Mate, I take my hat off to you for doing it! I still think it is a brutally honest quote! 
It seems sad to say but that quote could apply to the majority of transport nowadays.
The fun and friendship has gone out of the job now. A case in point, this week I had to pick up a trailer from a guy who had broken down, he had done a proper job and there was a hole you could put a fist through in the side of the block, anyway I gave the driver a ride home.
He has been working here a year and a half and I was the first driver that heād spoken to for any length of time. He was a decent bloke, 50, been driving all his working life, likes a beer or two, someone you would have a good laugh with during a meal or a weekend somewhere and in 18 months Iām the only driver out of the 400 plus on the firm that heās had a conversation with and he never had much choice as he was sat in my passenger seat for 1200miles!
That speaks volumes on why the jobās [zb]ed now.
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Newmercman is right about the company where we both now work. They are the biggest bunch of miseries that I have ever come across. They only talk to you if they need to know something; otherwise they are totally anti-social. They rarely put their hand up when you pass, even on a two-lane highway. Most of them seem to be in fear of doing something wrong or upsetting someone in the office; in case they are punished by a loss of miles. And nearly all of these drivers are owner/operators and should be enjoying things by being their own boss but none know the meaning of the word: craic.
I like the ones that look right at you as you pass and wave and donāt return the gesture, hopefully they see my extended middle finger before they avert their gaze!
The turnpike gang are pretty friendly, theyāll always have a chat and help out if youāre poncing around with trailers. Others will wave at me when Iām running single, but blank me when Iām running doubles, thereās a couple of distinctive trucks, so I know itās the same drivers.
Weirdest firm Iāve ever worked at, the biggest too so maybe thatās something to do with it, maybe not, Big Fright was the same, it must be a Mennonite thing. Theyāre scared to talk to heathen dogs like us Chris.
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Firm I work at is the same I speak to about four drivers and I knew three of them before I worked here.
Go in the cafes near our yard and they will all be on separate tables or all sitting out side on there own.
The spirit of the job has long gone. Back in England we had all good friends, on nights I knew every driver on the CB and they all knew me. On days we made a point of getting to know others, we spent the nights out in truck stops and had a few beers and a joke. Here in the USA I hardly ever use the CB, I might chat to some of our drivers in the yard as we sit around. I go to a bar or diner with a couple of guys, Rich Browne (Longwayround) for instance, him being English and both like finding English food and beer gives us the urge to enjoy taking the pee at the locals.
Out on the road I canāt be bothered with the idiots, the CB goes off and I am tuned to BBC radio or Heart FM LOL.
Several times in my career, Iāve thought that Iād cracked it and was in the right place at the right time. Good work, good motor and good money. But every time it has somehow gone wrong and drifted away. The early days at Big Freight when all the Brits were coming over and everything seemed so easy. The time at Flying Eagle when all the new trucks arrived and it seemed like all my mates came and drove them. But nothing has ever stayed the same for long. A bit like that Kevin Johnson song from the 70s: Rock and roll I gave you the best years of my life, but I was always one step behind you.
The old saying āIāve never started a bad job, but Iāve quit a fewā often rings true.
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newmercman:
The old saying āIāve never started a bad job, but Iāve quit a fewā often rings true.Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
A bit like: āI never been to bed with an ugly woman but I sure woke up with a few.ā
Hahaha youāre not wrong
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bullitt:
newmercman:
ā¦thereās no living the dream anymore, itās just a job nowā¦And THAT is an excellent quote!! Rikki should put that on a banner across the top of the expat page. Proper honesty there Mark!
Absolute bullcrap .āliving the dreamā refers to a lifestyle rather than a job . Expats that have been here a while , NMM Chris Arbon Robinhood and relative newcomers like Russ JP enjoy the opportunities and freedom far beyond anything on offer from Britain . Iām fairly certain weāre all hard grafters whoāve taken the chance and succeeded while some who expect something for nothing have failed , and bitched and moaned to every available ear about it . Nobody of sound mind could for one minute consider living in a truck as being "the dream " but if itās a means to an end why not ?I have an English mate close by who came over in 04 and is constantly broke, but every time I sort out a well paying job for him heāll find an excuse for not taking or applying for it , some guys just donāt want to work to better themselves .
I challenge any expat truckers settled in Canada to give good reason why theyāre not āliving the dreamā(personal issues aside) , here or there >> itās a no brainer . No need for any banners shirley 
FTTM in my case I came here to Canada with the intention of trucking around and seeing the sights for the duration of my TWP and then going back to England, so my first couple of years out here were living my dream in the trucking sense.
