Trucking was part of my entire life. I never thought much about it. My dad, grandpa, and most of my uncles were truck drivers. They wore cowboy boots and nice plaid, snap-button shirts. When I was young I wanted to be a policewoman or a teacher. Since then, I have had people tell me I should go into one of those professions.

I loved summer vacation because each of my siblings and I got to take a turn in the truck with my Dad. I remember one trip, going over the 1000 Island Bridge, (thinking how neat it was, but that you couldn’t live on most of the islands; but that it would be cool to go on a boat through them). We picked up scrap cars in the Bronx, New York and delivered them to Oshawa Ontario. We had to be out of the truck during the loading (which makes sense now; as it was dangerous). There was a huge fence around the place, (obviously to keep people from stealing parts or breaking in and getting hurt) and Dad said it was because the city was such a scary place that “even the junk yard dogs are scared’! We must’ve been listening to ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’ at the time! We had to make sure that the doors were locked when we were driving down the city streets.

Someone once said to me a number of years ago, that I “must have had a terrible childhood”. And I thought how mean, condescending and ignorant it was to assume that my life had sucked as a kid. They had no idea what ‘Driving a Truck’ was all about. To me, having a parent who drove long haul and wasn’t home a lot is no different than someone who has a parent working shift work. Sure they are home every day, but they are asleep when the kids get up, and when they get home, the parent is at work. Do those kids see their parent any more than I saw my dad?

My dad was mostly an Owner/Operator, and stopped by the house a lot on his way to/from the yard. He usually made it just in time for supper! He could also make his own schedule. So he was able to go with me on class trips. Who else had a dad go on class trips with them?

I went to college for Horticulture because it sounded fun. I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a living; let alone a career. After 2 years of college and 2 years of minimum wage, living at home with a school debt, I started to look at going back to school. After talking to and researching some schools, my dad suggested looking into trucking. He set up an appointment with Kim R. at KRTS (being a long-time friend). The next day we sat in his office, and then I went out on a road test where I was taken down the road and thrown into the driver’s seat! KRTS helped me with funding and soon I was sitting in the classroom and learning how to back a tractor trailer out in the yard.

The first job I applied for would’ve offered me a job, but the company’s insurance carriers didn’t want a younger, newly licenced driver. So I went over to Zavcor, who were willing to take a chance on me, and started driving for them the following week. They didn’t have any female trainers, let alone female drivers, (They had one O/O husband/wife team), and so the dispatcher went out with me daily for a while to Toronto. For my first year I was in Toronto and surrounding area daily. I would load/unload; drop/hook either at the main yard or at the Mississauga drop yard. I don’t think I need to say that I learned how to back up quite well! My dad was always there for me whenever I had a question (or problem). He is the best driver, boss, salesman and father I know! I knew I could count on him to help me out with any trucking situations/problems or even just to discuss trucking issues.

Then I started going across the border. My first trip out was only to Rotterdam NY (which is near Albany), but as with many drivers, it is too far to go in a single run! (I remember having new drivers tag along with me a few years later and how I would have to stop for them to take a break.) It’s amazing how exhausting it can be paying attention to the signs, traffic, and weather! At the end of the day you are as tired as if you moved a load of bricks from one pile to another by hand! So I drove highway for about 3 ½ years. I thought about leaving to try something else but I had just bought myself a house and was asked to move into the Safety Office. I had a great trainer in the Safety/Compliance office and learned things like what questions to ask applicants, how to judge people, and all about Drug and Alcohol testing, dealing with Insurance Companies and keeping up to date on employee and truck and trailer files. I took a course at the OTA (Ontario Trucking Association) called “Take the risk out of Hiring and Firing”. (FYI I would never fire anyone without someone else being in the building.) I took ‘The Exceptional Assistant” through Fred Pryor and a course on Occupational Health and Safety (OHSA) through the Transportation Health and Safety Association of Ontario (THSAO (now IHSA)).

I would fill in for dispatch occasionally and was in charge of compliance issues, drug and alcohol testing, safety training, file maintenance, log books, annual reviews and accidents.

I left Zavcor in 2006 to work for a small 5-truck operation and would complete local deliveries and pickups with a flatbed when I wasn’t working in the office. I ended up running the entire office by myself, which included billing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, dispatch, payroll, safety, compliance, etc.

With the 2008 economy drop, we all had to walk away from the company. So I tried a completely different job – filling in for a 1 year maternity leave position as potted salesperson at a large greenhouse. I got married that year to a guy I went to high school with and asked out at our 10 year reunion. The next summer I worked in my husband’s family owned greenhouse (so my Horticulture diploma sort of paid off!).

I then went to work at a sod company delivering bags of soil and mulch along with skids of sod on a tri-axle flatbed with a piggyback tow motor. In the winter I took a job delivering scrap metal around Burlington and up to 5 hours across the border. I spent a lot of time at the recycling plants off of Burlington Street in Hamilton (so again, lots of backing up). I drove scow and dump trailers, but it was a little too dangerous for me. Standing on top of a load of scrap metal in the snow is not my idea of fun.

In the spring I went back to driving the flatbed with the piggy back tow motor; and in the summer I drove the live-bottom trailer for pick-up and delivery of various soils, peat moss, gravel and sand. I got to see a few quarries and drive into the middle of fields! At the end of the summer, I decided to stay home for a while. We were trying to start a family without much luck. I went back to the sod company the next 2 springs as a sales rep on weekends.

I was then called by a small company who had been referred to me, to handle compliance. So I also did that part-time for a couple years. I was approached by a local farmer to work 1 day/week delivering grain to his barns. It turned into hauling pigs from Norwich to Dunnville on a triaxle every Friday, and going down the escarpment to deliver to the grain mills or to haul back pig feed.

During all this time, my husband and I were still trying to get pregnant. With lots of help, in the spring of 2013 I was pregnant with twins; and was unable to work at all. My son and daughter were born early January 2014. (But that’s a whole other story!)

In 2015 I was approached by my first trucking boss to drive 1 day a week hauling dry vans to/from Wainfleet, Brantford, London and a little bit of Toronto, for another of his companies. It was mostly drop/hook, except that you usually had to place the new trailer in the same door – which means extra drop/hooks! (Eye roll)! Actually, I loved it. It was a reprieve of days with just me and 2 babies. (I struggled greatly with PPD (post-partum depression) and thought this would help; but it only helped me to avoid it.) I had a sitter show up in the morning, and she stayed until my husband came home, so I was free to get home at whatever time I was finished. If there was no run that day, I would help with filing and vehicle maintenance records.

In 2017 I started working full-time back at Zavcor in the new role of Director of Zavcor Training Academy. With my experience in so many previous roles, this was a great fit for me. I’m back in the industry I love, working with great people and assisting those wishing to learn more about our industry and become a Licenced Driver. I wouldn’t say that I’m a role-model, but I think that I am doing my part to make this industry better and safer; and to show/prove that it can be, and is, a viable career; regardless of age, sex or race! I love trucking ☺

Sarrah Dekker – Director Zavcor Training Academy

Email: sarahd@zavcor.com