, “You have no problem
reaching the pedals.” Well that was the end of the driving lesson
from dad.
The funding finally came through and I began my course in
Merritt, BC at Fox Consulting. The first day my mom and grandmother
gave me a ride to Merritt and as I sat in the back seat I began to
have second thoughts. Maybe dad was right, maybe this was something
that I couldn’t do. When we pulled up to the training yard there
were six guys standing around a truck all watching me get out of
the car. My mom and grandma must have seen the scared look in my
eyes because once again they encouraged me to get out of the car
and go after my dream. After a month of training I was ready to
take the road test, which I passed with flying colors - I was on my
way!
When I started with Michawn they had me running team with a
different partner every week. Some were good drivers and others...
well lets just say the bunk belts were always used.
One of the good drivers was Lorne Mayes, an owner operator.
Lorne had heard about me through other truckers who told him that I
was green but a good driver. Lorne is the type of guy who runs long
and hard and one time he had a trip to Edmonton, Alberta but he
hadn’t had much rest, so he called to see if I would run double
with him. Well, if I knew what I was getting myself into I may have
thought twice about returning that call... Lorne is a big
black man with a heart of gold and after that first run we were a
team for about 7 months and we had a blast.
Once, while on our way to Edmonton I was driving and decided
that it was time for a break. I asked Lorne if he wanted to come
into the Tim Horton’s in Hinton, Alberta and get a coffee. He said,
“no” so I went in by myself. I guess he changed his mind while I
was in the little girls room because when I came out he wasn’t in
the truck. I went to the counter and asked the lady serving me if a
big black guy had come in. She told me he was in the bathroom.
Being a smart ass, I stood by the bathroom door with an angry face
and folded arms and when Lorne came out I asked him what the hell
he thought he was doing. His reply was, “Sorry ma’am, please don’t
tell master, I get back in the truck,”
Well the lady behind the counter came at me with both barrels
blazing - yelling at me that slavery was out and I should be
ashamed of myself and on and on …that up in Canada there is no such
thing as slavery and I came to the wrong country. By this time
Lorne was on his way back to the truck with his free coffee killing
himself laughing while I was being barred from Tim Horton’s. I
guess she never saw Aldergrove, BC on the door of the truck. I
never did get my coffee and I’m not really sure if I can go back
there again.
We ran a lot to Edmonton and had a lot of laughs. Lorne has
diabetes and when he has to use the bathroom he has to go NOW.
Sometimes he is caught short and one time, when we were between
Jasper and Hinton, all of a sudden he came flying out of the bunk
yelling, “Stop the truck! Stop the truck!”
It was the middle of summer and there were all these tourists
taking pictures of the scenery and wild life in this pullout. There
was no bush around and Lorne desperately asked, “Where should I
go?” Since there was no time for anything else I told him to jump
up between the truck and trailer. He did and just then I looked
into the mirrors to see the animals curiously coming to see what
Lorne was doing. Following them of course was all the tourists with
their cameras. I have never seen a black man go as red as poor old
Lorne did and the more I laughed the madder he became.
When I drove with Lorne he was always in the truck with me.
Although, one day while in Blue River, B.C. he met another driver
that he hadn’t seen for awhile so he decided to ride with him for a
ways and I was to follow. Lorne is really picky about following the
rules of the road, using signal lights and being courteous to other
drives. I was following him when the lane we were in was coming to
an end. As I merged, I heard on the CB, “What, are signal
lights optional these days?” I had used my signal light but he
didn’t see it so I grabbed the mic and replied, “What, you didn’t
see the hand signal?” Within minutes Lorne was back in the truck
with me. Lorne taught me a lot about trucking and to this day I
consider him to be a great friend.
I drove for Michawn Transport until the snow came and then I
decided that I was still too green to be out on bad roads. It
wasn’t fair to other drivers to have me put them at risk so I moved
to Calgary Alberta and got on with Chief Construction hauling belly
dumps, end dumps, and side dumps. This is where I met my husband,
James.
Working for Chief was a lot of fun and the crew that I was on
was a great team. I learnt fast that the on site outhouse was a
very dangerous place to go. I noticed the other girl driver would
go and park behind a pile and I just thought she may not like the
smell of that outhouse but I soon learnt that wasn’t the reason. I
got out of my truck and went into the outhouse and when I tried to
open the door to get out I found that James had driven the bobcat
up against it. He refused to let me out unless I paid the standard
after work toll of two smokes and a beer.
After Chief I went to work for Arnold Bros. where I ran team
with Nicole Anderson hauling the mail from Calgary to Kamloops
every night. I really enjoyed this run. We switched between night
shift and day shift every two weeks. I always found that the first
2 nights were the hardest to get through. Running with Nikki
was a lot of fun even though some times that truck would feel like
it was way too small for two women to be in. When I was working for
Arnold Bros. I got pregnant with my daughter so once again I was
off the road.
After my daughter, Petra, was born I was working in Calgary
doing city hauling when I found a job working for an owner operator
hauling for Trimac Bulk Systems. I have to admit this has been the
hardest challenge I have had yet in the trucking industry.
Thankfully the guys at branch 13 in Sundre are terrific and are
always willing to lend a hand and give advice. If it wasn’t for
guys like Richard, Stan, Doug and Norm I think I would have quit
the very first night. The first day on the job was learning what
and what not to do, Doug was great at showing me the ropes,
however, I have to admit I am great with the not to do’s. I have
gotten over my fear of heights and have learnt how to tarp although
I’m still having a hard time throwing the rope with hockey pucks on
it. Sometimes they seem to go everywhere but over the darn trailer.
Thank goodness for hard hats now I totally understand why I need
one.
The first day on the job after my training I was supposed to
follow another driver from Sundre to Nanton with a load of bark
mulch for a feedlot. It was about 1:30 am when we arrived and
feeling pretty good and confident I took my truck in to where the
pile was. All of a sudden my truck wouldn’t move, I had found a
really soft spot and sunk. This was one of the big NOT TO DO’s that
I mentioned. We tried to get it out but it was no use - I needed to
be pulled out. Problem was cowboys and hired hands don’t like to be
woken up in the middle of the night so I was told to stay there and
in the morning we would get the truck out. There was no way I was
spending a night there, the smell was horrible, so I decided to
catch a ride home and come back the next day. By the time I got the
truck out and returned to Sundre everyone knew what had happened -
and they say women are gossips! The guys all razzed me but then
they told me that they all had been there at one time too.
Working in the trucking industry I have met a lot of great
people but I have also run into a few who still think that women
should be in the kitchen. Thankfully those are very few and far
between. I have had to prove myself to people and some times I have
even had to prove things to myself. Working for Trimac is great! I
drive the 1996 International 9200 with a M11 Cummins engine and a
15 speed transmission that you see in these pictures. My run starts
in Sundre and they always have a load going home for me to Okotoks.
Everyone I have met here is willing to help me out and it doesn’t
matter that I am a girl.
As for my home life, it’s great. We have a small hobby farm and
I have a wonderful husband in James. We will be celebrating our
first wedding anniversary in July, which I am looking forward to
even though we have been together for years and we have two
wonderful kids; Dayton fourteen and Petra eight. Dayton is starting
to learn about trucks and likes to help me wash it however the only
trucker he likes to ride with is his grandfather. My family makes
my life complete. My goal as a professional truck driver is to be a
great driver like my father and hopefully earn as good a reputation
as his.
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