(Published in Biz X Magazine)

We hear their revving engines, we smell their diesel soot, and, as we soar past them, we feel their tremendous power. They are bigger than us, heavier than us, and much less graceful. We respect them, we might even fear them, but they also fuel our curiosity: What is it like to be behind the wheel of one of these hulking machines? What’s it like to spend most of your waking hours with 18 wheels spinning below you, and miles and miles of road ahead? What’s it like to make a living traveling on one of Canada’s deadliest highways?

I had a friend in grade school that had a thing for trucks. “B-Baby!” she would yell each time a big, smoke-spewing rig barrelled by us on the 401. Through a series of hand gestures, my friend would succeed in prompting some of the more receptive drivers to blow their mighty truck horns just for her.

Although I found my friend’s fascination quite amusing, I never quite shared it. My perception of trucks was based more in fear; I knew they could annihilate the car I was traveling in, and I knew that I never wanted to mess with one of these intimidating transportation units.

When I got my driver’s license, the fear I had as a child, matured into respect. The times when I shared my space on the road with one or more rigs, I kept my distance. When I passed, I made sure to make it quick and painless.

Not only did I learn to respect trucks, I began to harbour a curiosity about the trucking life. How does it feel to spend most of your waking hours alone on the road? Does the solitude eat away at you? What’s it like to travel, on a daily basis, one of the most lethal highways in Canada?

On a sunny, tepid evening in late August, my questions were answered.

Anthony*, a 31-year old trucker from Windsor, invited me aboard his 18-wheeler. Anthony’s run, which he travels four nights a week, is from Windsor to Toronto. Although he’s been in the trucking business for five years, he’s only been making this run for a year and a half.

After getting settled among cans of Diet Coke, a duffel bag, random articles of clothing, and packages of cigarettes, we began our trek along the infamous “carnage alley.” I had it arranged so that Anthony would drop me off in Tilbury.

Because we were traveling at a modest 90 km/hr, cars and shiny SUVs buzzed by us like insects. But there were no reckless drivers. Not then at least.

As the evening sun glowed on the flat stretch of asphalt before us, and the green, fertile fields along the side of the road waved in the light pre-autumn breeze, I couldn’t help but notice how innocent the deadly stretch of highway seemed. Aside from a few scars on the pavement, there were no traces of the lives it had stolen. But I didn’t let it fool me. I knew it could turn on anyone, at any moment.

More than 24,000 vehicles travel the Windsor to Chatham stretch each day – 30 percent of which are trucks.

“For a two lane highway, there are far two many trucks on the road,” said David Leonhardt, Director of Public and Government Relations for the Canadian Automobile Association. “The bottom line is, when you have a whole slew of trucks passing a whole slew of others, traffic, whether you are talking about car traffic or truck traffic, backs up behind them and it’s like a coiled spring waiting to impatiently pass.”

Last year, 25 fatalities occurred on the 401 in Essex County and Chatham-Kent. The most memorable crash happened on a foggy morning on September 3, 1999, when 8 people died and 45 people were injured in an 87-vehicle pileup.

“That crash might even not have happened or have been very, very different in nature, had not there been trucks involved.  The cars may have done exactly what they needed to do in terms of slowing down, but the trucks behind them couldn’t see them, and they couldn’t stop as fast … That’s one of many factors involved in this,” said Leonhardt.

A more recent fatality, claiming the life of Chatham Kent OPP Sgt. Marg Eve, and injuring four others, also involved a tractor-trailer. The 26-year old driver of the truck was charged in the June 7, 2000 accident.

Although these deadly crashes involved tractor-trailers, most crashes do not involve trucks, says David Bradley, President of the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA).

According to Bradley, trucks are only involved in 2 percent of all accidents on Ontario’s highways. Of these crashes, car drivers cause 75 percent, he says, citing motorists who cut in front of trucks, and get into truckers’ blind spots, as causes.

Ministry of Transportation Media Information Officer William MacKenzie agrees that in recent years there have been fewer accidents involving trucks.

“There’s actually a decline in the number of trucks involved in crashes,” he says.

