HARRIET TUBMAN AWARD TO TRUCKERS

I’ve doing some history reading lately, and discovered an event in US history that may sound very familiar in 2025… and there is a connection to Canada.

In 1850, something called the Fugitive Slave Act was passed which penalized police and other officials who did not arrest someone who had allegedly escaped from slavery, even in northern states where slavery was outlawed. Habeas corpus was declared irrelevant. No day in court or jury was permitted and the alleged fugitive from slavery could not testify. The law resulted in the kidnapping and conscription of free Blacks back into slavery, even from free states.

There was one woman who stood out and fought to free slaves and escort them to freedom though the underground railroad. Her name was Harriett Tubman. She risked her life in some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known collectively as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Harriet Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage.

So how does this fit in a Truck News Talk Podcast? Well, I happily support all organizations that are active in the front lines in the fight against human trafficking…otherwise known as slavery. One of those we all know well as Truckers Against Trafficking…aka T.A.T. TAT! The people at TAT, in an effort to reward observant and caring truck drivers, have developed something called the Harriett Tubman Award. I think it an award befitting a brave woman who fled abusive slavery and violence to save others from the same fate. My guest is Heather Fry, Director of Industry Training at TATnonprofit.org.

The Microbiologist Truck Driver

I want to tell you a bedtime story. Once upon a time there was a microbiologist. Her name was Myrna Chartrand. Naturally she was highly educated. After all she was a scientist who studied microscopic life forms and processes including the study of the growth interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms, but one day Myrna turned in her chair and walked away from it all to become…a truck driver!

My TNT podcast preambles are sometimes lengthy so this time I will simply introduce Myrna Chartrand and let her tell you her story right after a message from Howes Products, makers of Diesel Defender, a diesel Fuel Lubricator & Injector cleaner with advanced IDX4 Detergent

In the past 18 years since I got involved in hosting a trucking show, I’ve met hundreds of interesting people and made a few friends along the way. One of my friends wears a closet full of hats. I knew him when he was about to give it all up, but then…something happened. If you listen podcasts, then I’m sure you know him. He creates a podcast too…but a whole lot more. A LOT more! His name is Bruce Outridge. I invite you to listen to my conversation with Bruce. What's he really all about?

Women Driving Change

It seems that as time goes by, this TNT Podcast has become a promotional outlet for women in trucking and a information source for women who may want to consider a career in the trucking industry. God knows, there are plenty of magazines and podcasts covering safety, nuts & bolts and financial woes of the trucking industry. This episode is about a magazine devoted to women in trucking. The magazine is entitled, “Women Driving Change.” That word “driving” is a double entendre. (for people from Arkansas, that means…double meaning) Women Driving Change magazine was created in response to a growing demand for gender diversity in Canada’s professional truck driving sector. The publication’s goal is to be the voice of women behind the wheel, beneath the hood, running dispatch, organizing the office, selling the supplies, and all points in between.

And maybe, the Women Driving Change Magazine can reach women who never considered a career in trucking. After all, the trucking industry has a long way to go to come around to recognizing that women have an import role to play in this multi- billion dollar industry.

My guest on this TNT Podcast episode is Shannon Savory, Editor in- Chief at the Women Driving Change magazine. Thanks to Howes Products, makers of Diesel Defender, a diesel Fuel Lubricator & Injector cleaner with advanced IDX4 Detergent

Classic Thinking & Trucking Women

We like to think that as a society we have come a long way. As much as we protest about racism and the lack of gender equality, you must admit that we’ve advanced since the 50’s and 60’s. Back then, it was assumed that women were expected to stay home and be a “housewife” and the “man of the house” went to work. On the face of it, there is nothing wrong with that arrangement, as long as both parties are happy. Unfortunately, that family model grew to be imposed on women. You know, “stay home…barefoot and pregnant.”

While our overall attitudes towards women in the workplace and in politics has changed for the better, it clearly has not come far enough…especially in a few industries. One of these being the transportation industry…and specifically, the trucking industry. Some of the attitudes towards women from a few trucking fleet owners falls into that 1950’s good ole buy redneck image of women. We may love our classic trucks, but the classic thinking needs to go. Women have proven themselves over and over, as mechanics, architects, engineers, firefighters, scientists, fighter jet pilots, astronauts, doctors, steel workers and professional transport operators…uh, that’s “truck driver” for the guy who is still lost in the fifties. The TNT special guest this week is here to remind us for the successes of women in trucking and unfortunately share stories of some of the roadblocks to women still being erected by some fleet owners…the very same owners whining about a driver shortage. My guest is Shelley Walker, Founder and CEO of the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada. This podcast is possible thanks to Howes Products, makers of Diesel Defender, a diesel Fuel Lubricator & Injector cleaner with advanced IDX4 Detergent. Listen!

Kim and the School Rules

Remember MELT. Kim Richardson says it MELT has MELTED.

A few weeks ago, I talked to Andy Roberts, the owner at Mountain Lake Transport Institute about the their problems attracting driver students in a world where some questionable schools are offering driving courses at half price or less and graduating them in half the time, which allows dramatically poorly trained people behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound vehicle on our highways…and in western Canada, that could mean on icy mountain roads.

Nowhere is this as big a problem as in southern Ontario…the epicenter of trucking in Canada. There are now around 300 truck driving schools. How does a wannabe truck driver know which ones are good and lead to a good paying job with a great company, and which one will take them down the alley to a bad unsafe trucking company and maybe eventually to a catastrophic crash. Advice to anyone who wants to drive professionally…do your homework! You have to know that if the training school is offering a deal that seems to good to be true and shorter hours than everyone else…you are destined for eventually failure…or worse.

Enough about my view from the outside. I talk to a guy who knows about trucking schools better than just about anybody…and not only about the schools but the companies that hire the unsafe, uneducated driver. It’s my old friend Kim Richardson, the co-founder of Kim Richardson Transportation Specialists with his wife Lisa in 1989. We know it as KRTS.

Thanks to our friends at Howes Products, makers of Diesel Defender, a diesel Fuel Lubricator & Injector cleaner with advanced IDX4 Detergent.

Donald, the Prophesy & Crap

Okay, there is no simple way to describe this TNT podcast. It begins with a prophesy then segues to an interview with trucking journalist and driver, Jim Park about Music City, the Trump tariffs and saving trucking costs and the earth with cow crap. Yes, we are all over the map on this one. You just have to listen.

Fabiana – The Rescue Lady

“Disaster and Pandemonium on the highway.” Big rigs off the road and trailers upside down. Who you gonna call? Rescue 51 and Fabiana!

It can be a mess out there and it’s not getting better. Much of the carnage is due to the growing number of unsafe poorly trained drivers released onto our highways. Some drivers churned out by crappy driving schools have never driven on ice and snow….so, they end up in the woods, sometimes rolled over and in worst case scenario, injured or killed, not to mention the damage and/or loss of the vehicle and cargo. So who is going to get them back on the road again. Well, at least get the truck back on the road. The driver is another issue.

My guest is Fabiana Quinteros. To be more exact is it Fabiana Quinteros Ireland, along with his partner husband they own Rescue 51 Towing & Recovery just outside Barrie Ontario. Fabiana is not just a pretty face in the office…she gets out there in the ditches and the weeds in the cold winter nights with guys hauling a tractor trailer out trouble. Fabiana did not grow up with wintery nights. She is originally from Uruguay in South America. I will talk to Fabiana.

Thanks to Howes Products, makers of Diesel Defender, a diesel Fuel Lubricator & Injector cleaner with advanced IDX4 Detergent.