So what's it like trucking in Canada?

Hi guys,

I’m not looking for info on how I get to Canada as I’ve already done all my research and it’s something we’ve wanted to do for some years now.

I’m just about to start my training so I’m a little while off applying but I just wondered who’d managed to take the leap and how you found the whole process from application to moving? Is trucking in Canada what you thought it would be? And most of all are you glad you made the move?

And, here’s the biggie - how do you honestly think female truck drivers get on in Canada? Have you ever witnessed any negativity etc…?

Thanks for your time x

female drivers do just fine out here ,my old neighbour was on super bs flat decking she did anything a guy did ,before that she used to team with another gal hauling machinery and were the top team at the company !.
Now for negativity …I never saw any myself but she would say a certain type of new Canadian would try their hand so to speak.
yup best move I ever made and once you start to do it the Canadian way and not the euro way things get easier! jimmy

If you know all there is about an air brake
And can pass the test that you must take
If you can endure the hours of desperation
Brought on by a week of orientation
If you just need a map to find your way
To drive a thousand kays a day.

If you can handle any rig that’s ever been made
And run the back roads so you don’t get weighed
If you can side step every speeding fine
And still make deliveries just in time
If you can sit and wait overnight at a border
While customs gets its house in order.

If you have the patience not to explode
When it takes them more than a day to load
If you know how to say it with flowers
Cos you’re gone again in 36 hours
If you can throw on chains when needs be
Or drive through a desert with no A/C.

If you can write a log book to the max
Remember they always add on the tax
If you can change a filter at minus 30
With no second thought of getting dirty
If you can ignore despatchers’ games
And smile at the a-holes just the same.

If you can ignore all the stabs in the back
And pretend it is all just for the craic
If you can take this all in and think for a minute
Yours is Canada and everything that’s in it
So come on over to have some fun
And -which is more- you’ll be a trucker, my son.

Or daughter.

that has to be one o the best replies I have seen for many a long day!

loza789:
Hi guys,

I’m not looking for info on how I get to Canada as I’ve already done all my research and it’s something we’ve wanted to do for some years now.

I’m just about to start my training so I’m a little while off applying but I just wondered who’d managed to take the leap and how you found the whole process from application to moving? Is trucking in Canada what you thought it would be? And most of all are you glad you made the move?

And, here’s the biggie - how do you honestly think female truck drivers get on in Canada? Have you ever witnessed any negativity etc…?

Thanks for your time x

Hi I moved from the UK successfully 4 years ago and became a permanent Resident and in a few words I can say Long hours, hard work, bad weather and waiting if you can get past some of the bead things here it’s well worth it I can tell you that I came when I was 26 it felt like a giant leap but now we are about to apply to become Canadian citizens we own a house 2 cars and have some great Canadian friends.
I’m not sure if you saw my other thread " Canadian trucking videos " and subscribed to my YouTube but if you check out my channel it will give you a good idea of what trucking is like over here there’s plenty of women truckers here they are tough chicks take my hat off to them they work hard and smile at the same time nothing to worry about there.
youtu.be/1lN-XGHF0Ps Here’s my latest video the weather can be terrible here check it out cheers

I think everyone has had a chance to see your thread Rowson, stop telling people to like and subscribe to your channel all the time, it’s borderline spam.

I had a quick look at the YouTube videos, hmmmm, I’m not seeing anything that tells me what trucking in Canada is all about tbh. Now I don’t mean to appear negative, but I do have some comments which I thought would be better on here, rather than on your YouTube channel.

First I would like to say that it’s good that you make the videos in the first place, I’ve done a few myself and I’ve promoted them on here, I’m pretty sure that they weren’t to everyone’s taste, but hey ho, c’est la vie and all that.

However a couple of things had me shaking my head, in the Highway to hell video, the statement about the loss of traction as you crest a hill, or words to that effect is the one that stood out the most to me, in a rally car maybe, but in a Freightliner Cascadia? Really! It was all a bit Ice Road Truckers in my mind and there wasn’t anything useful about it, not a bad video, but if you’re going to promote it as guide to winter driving, well, you need to adopt a different approach.

Secondly the test drive of the ProStar, seriously do not buy that truck! Not unless you have a fetish that involves driver waiting rooms at International dealers, they are a terrible truck, possibly the most unreliable on the market right now and that one in particular was only any good as a regional tractor unit on flatbed or tippers, it had no aerodynamic package, the fuel tanks under the doors mean you’ll never be able to fill them at gross weight or your front axle will be overweight, the XDN2 drive tyres are not what you want for long haul (they’re a good tyre, don’t get me wrong, I have them on my trucks, but I need the traction, so I can accept the mpg losses they give over a good OTR tyre) Also you mentioned going from 18lo into 18hi, don’t quite know how you managed that as an 18spd Fuller only has 18 gears in total.

I hope you find some positive feedback in my comments, my aim is to help you improve the accuracy of the videos, it may seem pedantic, but hey ho, c’est la vie and all that. As to buying a truck, or god forbid leasing one through your firm, I would be happy to give you advice on that, so if you PM me, I will give you my number and you can give me a bell. I’m not saying I know all the answers, not at all, but a little help is better than no help at all.