well said m8 iv been here 9yrs and coming home to stay this month for good and the Canadian woman I met is coming to live too but had some gd times in Canada especially p.e.i. but time to return 
It’s like a competition for who can work the most hours for the same money ffs.
My wife is an accountant and works for a small airline that also has lodges up north for fishing and hunting. One of her colleagues is always working her day off, was shocked to learn that my wife wouldn’t be working on statutory holidays and wouldn’t be doing anything for free.
It’s strange here in that respect, you often here of drivers missing out on important out of work stuff as they’ve been asked to turn and burn. My last place was a very good job, but if I ever wanted a specific day off I would need to keep reminding them and tell them that I needed to finish a day earlier than I needed to, if I had something to do on say a Saturday I would tell them it was Friday and 9 times out of 10 I wouldn’t be back in the yard until late on Friday.
To be fair, that’s what happens when you try to have your cake and eat it, I still wanted the miles, so it means there’s no margin for error if you have a deadline, I was often the third or fourth person to arrive at my own party, but that was not that bad as it meant I didn’t have to get involved in all the preparation, I just walked in, jumped in the shower and got on the beer 
The crap they put up with here is beyond belief at times…
u got that bang on driver its the culture of hey driver im doing u the favour driving my truck some guys here Canadian drivers say 55yrs old look 65yrs never been anywhere apart from n.america all they talk about is miles and how much money they aint got.i am deffo not going to miss the trucking side of things here
When I worked for Sunbury, there was a Canadian driver who often boasted (wtf?!) about getting a phone call from dispatch when he was at Toronto Pearson airport with his wife about to depart for Cuba or some such place and he sent her off alone so he could “Help them out” and he followed on several days later, minus a few hundred dollars for flight amendment fee’s. ■■■■■■ moron and that’s what we’re up against here, idiots like that.
ha ha you got it driver and u can just imagine the as…e on dispatch doing it for a driver and the hundreds of dollars extra he got for fu…ng his wife .like u say m8 its uphill battle but I feel sorry for a lot of guys still coming over especially to east coast to live the dream hang on just fell of chair laughing
Had it out with my place a few weeks back when they didn’t get me back for a booked Friday off. They blamed it coz IA I think it was decided to have their own rules for oversized on the 4th July weekend. Turned round n told em I’ll take the Monday instead then! Don’t think they was expecting that
My current place certainly buck the Maritimes trend. They actually ask my permission to send me on any trip that will involve me not having both Saturday and Sunday off in their entirety. My permission is often not granted because I’m not at the stage where I want a life away from work and unlike most firms here who would sack you for such unorthodox views, they don’t actually mind at all. Now and then I do a long haul trip to Florida or Texas but they’re certainly not forced on me and because they bend over backwards to accommodate me, I don’t mind helping them out when they ask because I know they’re genuine, something that can’t be said of most firms in this area.
stevejones:
ha ha you got it driver and u can just imagine the as…e on dispatch doing it for a driver and the hundreds of dollars extra he got for fu…ng his wife .like u say m8 its uphill battle but I feel sorry for a lot of guys still coming over especially to east coast to live the dream hang on just fell of chair laughing
Think I can just about comprehend/decipher this although I could still be way off the mark , my apologies .
With all the info out there on the www why on earth would anybody of sound mind move from Britain to the East coast of Canada expecting to earn a decent living through driving a truck , this subject has had ample coverage over the last few years and only someone who hasn’t done their research would land themselves in said situation ,nobody to blame but themselves .
If for whatever reason you don’t like the hand you’ve been dealt then ■■■■■■■ change it , there’s ample opportunities to do so without slagging off the country and the trucking system that you chose to be a part of , shape up or ship out , I gather you Steve are doing the latter 
I think Steve has done nine years out east FTTM, so that would make him one of the earlier arrivals out there, before all the internet gloom and doom about the place in any case.
Why he stayed for nine years is a mystery to me, especially if it really is that bad out there, but as he has a Canadian wife I reckon the purple head may have overridden the other head and kept him out there 
I think some of you have missed the point in the article in my original post.
The average working week in Alberta is 35 hours per week and is the highest in Canada.
I don’t think any of you are doing less than 35 hours per week are you?
The UK works longer hours on average than that at around 40 hours I think.
I’m working about 24 hours a week at the moment.
I don’t think I could make a decent living in Canada and still work such short hours.
Sure you could, David. Jon and Lou would put you up. 
As for the complaints, well I’m both surprised and not surprised. It seems that few of the complainants can remember the older days over there. The comment about being 55 but looking 65 is especially surprising. I would ask how many people in the uk are still driving past 55 at all.
I’m home every weekend and still get miles. I have no reasonable request declined. In return I don’t decline reasonable requests.i grant you that I work for a BC firm but I work the way I’ve always worked.
And I was one of the first on TWP here too. The negative stuff was around then too.
