Pro-Trucker Magazine

That passion didn’t stay behind when he came to Canada — and he’s not alone.

Across this country, drivers from Mexico, India, the Philippines, Eastern Europe, Africa, and countless other places bring that same fire for trucking with them. Different languages, different roads, different beginnings — but the same love of diesel, chrome, and the open highway.

Canada’s trucking industry is stronger because of it. Immigration doesn’t take away from our industry; it adds to it. It fills seats, strengthens fleets, and brings pride, work ethic, and determination to our highways.

This rig represents more than one driver’s journey. It represents how trucking enthusiasm is shared around the world — and how Canada is richer because those dreams found a home here.

Once a trucker, always a trucker.

That’s my story. As a young boy growing up in Mexico, I would sit in John Rempel, this month’s Rig of the Month, tells a story that began far from Canadian highways — in Mexico. Our featured driver grew up admiring the brightly coloured trucks of his hometown, where rigs are rolling works of art — bold paint, polished chrome, and drivers who take real pride in their machines. As a young boy, he watched them pass and dreamed of one day being behind the wheel. John Rempel RIG OF THE MONTH Pictures by: David Benjakschek www.wowtrucks.com By: Marco van Maanen E.J.VandenBerg Trucking Ltd. MARCH / APRIL 2026 Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine 9 the driveway waiting for the grain trucks to show up at the elevator where my father worked. Usually, I could hear them before I could see them. At that time, nothing gave me more pleasure than a glitzy Mexican truck jaking through the gears. Today, nothing gives me more satisfaction than clicking through a perfectly executed set of gears with a set of straight pipes.

Those Mexican trucks were cool. Often as colourful as the Mexican culture, these Peterbilts, Kenworths, and Freightliner Classics oozed with the personality of the driver. Of course, everything was customized. Flags on the antennas, airbrushed decals of the Virgin Mary or eagles or different states, lights of all colours, and aftermarket stacks, bumpers, and visors all perfectly polished. Inside, there were plush velvet curtains and patriotic mariachi music vibrating the air from custom speakers. Drivers always acknowledged me with a nod, a wink, or a honk and a wave. They became like family to me, and sometimes, they would even allow me to drive their truck through the yard. I was a little boy, and the trucks were big, so I would feel powerful and strong, invincible even. Like I was one of them, like I belonged with them, and like we were a team. That’s how I grew up and I loved it.

At a certain point in his life, my father decided to move to Canada to explore new opportunities. So, at the age of 11, I moved to Canada. Growing up in Canada I spent a lot of time with my dad, and, in particular, I learned to work. My dad was a skilled tradesman, so he worked in a variety of trades, especially home renovation. I wasn’t only taught to work, but to give it all I had. My dad said that if something’s broken, you fix it. And if you fail, you try again, and again, and again, and again until it’s fixed. There was no quitting; there was always an open mindset to learning new things.

At the age of 19, I was working at Lode King trailers in Winkler, MB. And what did I see every day? Peterbilts, Kenworths and Freightliner Classics, coming to pick up their new trailers. Truck drivers who were excited about the future, trucks that were polished, customized, and loud. Most drivers would hook up to a new trailer, then walk to the office to pick up their paperwork. Invariably, before entering the office, they’d stop, turn around, and admire their truck with a little pride. Just like the guys in Mexico!

Eventually, a trucker friend invited me along for a trip. I was excited and wanted to learn more about trucking. What was it really like on the road?

My friend had a beautiful grey 379 with a 3406 Cat engine. To this day, it’s still one of the coolest trucks I’ve seen. He even let me drive for a while. I may not have had a license, but once again, as I guided the truck through the curves and over the hills in Ontario, I felt strong and in control. Clicking through the gears and jaking down the grades felt like music. With a wink and a nod, my friend told me I was a natural. This was my first taste of the freedom of the open road, and I was hooked.

Naturally, I immediately proceeded to obtain my Class 1 license and began my trucking career. My first job was hauling woodstoves from Winker MB to West Virginia. I was driving a 1986 flat top Pete 379 with a 60 series Detroit and 10” straight pipes. Yes, 10-inch straight pipes! I loved that truck; it sounded cool, looked sharp, and it never let me down, even if it did use one and a half five-gallon pails of oil every week. I checked the fuel level every time I filled the oil! But I loved the truck, the road, and the job. I was looking cool, I was free, I was in control.

Over the next ten years, I enjoyed a variety of trucking experiences. I did some RGN work hauling Case IH equipment from the US into Manitoba and Saskatchewan. There’s nothing quite like delivering a new combine on your trailer—big and wide and king of the road! I learned to drive defensively during this period. To think ahead and plan for narrowing lanes over bridge decks, keep an eye on who was behind me, and to check that my load was secure. I also learned the value of good paperwork when the DOT stopped me at a scale in Ohio to inspect my logbook. Let’s just say that my paperwork skills at that time may have been a little weak, but they quickly improved after that stop!

Eventually, I found a betterpaying job hauling 22’ wide mobile homes from Wisconsin to north Saskatchewan. In the winter, we would deliver these homes to northern Manitoba using the winter road network, which, surprisingly, always went well.

Then, a friend coaxed me into slip-seating for a company pulling dry vans, allowing me to explore the US and Canada. I particularly enjoyed running south into Texas. For one, I despise the cold and love the heat. But more importantly, in MARCH / APRIL 2026 Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine 10 the southern states, I felt a lot more of the camaraderie that I experienced in Mexico as a young boy. I noticed the CB was always on, and there was always some chatter. If someone needed help with repairs, someone would pick up the mike to offer advice. If directions were needed, they were provided instantly. I noticed a true sense of community.

During this period, pulling vans, my negativity towards cold increased. One trip, after driving through a snowstorm near Chicago for five hours at 25-30mph, I ended up stuck in a rest area for nearly two days before the road reopened. I spend a similar amount of time behind an avalanche on Hwy 1 in the mountains near Golden, BC. Despite the cold, I eventually ended up in northern Alberta. First in the logging industry and later in the oil industry. I learned two things in northern AB. First, how to chain up a truck fast. Second, the value of a bulldozer in the spring. I’m sure there’s still a stretched 2013 T800 Kenworth with mud around the axles somewhere in Alberta!

When COVID hit, I was laid off from the oil industry and moved my family to southern Alberta, where I found an opportunity to work with EJ Vandenberg Trucking in Nobleford, Alberta. I haul fertilizers, cereals and pulses throughout the northwestern US and western Canada just like the Mexican drivers of my childhood. As they did, I enjoy arriving at a farmer’s yard or a prairie elevator with a perfectly executed set of shifts. I love the open road, whether it’s the sunset on the interstate, or the distant dust of combines in the field, or the quiet hum of tires on a moonlight night. In the agricultural side of trucking, there’s still a mutual appreciation of beautiful trucks, driving skill, and the open road. Farmers still appreciate a truck rolling into their yard, and I still enjoy giving the young-uns a smile, a honk and a wave.

Like they say, once a trucker, always a trucker!