Things changed after the first couple of years, along with my definition of living the dream, so yeah, youāre right in that respect, Iām still living the dream, it just doesnāt involve mega trips all over the place anymore.
I remember spending a weekend in the Flying J at Saskatoon n one of my first trips here, I had been up to Ft Nelson BC and was on my way to the US and short on hours, so I did a reset. There was a bunch of Brits off Kindersley and Edge hanging out there too and it was a good weekend, I stopped in there just now to curl one off before parking at my delivery point for the night and couldnāt get out of there quick enough, the drivers hanging out in the TV lounge looked like a bunch of vagrants and are the last people Iād want to spend time with. Nothing has changed, itās still the same as it was 8yrs ago, but Iāve changed, so it doesnāt have the same vibe anymore.
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Donāt get me wrong. Iād rather be working out of Canada than anywhere else in the World. Itās just that after more than 40 years of lorry driving, I think I should have gotten off the bottom rung of the ladder. But soon as I think that Iāve cracked it; something goes wrong and I am back to square-1.
The hours have always been long, always hard graft and the money has never been for nothing. But āLiving the dreamā for me is dreaming about retirement: loading up the Mack and parking it on a beach down in the Baja. Trouble is: with my lack of pension plans, Iāll be back to long-haul after just one Winter.
flat to the mat:
ā¦Absolute bullcrap .āliving the dreamā refers to a lifestyle rather than a job . Expats that have been here a while , NMM Chris Arbon Robinhood and relative newcomers like Russ JP enjoy the opportunities and freedom far beyond anything on offer from Britain . Iām fairly certain weāre all hard grafters whoāve taken the chance and succeeded while some who expect something for nothing have failed , and bitched and moaned to every available ear about it . Nobody of sound mind could for one minute consider living in a truck as being "the dream " but if itās a means to an end why not ?I have an English mate close by who came over in 04 and is constantly broke, but every time I sort out a well paying job for him heāll find an excuse for not taking or applying for it , some guys just donāt want to work to better themselves .
I challenge any expat truckers settled in Canada to give good reason why theyāre not āliving the dreamā(personal issues aside) , here or there >> itās a no brainer . No need for any banners shirley
Why is it ābullcrapāā ā I think it is an excellent quote! I still do!! 
Whats wrong with thinking that its an excellent quote then?
I donāt profess to know the in`s and outs of life in Canada, I just think Marks quote is catchy , honest and to the point! I like it!
Ohā¦āand donāt call me Shirleyā! 
someone mentioned the āpatchā anyway Iām working with a couple o guys who were driving s east sk on patch work and were laid off early last yr ā¦well they were at different truck companies(but for same oilfield company ) and both said they were on about $35+ an hr (or $47 ish on % work per hr),now here is the thing both got callbacks last week and were told MAX wage$24 an hr take it or leave it!.
The ladder only has one rung Chris, thatās the problem, so youāre also on the top rung if it makes you feel any better!
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OK, so after spending some time watching us/Canadian truckers videos on YouTube, Iām coming to a conclusion that actually US truck drivers have it better.
I know Pat and some others here might disagree, but here is my reasoning:
- Larger country, bigger population density, larger population meaning more companies to deal with, more opportunities to find loads that take you back home sooner, Iām talking here mostly of OOs, but this also applies to company drivers, although they are more at a mercy of their despatchers.
- No need to go across the border to Canada, as there is plenty to do in the US alone, when in Canada, an over the road driver will have his options limited if heās not able for some reason to cross the border.
So, if you don"t have to cross the border you donāt have to waste time, sometimes many hours to have your load and documents checked, for which you get paid as OO or paid very little as a company driver. - So many Canadian drivers complain about Canadian weather conditions saying if they could only live south of the borderā¦ Weather wise, say Florida, California.
- There are some very well paying jobs in the US if you are determined to find one and willing to relocate to where these jobs are.
- Health care, not sure how exactly it works in the US, being private health system, but I gather as long as you pay your yearly contributions you get a very good quality health care, without the need to wait for treatments as it is in Canada or even the UK.
- It seems to me US drivers stay out many weeks at a time on the road, or even months, but I guess if Canadians can be home more often then their US counterparts, the same could be done for US drivers especialy if they are OOs, and able to plan their work and home time more efficiently.