But that was when they chose the drivers with more regard for experience than the fact they had a licence and a pulse.
ok last 3 posts num 1 never slagged Canada of or people not involved in trucking game num 2 I had a very good job between 2006/2009 but they were bought out job changed .num 3 reason I stayed is mainly it took me 4and half yrs for my p.r. as I had to go rehabilitation and do it all twice. and up until fastrax was swallowed up by day and ross that job was not bad . and not being a weak person I put up with a bit of moving job to job same bull…it at all of em .once again I know all about the few good jobs out mb.ab.bc. but don’t wanna live there p.e.i. is lovely place . and as for bringing the doris into thins my c…k unlike many guys doesn’t make my decisions also I have many gr8 friends here as it happens going to a farewell party somebody holding for us later . so once again gd luck to u guys that want this life .one other thought on experience 30yrs im not exactly green but don’t wanna get into that bol…x but best not to judge a guys exp that u don’t even know
stevejones:
ok last 3 posts num 1 never slagged Canada of or people not involved in trucking game num 2 I had a very good job between 2006/2009 but they were bought out job changed .num 3 reason I stayed is mainly it took me 4and half yrs for my p.r. as I had to go rehabilitation and do it all twice. and up until fastrax was swallowed up by day and ross that job was not bad . and not being a weak person I put up with a bit of moving job to job same bull…it at all of em .once again I know all about the few good jobs out mb.ab.bc. but don’t wanna live there p.e.i. is lovely place . and as for bringing the doris into thins my c…k unlike many guys doesn’t make my decisions also I have many gr8 friends here as it happens going to a farewell party somebody holding for us later . so once again gd luck to u guys that want this life .one other thought on experience 30yrs im not exactly green but don’t wanna get into that bol…x but best not to judge a guys exp that u don’t even know
Probably took you 4 1/2 yrs to get your PR 'cause CIC couldn’t understand a ■■■■■■■ word you wrote.
They had to find a gobbledegook interpreter.
bobthedog:
Sure you could, David. Jon and Lou would put you up.
Hi Bob. How are ya? I hope you’re well.
I don’t think Lou and I could put up with each other for more than a day or 2. We both have strong opinions. Unfortunately our opinions differ. Neither of us has learned not to wind the other one up. Poor Jon has to stay neutral so as not to ■■■■ his wife or dad off too much. I’ll be over there again at Xmas.
neilg14:
stevejones:
ok last 3 posts num 1 never slagged Canada of or people not involved in trucking game num 2 I had a very good job between 2006/2009 but they were bought out job changed .num 3 reason I stayed is mainly it took me 4and half yrs for my p.r. as I had to go rehabilitation and do it all twice. and up until fastrax was swallowed up by day and ross that job was not bad . and not being a weak person I put up with a bit of moving job to job same bull…it at all of em .once again I know all about the few good jobs out mb.ab.bc. but don’t wanna live there p.e.i. is lovely place . and as for bringing the doris into thins my c…k unlike many guys doesn’t make my decisions also I have many gr8 friends here as it happens going to a farewell party somebody holding for us later . so once again gd luck to u guys that want this life .one other thought on experience 30yrs im not exactly green but don’t wanna get into that bol…x but best not to judge a guys exp that u don’t even know
Probably took you 4 1/2 yrs to get your PR 'cause CIC couldn’t understand a [zb] word you wrote.
They had to find a gobbledegook interpreter.
I thought it was just me!
Big Jon’s dad:
I thought it was just me!
I can assure you both that this is very much a case of not judging a book by its cover. I’ve met Steve in real life and consider him a very capable and knowledgeable driver, having done things and been to places that someone like me can only read about in a book. I for one have the upmost respect for him and have done since meeting him for the first time back in 2009 a few weeks after arriving in Canada and finding myself in Philadelphia docks, totally disorientated and out of my depth. He saw my little Union Jack sticker and came straight over to offer his help and advice and that goes a long way, especially in this day and age where most would rather sit back and snigger at others and shout them down. I’ve come across several dozens of British drivers in Canada and I’m being very genuine when I say that I’d take his somewhat hap hazard way with the keyboard any day when there are few better and more down to earth drivers on the road who really do know their stuff.
I don’t want to come across as brown nosing here, but people are taking the ■■■■ out of someone who really deserves better.
ok mr neil whoever. funny how u understood enough to start slagging me of but no problem . I can assure you that if I was talking to someone intelligent I would use perfect grammar . as most of the time its on here it seems to onesided prats like yourself I always come down to your level. also I can assure you I don’t need the trucking game explained to me by you or your ilk. so now I wish u good day and adios as I can do better things with my time like maybe have a conversation without turning into personal slagging. I can assure u iam pretty gd at the personal stuff too have a lovely life
robinhood tks man don’t worry about me m8 as I think u know I can look after myself ha ha .but tks that seems long time ago in philly glad u made it and done what a lot didn’t . I tried to help ya as it was the way I was taught by a man my cousin . which was old school stick together help people along if poss. and after quite few yrs running across deserts in the seventies he knew what he was on about .and one of those rare things now. a gent in trucking all the best m8 I be in touch with you from uk .if u ever over let me know maybe meet for few well a lot beers
Right children play nicely please.
This is a forum for lorry stuff, not an English exam.
Steve has been here nine years so he’s got a lot to offer this forum, the way things are going that probably won’t happen.
