Pro-Trucker Magazine

My Dad and Grandfather, John Booth, were both truckers, and I spent a lot of time with them around the trucks and equipment. My grandfather ran a small business that handled everything from hauling materials to moving equipment and doing demolitions around the Drumheller Valley. Meanwhile, my Dad hauled oil and water. I was fascinated with the equipment and idolized these men growing up.

I was pretty young when they started taking me out to the shop, where I would watch them work on the trucks and equipment. They taught me many old-school things that have proved valuable in my trucking career. One of the first and most challenging jobs I ever got was holding the flashlight – we all know it’s never in the right spot for Dad. On the weekends, when I didn’t have school, I would be up early so I could go with Grandpa to local gravel hauls. I learned many new things and words I couldn’t repeat at home. Like all young swampers, I also spent a lot of time napping in the bunk. We were not allowed to ride along with our Dad due to company safety issues, but we spent numerous hours washing his trucks and trailers and learning how the fluid side of the industry worked.

I learned how to pull wrenches, grease, oil, and wash equipment. Grandpa also taught my little brother and me how to run all his equipment and trucks, not just to learn but in case of an emergency. We both got hooked on running equipment, and by the time I was 13, I was backing our family boat into the water while my father was launching it. This led to taking over and backing boats in for others struggling on the boat launch.

When I turned 16, I started work at Fountain Tire in Drumheller, changing everything from car tires to semis and even tractor tires. Of course, after I got good at it, I had to go home and change my grandfather’s truck tires or fix any flats. I tried my best and worked my butt off at Fountain, finally working my way up to running the service truck. I enjoyed the challenge then, but it wasn’t the job I wanted. Trucking was a natural direction for me because it ran deep in my family. It wasn’t just my Dad and Grandpa; I also had uncles and aunts who drove, so it was often the main topic of conversation at family gatherings.

Just a few months after I turned 18, I got my class one. The next day, my grandfather gave me a 2003 International 9900i to drive, and I became part-owner of Dinosaur Oilfield Construction. I started by hauling asphalt materials and equipment around the valley, but in the winter, work was slow, so I took a driving job for an uncle hauling livestock panels across Alberta and Saskatchewan. It wasn’t easy to get started as insurance rates were much higher for me, and many companies wouldn’t insure me until I got some miles behind me and could prove I could handle the job.

After eight months, there wasn’t much work around, and I wanted to get back to driving on my own, so I went to work hauling lumber and other materials across BC to Manitoba. A couple of years passed, and after dealing with breakdowns, high insurance rates and some personal things, I decided to list my truck. After only a few years of driving and owning a truck, I considered walking away from it, except a 1996 Peterbilt 379 caught my eye. Every time I drove past the shop, all I could think about was how sweet it would be to have. The owners were very close friends, and we finally made a deal on the truck, and I brought her home.

It was my new pride and joy, and I named her “The Mistress.” I still hauled across Canada, but being gone 6 days a week took a toll on my personal life, so I got on pulling for a local company hauling fertilizer and grain, which left me time to move equipment around for my other customers.

We entered a few truck shows with the truck, and I also became a member of the Alberta Large Cars, where I got to meet a bunch of amazing people, and my driver friends list grew. This led to another job hauling equipment, which I really enjoyed. But this job wasn’t like others. I was moving burnt trucks to wrecks and new equipment, and since most of the loads were different, it kept me learning new ways to do the jobs and secure loads. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from an old timer who told me, “You have to try to learn something new each day, and if you don’t, you aren’t trying hard enough.”

Things were looking up, and I entered a photo shoot with my father to get some father-son pictures with our trucks, only to learn later on that it was for the Wowtrucks Calendar. It was quite a thrill to be on the front page of the calendar and then featured inside on my birth month of October. With things going well, I decided to retire my old girl and bought a 2014 Pete 389 in October. Sadly, a month later, I was involved in an accident, and the car pushed my front bumper into my steer tire. The officer told me I had to get off the highway, so I grabbed a ratchet strap tied one end to the bumper and the other to his cruiser. He wasn’t too impressed with that, but I got the bumper damn near straight. He looked and said I’m assuming you have done this lots? I said, “No, officer, this is the first time…on this truck.”

Dealing with insurance was a challenge, and in the meantime, I had my buddies saying, “ Hey, you need more lights on that truck.” So we added a bunch of lights just in time for the Leduc Christmas Convoy. The following Friday, I was asked to participate in the Lethbridge Cruise that Jackie and Jason Koch organized to support the Angel Tree Foundation for Kids in Need. They wanted to gather as many gifts as possible to ensure every kid had a gift at Christmas.

Unfortunately, on December 19th, disaster struck. I was in Drumheller just 15 minutes from home when I received a call from my little brother to hurry home because our shop was on fire. By the time I arrived, the whole shop was engulfed in flames. We dragged my 96 Pete away from the side of the shop and then got the excavator started and moved while the fire department did their thing. The sight next morning wasn’t a good one. After 50 years in that shop, everything we had was gone. We lost the 2014 Pete, a Volvo gravel truck, an old Atlas Chamber loader, and all the tools and parts we had accumulated over the years. It even damaged the side of our house.

We were always taught to help and support others in need, but it was tough to accept the help ourselves when we needed it. Sometimes, pride gets in the way. Some close family friends let us park in their shop until we got back on our feet. We went to work fixing a few things so we could put the 1996 Pete back on the road, and by January 4th, we were back hauling loads. As I said, it wasn’t easy to accept the help, but we really appreciated both the help and donations from everyone. It made life a lot easier for us, and we came away with a new appreciation for our friends.

