TORONTO, Ont. – This is a big country, which explains why Canadians are known for impressive advances in communication technology – after all, Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, did a lot of his work in Baddeck, N.S. There are no exceptions when it comes to the trucking industry.

Say what you will about the advent of in-cab E-mail, payphones and pagers, but truckers we talked to at Truck World 2000 are most likely to live by their cell phones.

“I never use the CB. I hate them. Some of the trucks got them but I shut them off. I can’t stand listening to some of these truck drivers,” says Rick Sterritt, who hauls live chickens for Maple Lodge Farms of Toronto. Despite the fact that he never goes more than 200 miles one way, he’s nonetheless behind the wheel of his Freightliner about 50 hours a week, and likes being easy to catch. “I carry a cell phone. Anybody phones my home number I got an answering machine and it gives you my cell phone number. And using the Bell answering machine, I can call home from anywhere and get my messages… If (anyone) needs to get in touch with me right away they can call.”

Ron Pelechosky, who drives for Bonnyville, Alta.-based B and R Eckel’s Transport, has been a truck driver for 30 years, mostly working the oil fields and related industries. He sees computers as the tool of the future, keeping track of vehicles and drivers with the click of a mouse. “All the major company’s are running computers. They have to control exactly where the unit is at any given time, whether it’s moving, whether its parked, to keep tabs on you.” But for his own communication needs, he sounds almost old fashioned. “Just by phone. Cell phone. You can use it anytime.”

For Darrell Hamilton of Belleville, Ont., who makes runs as far as Florida and Utah as a driver for Bison Transport, cell phones have been in his Volvo cab since he began his career three years ago. He notes, however, that the things aren’t perfect. “I find I don’t use it when I’m down in the U.S. because of all the transaction fees and service charges.” As a result, he relies on regular phones and trusty phone cards. He hasn’t yet graduated to a laptop – he’s weighing the value of the investment – but he’s already at home using company-provided satellite links. Perhaps E-mail is in his future.

Ken Poitras has been a truck driver for 22 years, and has seen a lot of changes to communication technology used by drivers in that time. Although, strickly speaking, Poitras isn’t a long-haul trucker any more, he still logs a lot of hours on the road as a recruiter for Winnipeg’s Kleysen Transport. “I try to touch base at home every couple of days, see what’s going on, stuff like that,” and for that he uses both cell and “land” phones. He says it definitely helps with driver peace-of-mind. In the old days, before cell phones became household items, Poitras used to go as long as four days without calling. But he notes that a lot of today’s drivers have laptops, and some truck stops offer Internet access. n