Comments By Glenn V.

My days as a "Beach bum living on an island in the Pacific" are coming to an end. When I first embarked on this career path, I was getting the feeling the ol' spouse wasn't completely onboard. As a result, I confined my job search to Vancouver Island. Van Isle by default can be considered a region. In the back of my head, I had a "drop dead date" which I just reached. First thing this morning, i received a call from Essential Transport from West Kelowna. I meet 9:00 Monday to start training. I guess that ICBC which, sets the insurance rates has made it more expensive for green drivers. the other factor was that a large percentage of drivers do not wish to cross the border. As a result, the trucking companies can be more choosy when sourcing drivers. So I believe, sometime next week, I will be headed your way. Now wifey seems a little put off about the whole thing. I don't get because I spent 30+ years in and out of logging camps with shifts of varying lengths. Oh well, you have to play the hand your dealt. The journey begins.

If you are going to have just 1 day where you are "in the zone" examination day would be that day. I am the proud owner of one Class1 driver's License with airbrake endorsement. I do a follow up dangerous goods course Tuesday and "back to the real world". Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Last lesson tomorrow and then road test on Friday. Did a mock test yesterday and the instructor said I would've passed. I should check my right mirror more often. Sometimes I get tunnel vision and over rev a spell. Did my mountain driving and picked a poor time to try the splitter. Once I got to the top of the hill, the following driver's words to me were " Kinda new at this aren't you?" as he had a little chuckle. I get the feeling I will be providing comic relief to other drivers for awhile. Sooo.. the last lesson will be "head on a swivel" and watch the tracking. My downshifting is improving but I still miss the odd one.

Today's lesson; "Don't go up on the sidewalk when turning right"! As I am turning right, the front driver's side is close to the island in the centre, I start to use the left lane after the turn, I take my eye off of the trailer to check an oncoming vehicle and when I next look in the mirror "Holey S**t, that mail box is awful close that trailer"! Instructor says "We are going to cure of that right now". Yup, there's Glenn stuck doing right turns for the rest of the lesson. So at the moment, I am kinda feeling like a whipped dog (tail tucked between the legs and everything). But I also know that feeling is going make me a better truck driver when it matters. So onto the next lesson.

Still grinding gears. I will get 5-10 okay downshifts and then go on a "Couldn't grab a gear if my life depended on it" spell ( wait a minute my life does depend on it). The school has an automatic Volvo, which is a treat to drive but I am going to tough it out in the 18 speed Kenworth. Where the school is, apparently has or had the busiest intersection in BC. We go through there several times during a lesson and it is an education in itself everytime, especially on a Friday afternoon. The mountain portion of the course usually includes a trip over the Malahat into Victoria. Due to traffic congestion they discovered that one just winds up sitting in traffic. So we will go over the hump into Port Alberni which ironically is where I live. The reason I have not been filling in my diary is that I keep my trailer at a seasonal pad with no internet service (One thing about BC is internet and cell service is spotty at best).

Day 1 in the books. Started by bobtailing in a standard. Originally, I was not recommended for this route as I am recovering from a fractured left foot and my case mangers thought automatic would be a better fit. However the instructors explained that 18 speed would be better. I got through the lesson and the ol' hoofy don't feel too bad. ( maybe lil' out of lead) Anyway, I know I have to work on downshifting. It's kinda funny how before the lesson, you think that " I will maintain 2 second spacing, I will take the corners wide and I go through intersections smoothly". Then reality hits and I am so busy trying to get the downshifting part that I don't have time for any of that. Second part of the lesson was pulling a flat deck with an automatic. The good part of that, is that when you listen, that is how the shifting is supposed to sound. In closing, I know I have my work cut out for me. Next lesson Wednesday. I got a printout on what the examiner looks for in the pretrip, so I will turn that into a mantra. Somehow, my gut feeling tells me that there is going to be whole bunch of new stuff headed my way on Wednesday.

Just received my training schedule. Schools can have very different ways of looking at a situation. At the beginning of the year, the feds here in Canada were going to implement a Mandatory Entry Level Training Program. The problem is that every province has a slightly different interpretation of this. Saskabush may be 121 hours, Alberta 113 hrs and Ontario 103.5 hours. In British Columbia, where I live, we haven't implemented this policy yet. So I am going to guess that 100+ hours will be the bench mark. (Iknow, I know.....160 hours should be the bar) Anyways, the school I was favouring was recommending that I train as many hours as possible and even had an advanced mountain course, which consisted of taking a live load to Alberta and back. (With the weather we are having, a person may even have to chain up.... in July). The other school, they weren't concerned at all. However they have different courses of varying length, a 30 hr, 70 hr, 85 hr and 100hr course. So I explain to my case manager that the more training hours received, the more seamless things will be if MELT is implemented. Guess which course she signs me up for..the 70 hour course. (could've been worse, she could've signed me up for the 30 hr special I guess) Every cloud has a silver lining. The course is every other day. I have a few buddies that drive logging truck, so I may be able to do ride alongs. (120 tons of Hemlock in a fat truck down a 20% grade, now that should help with the mountain driving) Alternatively, there is a trucking company in town which shunts stuff around town and between the mills or helping the helicopter outfit move their rolling stock. ( I'm pretty sure they won't mind free help). The master plan at this point is...just get that license anyway possible.

Even though I don't start school until the 13th, there are still lessons to be learned. Today as I am returning home with the wife, a reefer truck comes onto the main drag off a side street. As he comes into my lane, I think to myself "He's coming out to clear the sidewalk". Then just as he is about to come around he veers into my lane some more. After he goes by, notice a fire hydrant that had to be avoided by the other driver. Not a bad day, a free driving lesson and no mayhem involved.

I have just been notified that I start 1st Class Driving School on July 13th. Although I already have the air brake ticket, I have to take the 16 hr course to begin. It's a good thing too,because when I was boning up to get the learner's license, they had disc brakes and automatic adjusting brakes. Neither of these even existed when I took the original course. As a side note, does anybody deal with numb hands? Are there stretching exercises or gloves one can wear to ease the tingling?

To be honest, I cannot even call myself a trucker yet. I am in the process of being retrained by WorkSafeBC (WCB). Just waiting for the call to go to CDL driving school. Before that, I worked as a logger on British Columbia's West Coast. Throughout a 40+ year career, I went from highlead to helicopter logging. I had the airbrake endorsement but never really used it. Drove a gravel truck for a road rehab company and helped the bull crew move jet fuel around at various times. One time, I got pressed into service operating the push truck to help low bed a grappleyarder to the beach. I spent a winter in the oil patch back when I was a young punk. So I guess anybody that becomes a trucker this year will called "The Covid Crew".