A few months passed while we struggled with the huge loss and fighting with the insurance company, but we finally got the okay to clean up. When looking online for a possible new truck to replace the one that burnt, I received a call from some close people who helped me with the fire to buy one of their trucks.

Things were looking up. We replaced the gravel truck, and our personal lives also improved. On July 3rd, we made a big purchase from the Koch Family, and we bought their 2018 Peterbilt 389, named Brain Damage, to add to our fleet. Later that evening, after we got the truck home, my other half, Mackenzie Porrill and I announced that we were expecting our first child. We found out we were having a baby girl and welcomed our daughter, Oaklee, into the world on March 8th, 2023. With her at home, it was tough to go away for days at a time because you miss so much, but I now had another reason to make it home safely.

Her great-grandfather, John, would tell customers that his great-granddaughter was coming over for the weekend, so he wasn’t working. If you needed something, you had to wait until the following week. Grandpa was one of my biggest idols and support growing up. From driving me to hockey games to teaching me about equipment, he was a big part of making me the man I am today.

A few months passed, and we had the family over for Christmas when we announced our second child, our son, Lucas, was on the way. Things were slow on Grandpa’s side of the business, but he didn’t mind as it meant he would have more time to see his great-granddaughter. Unfortunately, on February 26th, 2024, he had a stroke and was rushed to Red Deer Hospital. We raced there to be by his side. At that point, I didn’t care about the trucks or anything else, but I had my trailer loaded for a job site that they needed Monday morning. My father knew how close I was to Grandpa, so he helped me out by taking time away from his job to drive my truck while I was at the hospital.

My head wasn’t in the game, but I had to return to work, and things didn’t turn out well. First, I blew an oil cooler, and then, a week later, I blew a steer tire. I was on edge the whole time and ended up being in an accident in Red Deer, resulting in the 18 Pete being out of commission for a few months. When he found out I was in an accident, my father raced up to my yard in Munson, grabbed my 96 Pete, and brought it to a shop in Beiseker, where we spent numerous hours preparing it for its CVIP. We finally got it on the road the following Monday.

Grandpa was transferred to Calgary Hospital, and any night or weekend we could get away, we were there beside him. He wasn’t doing great and had to lose his right leg due to blood clots, but he was determined to get out. While the 18 Pete was in the shop, Grandpa was helping me order new parts for the truck. We got him transferred back to Drumheller Hospital to be close to home when things turned to the worse, and his health went down. We lost him on April 21st, 2024, at the age of 87. The people who knew my grandfather knew what a hard worker he was. He worked harder than any 21-year-old – seven days a week, 6 am till 5, and some evenings to midnight, giving me a hand to get the truck ready for the next day. My parents knew that when we lost my grandpa, I was devastated. He was my idol, and my whole life, I had aspired to grow up like him and follow in his footsteps. He used to haul for the local RME dealer, and a few days after he passed, I had to haul a few loads for them. Those loads meant a lot to me.

Over the years, I’ve hauled some interesting loads and been to some interesting places to get loads, like loading in the middle of the Commonwealth Stadium or hauling stuff downtown to the Calgary stampede grounds.

Trucking isn’t for everyone. www.driverschoice.ca 11 MARCH / APRIL 2025 Pro-Trucker Driver’s Choice Magazine Drivers are a different breed. Some people try, but when they get their feet wet and have a couple of setbacks, they realize it’s not for them. Others enter the trade with open eyes from knowing people who have gone through all the highs and lows. I was one of the lucky ones like that. I highly recommend that anyone who is not interested in a standard 9 to 5 job to give it a go. When I meet someone starting out, I try to provide them with pointers so, hopefully, they don’t have the same issues I had.

Being a truck driver can also be tough on relationships. As a truck owner, your truck is your money maker, so when it breaks down, you either take it to a shop that can cost you thousands or acquire the knowledge to fix it yourself, which often takes long hours on the weekend or late into the night so you can be ready for your next load. If you are lucky enough, like me, to have mentors and supporters like my Dad and grandpa, life will be a lot easier. If not, then YouTube and Google will soon become your best friends.

Another big part of trucking that doesn’t get enough attention is the strong women in your life. My mother raised us kids while my Dad and grandpa were out on the road, and my other half, Mackenzie, stays home now raising our children. I can’t say thanks enough to my family and friends who helped me along the way and made me the person I am.

Trucking is a point A to point B job, and you’re often on a tight schedule, but that said, no load is ever worth your life, and you have to stand by that. I’ve sat for two days in a truck stop due to a snowstorm because the load and the anger of the dispatcher weren’t worth the risk. Each trip can be an adventure. In my travels, I’ve made it a point to stop when I have had the time to sightsee a bit and have seen some pretty cool places. I took a personal holiday with my other half, Mackenzie, and our first child, Oaklee, a couple of years ago. We went to Reno, Nevada, for a truck show. We left a day earlier than everyone else so we could stop and do some sightseeing. A few old boys caught up to us along the way, and we continued to Reno. These old timers led the way and then showed us around Reno and the grounds at the show. It was a trip that we will never forget.

As of today, I’m trying to continue growing my company and pushing it forward. Luckily, I have angels, Jim & and George Lucas, Christine Ireland, and now Grandpa John looking down, protecting me on my travels.