Anthony believes truckers get a bad rap. He believes the media plays a major role in painting a dark picture of truck drivers.

“If a truck is involved in an accident, it’s just over-publicized like crazy,” he says.

Anthony has seen his share of crashes on the 401.

 “I’ve seen a lot of wrecks,” he says, cigarette smoke pouring out between his lips. “I’ve seen people die.”

 Last year alone, he witnessed three fatalities on the 401.

One of the fatalities involved the suicide of a woman near Toronto. As Anthony watched, helpless, the woman jumped from an overpass into the path of an oncoming truck.

Another involved a car that crossed the median, and slammed into the side of a transport truck. Although he did not witness the accident, he saw the body of the lifeless victim being wheeled away on a stretcher.

“That really bothered me,” he says. 

He knows that he has just the same chance as anyone else to be involved in a crash on the 401– and this is one of the main reasons he wants out of the trucking business.

“If I get out there and I kill somebody, I couldn’t live with myself,” he says.

He says he’s witnessed driver carelessness on a routine basis; the kind of carelessness that kills.

“You see parents with their kids not strapped into their baby seats … You see people not paying attention,” he says. “I’ve driven on to rumble strips so a car wouldn’t hit me because the person was yakking on the cell phone, or grabbing something on the floor, or a cigarette fell on them, or worse yet, they have seen a cop and they lock the brakes up and cut over in front of me.”

The danger of being on the highway during most of his waking hours is one reason Anthony will soon be leaving the profession; boredom is another.

 “There’s not too much brain wave activity going on when you’re on the highway, until there is a crisis, or the scales are open, or Mother Nature comes a calling,” he says. “I joke around and say that as soon as I hit the 401, my brain shuts off.”

Anthony is currently pursuing an education in network engineering. He says he won’t miss being on the road. He won’t miss the sedentary lifestyle.

“I don’t like the way I’ve become. I used to be very physical. I used to mountain bike, I used to play ball,” he says. “The most physical activity I get, is getting in and out of the cab.”

Although Anthony stays slim, he’s the first to admit his habits are unhealthy. During a 12-hour shift he smokes a pack of cigarettes, gulps down 12 Diet Cokes, and eats almost nothing.

            How does a person who is sitting for most of his waking hours, and eating on the run, stay physically fit?

According to Bradley, it’s not easy, but it can be done. He says he knows truckers that are in “iron man” competitions. But that requires discipline – plenty of it.

 “As with any sedentary job, whether you are working in an office or whether you are driving a truck, if you’re not eating properly … it can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. It really depends a lot on the individual,” he says.

Anthony says it’s not simply the fact that he’s sitting during most of his shift that gets to him; it’s that he’s sitting alone. He doesn’t like the loneliness of the road. He says he’s not a ‘lone wolf’ by nature, and misses the social contact.

“You get out there, and you’re by yourself. You can only listen to the radio so much. You start losing social skills,” he says. “Come Friday, you’re so used to being by yourself you don’t want to talk to anybody.”

He’s quick to point out, however, that not all drivers mind the aloneness. Not all of them mind having no one beside them. Some enjoy the solitude.

“There are guys out there that think they are cowboys … They walk around in their cowboy boots, and they’re on their own. They are facing the world by themselves. That’s their attitude,” he says.

Bradley says many truckers enjoy the freedom the profession offers. They like “not having a boss breathing down their neck.”

“They do it because they love it,” he says. “It’s in their blood.”

Chuck Bosnyak, Vice-president and Co-owner of C.J. Rush Transport, a Windsor trucking company that hauls automotive products, says there are specific characteristics trucking companies look for when they are hiring drivers.

According to Bosnyak, a company will put an applicant through a psychological test to determine whether or not the person is suited to truck driving. Among other things, the test will reveal whether or not the individual is at risk for road rage. The ideal driver is even tempered, and works well under pressure.

“He’s calm, and he’s level-headed,” explains Bosnyak.

Anthony points out that truckers today, are faced with even more challenges than their predecessors. He says he knows owner-operators that have taken some serious blows because of high fuel prices. Some of these drivers simply aren’t able to afford payments on their $100,000+ tractor-trailers.

