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My CB callsign is "Diesel Life”

Trucking and driving these big rigs all over North America...being away from home for months at a time....seeing every state and province...meeting people from all walks of life....sampling all kind of foods....nature....sunsets...sunrises...never a boring moment....changing scenery....shall I keep going? Whats not lo LUV ^_^

Driving a big rig is a lifestyle that can be incredibly challenging and hard or unbelievably rewarding and dreamlike. Because I am single-like (never married), no children, and live in a rented bachelor apartment with my high school sweetheart girlfriend, I am able to be a happy trucker and can move, relocate or work anywhere in North America without issues. I go out trucking months at a time to the point when I get home I feel like a tourist in my own city and apartment :)

“A successful trucker must be tolerant and well mannered! You will meet customers and represent your employer. You must keep good appearance, be respectful, proper and well spoken; after all your image will reflect on all truckers and the trucking industry as a whole.”

A prosperous trucker should not have criminal record of any kind and must be healthy as class1 (CDL) license requires routine medical tests and your health will directly impact your insurance thus your employment opportunities. The most important thing of all is a clear driving record! No demerits, infractions/citations or any highway-act record

Trucker life is a lifestyle. Your primary reason for wanting to become a trucker should not be monetary. When you start the pay is low but sufficient to pay for basic costs like rent, food, Internet, cell phone and your car insurance. If you have other costs then you will drown in debts as starting trucker pay is low (regardless who tells you otherwise). With time the pay will become better and higher and within 3 to 5 years you can start to rake in the doe, if you are smart and maintain your low cost, good driving/criminal record and health.

Owner Operator - my story:
I started trucking with no experience and no knowledge of the transport industry. One of the first requirements was that I sign up to a truck driving school, I chose one called Professional Transport Driver Training School which cost $8500 and was endorsed by the Manitoba Trucking Association (MTA), where I was given both theory and practical training to get my Class-I (CDL) license. Once I passed the course and got my license, the second prerequisite was to find a transport company and work with them for a two year period. I joined one of the biggest and safest fleets in North America that hauled dry-vans and reefers (temperature sensitive commodity), to get my experience, where I entered a program called Driver Development Program or short for DFP.

Below are the stages outlining my trucking experience spanning about seven years (from the time this article was written in October 2021):

• DFP Driver Development Program 2 years (from July 2015 to July 2017)
• First 3 months driving with instructors doing mainly city work and some regional loads.
• 3 months driving long haul with in-cab instructors taking loads to every American state and Canadian province, since I was with an in-cab instructor, there were no limits on the miles we drove. During this time, I gained experience in back-up parking, driving on the interstate, and weigh stations. I learned that each state and province have their own rules and regulations regarding transport.
• Once my training with instructors was completed (December, 2015), I drove solo for six months (from January 2016 to June 2016) long haul in a slip tractor (slip tractor means I change my truck everytime I get back to home-base terminal in Winnipeg), where I was out 24 to 28 days before coming back home for a 36 hour reset, at the time I was still in DFP, so I was limited to a 1000 mile radius from my Winnipeg home terminal. My destinations were around Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minisota, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta.
• Finally, I was given an assigned tractor #37628 (July 2016), instead of the slip tractors which I ran with for about six months, even though I was still limited to the 1000 mile radius from my hometown at this stage I started to feel like a real trucker in my assigned company tractor.

Late year 2017, I got a brand new assigned company tractor # 78149, and I ran with it for about 18 months as a company driver solo long haul with no restrictions. This was the time where I was able to have passengers with me and my girlfriend came with me on literally every trip without fail. We both did long haul taking loads to every American state and Canadian province. We drove the mountains in winter in Colorado, California, Montana and British Columbia putting chains on, dealt with road closures and avalanches in BC..etc, it was never a dull moment, that's for sure.

In January 2019, I leased a new tractor# 43213 and my girlfriend and I ran together reseting on the road, she handled the administration portion of the job, planning stops, satellite, paperwork and customs until March 2020, when due to covid-19 the border closed to non-essential personnel. I was able to purchase this tractor# 43213 mid term of my lease at $77,000 in October 2021 where I became Owner Operator and the tractor number changed to 35385 running with the same company.

At present, I took my trucking career to the next level and I am now running under my own authority using my 2019-Volvo-VNL670 tractor with my own company Diesel Life Road Warriors Inc.

I will post many pictures/videos of my trucking lifestyle in this section. Check them out! I've had many weird jobs in my life due to my curiosity and I must say trucking is way cooler than anything I've done like ever ;) Enjoy my pix/vids and let me know if you have any questions by sending me an email...I don't bite