Dear Editor,

I read your column in the December 1999 issue regarding the shortage of truckers in the trucking industry.

I hope companies read your message because the industry has me totally frustrated.

(I was also impressed with John Curran’s story on Andrew Rowlands and his efforts to drive in our country.)

I personally have more than 25 years’ experience in this industry, of which eight years have been operating from Class 1 to forklifts.

They tell me that my 2-1/2 years at the wheel is not enough Class 1 time.

How do you get the “right stuff” if companies don’t have a training support system at the initial employment level?

Furthermore, Class 1 operators with 10 years’ experience driving in Atlantic Canada would, themselves, need a couple of weeks training to drive efficiently in the Trucking Belt of Southern Ontario.

I have spent most of my working career in the safety and maintenance management of equipment fleets.

I want to close out the remaining 12 years of this career driving. That option, unfortunately, presents many roadblocks – not indicative of an industry desperate for drivers.

Just recently, an ad appeared in our local paper for a Class 1 shunt driver.The job paid $9 per hour and required five to seven years experience.

The employer was a major player in the industry. I have to ask, would anybody shunt if they had this amount of experience? n

Clesson C. Monk

St. John’s, Nfld.