Bosnyak agrees that fuel prices, as well as the cost to maintain the equipment, has made it increasingly difficult for owner-operators who have high truck payments, to make a decent living.

 “The more established guy is in better shape – the one who owns his equipment,” he says.

According to Bradley, truck-makers Freightliner and Navistar International have been facing major layoffs in recent months because of the decline in heavy truck sales. Two major factors for this decline are fuel costs and a shortage of drivers, he says.

“I think it’s partly a reflection of the caution that’s now out there in the marketplace,” he says.  However, he points out that “one has to keep in mind the three previous years showed record level sales.”

Bradley admits that truck-drivers today face a myriad of challenges.

 “It’s a tough job these guys have. There are so many obstacles these days,” he says. “The pressure on them to be able to make their deliveries on time; the level of traffic and congestion out there; the congestion they face when they arrive at the shippers yard … Those kinds of things add to the frustration.”

Anthony not only faces the frustration of the road, but also the demands of school. For the past year Anthony’s stamina has been tested, as he juggles both work and school.

So far he’s not only pulled it off, he’s at the top of his class. He hopes to graduate in a few months, and is confident that he will land a well-paying gig as a network engineer.

He says he’s sold off nearly everything he owns to go to school, and says he’s grateful that he doesn’t have a family to support, or a mortgage to pay. He’s also grateful to one of his truck-driving friends, who encouraged him to pursue an education.

Anthony explains that he met the fellow trucker over the CB radio. Although the two men had not met face to face, they established a friendship during their solitary hours on the road. Anthony says he told his friend that he was thinking of going back to school.

 “He said ‘Do it! Get the hell out of this!” That was one of the big motivators for me,” Anthony says. “Now there is nothing on the earth that can make me stay.”

*Name changed to protect his identity.

 (Sidebar) Road Sharing Tips from the Ontario Trucking Association

Stay visible behind a truck. When you come to a stop behind a truck, keep to the left of your lane so the driver can see you in his side mirror.

Leave room for rollback. Always leave plenty of room between your vehicle and the truck to prevent roll back incidents that can happen when a truck driver is forced to stop on an upgrade.

Never tailgate. The truck’s size will block your view and you will have to rely on his brake lights for a signal that something is going on in front of you. You will also be in one of the truck driver’s blind spots.

Leave space. Never pull in front of a truck without leaving adequate room between your vehicle and the front of the truck.

Be patient when a truck is backing up. When a truck driver is backing up he has to use side mirrors. Even though they are very large mirrors, they still leave a big blind spot. So be patient and never cross behind a truck that is preparing to backup.

Pass quickly and safely. When you are passing a truck, declare your intention to pass and follow through as quickly and safely as possible. Before re-entering the lane in which the truck is traveling, wait until you see both of the trucks headlights in your rear view mirror. Once you have passed, make sure you maintain your speed when you are in front of a truck.

Keep the center lane open. The center lane is the trucker’s passing lane.

Keep your distance. Keep a large space cushion around your car. Remember, trucks need extra space and time to maneuver and stop.

Pay attention to signals. Always pay close attention to truck turn signals. Many car drivers do not realize that a truck approaching an intersection to make a right turn may move to the left to avoid running the trailer onto the curb.

Stats on the Trucking Industry (From Ontario Trucking Association)

The Windsor-Detroit gateway is the single largest corridor of international trade in the entire world.

Each year trucks cross the Canada-US border over 10 million times.

80 percent of Canada’s trade with the U.S. is moved by truck.

Truck driving is the leading source of employment for Canadian males, representing 220,000 jobs nation wide, one half of which are employed in Ontario alone. Approximately 400,000 Canadians make a living in trucking sector.

There are over 612,000 truck trips per week on the nation’s major highways.

Trucking hauls about 90 percent of all consumer products and foodstuffs.

The Ontario trucking industry generates an estimated $3.3 billion in Gross Domestic Product.

The trucking industry moves about 70 percent of the total freight moved in Canada – the railways move most of the remaining 30 percent.

Truck and rail only compete on about 10 percent of the total freight.