Page 36 - Newcom

FICTION
By Edo Van Belkom
V ic thinks he knows what happened, but he needs to put his theory to the test. On the way, Vic stops in the empty parking lot of a warehouse and parks the truck in an isolated corner of the lot.
“Why are we stopping?” his cousin asks.
“I want to see if you know anything about driving trucks.”
“If I know anything?” he asks, his tone suggesting he’s offended. “I’ve been driving for ten years.”
“I know you have,” Vic says. “But I want you to do a circle check to see how much you know?”
Vic asks, “What about the tires?” “They’re good.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I can see them! They are right there and they are good.”
“All right,” Vic says. “Let’s move on down the truck.” Vic’s cousin kneels down points under the truck and says, “No leaks.”
Again Vic asks, “How do you know?” This time the man just looks at Vic.
Obviously, he doesn’t have an answer.
“What did they teach you at this driving school?”
“How to get my licence.”
“Lights. Tires. Mirrors.”
V ic has welcomed his cousin at the airport after the man immigrated to Canada to start a new life as a Canadian. Because he had been a truck driver in Africa,
and attended a driving school in Africa, Vic contacted Bud about getting him a job once he got his AZ licence in Ontario.
Vic took his cousin to the driver testing center for a test, but the whole test was over before he even got behind the wheel.
On the way home from the testing center, Vic asks his cousin what happened.
“How can he know if I’m a good driver or not if I didn’t even drive for him?”
Illustration by Glenn McEvoy
It was just as Vic had thought, only worse. There were some truck driving schools out there teaching new drivers just enough to pass their tests, but not nearly enough to turn them into safe drivers. He’d heard people talk about such schools and about how new students often had only three questions about getting their truck-driving licence -- How much would it cost? How long would it take? And, when is the test? Apparently his cousin
had gone to one of these schools, and while he probably would make an excellent driver once he got behind the wheel, he hadn’t learned nearly enough about trucks and truck driving to get his licence, regardless of what he’d learned in “school.”
“I’ll teach you,” Vic says. “When I’m finished, you’ll
be ready for the road.”
“You must keep a safe stopping distance between yourself and vehicle in front of you so you will be able...
...to stop safely in an emergency.”
“He did fantastic!” Bud says. “If you trained him, you should be
getting paid to train drivers. I’ve never seen a guy more knowledgeable and prepared.”
Vic wonders if maybe he should branch out as a trainer for when times are slow.
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Best Practices
Driving Uptime
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Brought to you by the editors of Newcom Trucking Group, in partnership with Chevron
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36 Truck West • November 2018
It was the kind of training that led to accidents like the one that had turned the Humboldt Broncos hockey team into a Canadian tragedy.
After several weeks of training, Vic’s cousin is ready for another test. Vic calls Bud and asks him to make an appointment.
Driving Uptime
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in partnership with Chevron