My name is Wayne Gammel and I work for Richards Transport. I've been with them twelve years and we're pretty well a specialized carrier - hauling oversize equipment, transformers and equipment like that all around North America.

[Typical Work Day:]

I started probably twenty years ago just hauling fuel around the province. I really enjoy driving. I enjoyed the job because I get to be on my own. They tell you where you're going and you do what you want, when you want and it's a little different than working 8:00 am to 5:00 pm in an office.

It's definitely not a Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm type job. It can be twenty-four hours a day. You can't drive twenty-four hours a day but you can drive from midnight 'til eight in the morning. You know, whatever, there's no set schedule as to when you do go and when you don't go. It's just the rules and regulations for your hours like how many hours a day you can work. Like my day today; I've got a load in the yard ready to go to Minneapolis. I can travel twenty-four hours a day with it if I want. If I haul an oversize load I'm pretty well restricted to daylight hours. So I will leave here this afternoon. I will unload in Minneapolis tomorrow. Then I'll drive to where I'm picking up my next load. I'll load it Friday and then I'll be back home Monday night.

[Most Challenging Aspects:]

I think the biggest challenge in the job that I do is the different equipment we haul - where to load it on the trailer, how to do it. My job is a lot different than people pulling a van trailer around or hauling fuel or whatever - it's almost a challenge every day. Just the different things we do.

[Most Satisfying Aspects:]

I get personal satisfaction if there's a lot of loads we've delivered (where they're on a real tight schedule) and you get there and they shake your hand at the end of the job and say, "Well done." And when the boss is happy, everybody's happy. That satisfies me, too.

It would be nice if the money was better. It would be nice if we didn't have to pay so much taxes. You know just the normal things. I really enjoy the job. People don't realize our road expenses are quite high. I'm gone anywhere from four to ten days at a time. You start eating all your meals on the road over eight to ten days and see how it cuts into your paycheque.

[Education & Training:]

I didn't have any real training to get into it - it was more on the job, like learn as you go. Now you need a Class 1A Air Brake ticket and everything to drive the trucks. When I started that wasn't required and when it came in to be, if you were already doing the job, they just gave you that license. Your boss had to sign saying yes that you are driving, etc., etc. - and they just automatically gave you the license.

Now it's quite involved with the training and everything else that is required: there's the Class 1A; there's the Dangerous Goods course; the Defensive Driving Course; the Air Brake course. There's all kinds of different courses that it's maybe not necessary to have them all to start with, but the more you have the better it is.

[Teamwork Skills:]

In our job the teamwork skills are very important. There's a lot of times when there is more than one truck involved in hauling a piece of machinery and everybody has to be co-ordinated. You have to be there and all work together on time, etc., etc. I'd say that was very important.

[Change & Adaptability:]

I think you have to be able to adapt to change because it changes from day-to-day. From when I started driving to now (in twenty years) the trucks that you drive have changed immensely. The biggest change that I can see is in the rules - in all the regulations that there are. Like I say the trucks have a lot more power where you can go up the hills now a lot faster than you used to be able to and that can get you into a problem. Speed isn't the answer. You've got to be careful and everything else.

[Advice For Someone Entering This Field Of Work:]

Get with somebody that knows the job and get going with them for a couple of trips and get to know all the ins and outs instead of just saying, "Well, I've got my license" and jump in to start. You've got to start at the bottom and you're not going to start with a new truck. Like I say, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.