“Hi! My name is Mike Smith and I’m a driver with Utility International in Ajax, Ont. My grandparents used to own a trucking company and I just got tired of going from one job to the next. I’ve been driving for 17 years now.

When I do get home to Blackstock, Ont. I go down to the yard with my son, work around the yard and show him some things. I’m hoping he’ll eventually become a trucker one day. My son’s only 10, but he’s already talking that he wants to get a truck and drive.

First thing I normally do when I get home is try and recuperate for those first couple of days, because the roads can take a lot out of you. It’s a good job, but it has its downfalls, like being away from your family. As soon as I leave, I start missing them.

I think Truck News is a pretty neat magazine for us all to keep up on what’s happening. I like to see stories about what the families go through when drivers are on the road; how much they miss us or how much they depend on us.

I wish the schools would show new drivers a little more. They preach that they’re showing drivers everything there is, but they’re not. Drivers drop a lot of money on schools and yet some still can’t even do basic things like back into a slot.

I do training sessions on occasion and I find them so exhausting because I’m feeding them so much information, most of which they should have learned in school. The schools are good, I just don’t think they’re training them to the point they should be.

I wouldn’t say I’ll be trucking forever, but it’s one of the great jobs that you can keep doing after age 65. As long as you keep getting your licence renewed and your eyes checked and your heart checked, you just keep going.

I hope one day when my son’s old enough to be alone my wife will get her licence and come with me 24/7.

It can be a hard life but you also have some great opportunities, like seeing the country. It’s not for everybody, but it’s something I enjoy.”