- Everything is cheaper in the US, and they are getting paid in a stronger currency, probably, roughly the same cents per mile as Canadian drivers.
- Canadians can only reload in the US, can not deliver within the US, which limits their earnings potential.
Fell free to take it all apart.
Cheers
More loads and more companies mean more competition, translated that means less money.
Lots of places to pick up and deliver to, true, but that also means a lot of short hops and because of the more loads situation, that means more delays, translated that means less money.
Because of less money, more time needs to be spend on the road, so less home time.
Health care? Seriously! That sounds like trolling to me.
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hkloss1:
OK, so after spending some time watching us/Canadian truckers videos on YouTube, Iām coming to a conclusion that actually US truck drivers have it better.
I know Pat and some others here might disagree, but here is my reasoning:
- Larger country, bigger population density, larger population meaning more companies to deal with, more opportunities to find loads that take you back home sooner, Iām talking here mostly of OOs, but this also applies to company drivers, although they are more at a mercy of their despatchers.
As Nmm says, this usually just means they jump about doing silly short runs with huge amounts of pratting about at each leg, covering what distance I usually would in 2 and a half or 3 weeks in 4.- No need to go across the border to Canada, as there is plenty to do in the US alone, when in Canada, an over the road driver will have his options limited if heās not able for some reason to cross the border.
So, if you don"t have to cross the border you donāt have to waste time, sometimes many hours to have your load and documents checked, for which you get paid as OO or paid very little as a company driver.
Crossing the border is generally very painless, especially at the smaller crossings, out of New Brunswick for example where Iām often the only truck there, or at worst thereāll be 5 or 6 and youāre across in anything from 20 seconds to 10 minutes if theres a few in front of you.- So many Canadian drivers complain about Canadian weather conditions saying if they could only live south of the borderā¦ Weather wise, say Florida, California.
California can be ā ā ā ā ā in the winter, especially coming from the east over the Donner Pass, its miles and miles of endless snow chaining. Florida is fine, especially coming from Canada as its the best part of 3 days each way, so a guaranteed 3 days driving because we have to go back to Canada, weāre not allowed to waste our time doing crap stuff 4 or 5 hundred miles down the road only to spend 6 hours loading, 3 hours waiting to be given the next load, followed by another 5 hours to load.- There are some very well paying jobs in the US if you are determined to find one and willing to relocate to where these jobs are.
Same with any country, Canada included. But donāt forget that better pay is only better pay if it doesnāt all go down the pan with living costs incurred with moving to said location. Ie moving to London wouldnāt be a good financial move if youāre only on a few pounds an hour more but your mortgage or rent far exceeds the extra income you make.- Health care, not sure how exactly it works in the US, being private health system, but I gather as long as you pay your yearly contributions you get a very good quality health care, without the need to wait for treatments as it is in Canada or even the UK.
Yes, unless you pass your coverage cap or get seriously sick and get kicked off the companies plan. Pat Hasler will tell you of people he knows in the US whoāve been diagnosed with cancer and a month later their health insurance has been cancelled and theyāre left to die with no way of ever affording their own treatment and medication.- It seems to me US drivers stay out many weeks at a time on the road, or even months, but I guess if Canadians can be home more often then their US counterparts, the same could be done for US drivers especialy if they are OOs, and able to plan their work and home time more efficiently.
All depends on the company and how they operate. I prefer being in Canada and doing things on a round trip basis, take a load out, bring one back and then go home for a couple of days. Not endless bumming around which almost always ends up earning you less money due to the unpaid times of tipping, loading and waiting for orders etc. A 3000km outward trip, followed by a 3000km return trip is far better than what most Americans are doing.- Everything is cheaper in the US, and they are getting paid in a stronger currency, probably, roughly the same cents per mile as Canadian drivers.
Its all relative, I live in Canada, get paid in Canadian dollars and as such spend most of my money in Canada. The current exchange rate means that I generally spend FA in the US unless its on small inexpensive things but who cares, I just take the vast majority of my food with me, which is quite easy as Iām generally home every weekend anyway.- Canadians can only reload in the US, can not deliver within the US, which limits their earnings potential.
It greatly increases my earning potential. However far in to the US I go, Iām guaranteed to have to come back again and as weāre on mileage pay, all Iām bothered about is doing as many miles as possible within as short a space of time, ie making cost efficient use of my time.Fell free to take it all apart.
Cheers