MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Technology has helped to make a trucker’s life different today than it was years ago simply because of the variety of technological options that are available to drivers and their carriers.

One of the hottest new commodities is access to the Internet while on the road. Truck News stopped by the Husky Truck Stop at Courtney Park Road and Kennedy Road in Mississauga to talk to drivers about their Internet usage. (Truck News, with Cabit Systems, has also just completed a comprehensive survey on the subject. The results of that survey are currently being compiled and will be published in a future issue of Truck News).

Ian Crockett, a driver from Glen Huron, Ont., said he generally hooks up to the Internet through phone lines.

“I use it to more or less communicate with home and with work too,” said Crockett, who uses a laptop. “I can see where my next load is, all that information is there for me, so it makes it quite easy.”

“No, I don’t use the Internet at all,” said Finn Sorensen, a driver for TransX of Winnipeg, Man. “We have a satellite system in the trucks and we can communicate between trucks and the office and even home too, if I had it set up that way, but I’m not really big on computers so I generally stay away from them.”

“I do use the Internet quite a bit but just in the office and not in my truck,” said Dave Mangat, who drives for United Highways out of Brampton, Ont. “I use it for e-mail mainly, but the company does have safety programs and log book programs that we can use and sometimes even chat rooms too.”

Now that Rajan Joshi, who drives for TDS Trucking in Brampton, Ont., is driving long haul, he said he doesn’t have as much time to surf.

“I do still try to log on at truck stops if I can. There are usually computer terminals where you put your money in to get online,” said Joshi. “The Internet is everything now in trucking. You can get your load bills that way and check on shipments and all sorts of things.”

“We are just putting all the pieces together to get set up for the Internet now,” said Suzanne Reed, who drives for Kriska Transportation in Prescott, Ont. “We’re going to be set up on our laptops so we can use it to find out where our shippers and receivers are and to get e-mail and it will be a lot cheaper than telephone.”