HUDSON’S BAY, Sask. – Darryl Shaw runs general freight out of Hudson’s Bay, Sask., and he says it’s been a tough go for the company driver lately.

“There’s not enough money to be made,” says Shaw, who is known over the C.B. radio waves as ‘Bear.’

Shaw drives a Freightliner for his fleet, and hauls everything from steel to stoves.

“Anything that needs to be hauled, I’ll haul it,” says Shaw.

Even though he’s not an owner/operator, Shaw sees the excess number of trucks on the market as a cause for concern.

“It’s definitely a concern to everybody,” says Shaw. “Trucks are going right back on the lots.”

And hauling out of the northern Saskatchewan region, it’s no surprise that the condition of that province’s roads are also one of Shaw’s worries. “The highways are in bad condition, and fuel prices are outrageous,” says Shaw. He says he’s happy he doesn’t have to worry about filling up his rig out of his own pocket.

“They pay for the fuel and all that.”

But even company drivers are feeling the pinch, he says, as the rates aren’t healthy enough to attract new drivers to the industry.

Although Shaw isn’t pleased with the direction the industry seems to be headed, he still enjoys driving truck.

“I just do my job and that’s it,” says Shaw, who always has the option of returning to drive south of the border thanks to his dual citizenship.