Trucking is in safe hands, the next generation of truck driver has arrived.
Blessed with an aura of calmness, Jayden Steendam exudes confidence, reliability and capability. He drives an immaculately clean truck – a refurbished 2016 Peterbilt fitted with a 2001 engine. He dresses the part down to the boots and even sports a lush mustache.
He just turned 23 but possesses an old-school trucking soul. The young driver yearns for times past when a brotherhood of truckers watched out for each other on the road. He’d love to see those days make a comeback.
The Winnipeg-based driver has already got two years of tanker hauling experience under his belt (adorned with a cowboy riding a bucking bronco on its buckle), working for Jade Transport in Manitoba.
He loves being on the road behind the wheel of a big rig. “It just relaxes me,” he said. “It could be city work or driving down the highway, wherever I am, if I’m on the road, I’m calm.”
He said that sitting in traffic does not bother him. “You know that you’re not going to be able to go anywhere else. You take your time.”
Earned a CDL at age 20
Steendam earned his commercial driver’s licence at the age of 20, a welcome sign in a greying industry struggling to fill seats with young truckers.
After quitting school and moving back home with his parents, he worked in construction, building farm structures. Not satisfied with his career path, he decided to work harder and set his sights on earning his CDL. “There’s always work to be had with trucking, you can always find a job,” he said.
Hauling tankers
And he did find a job immediately after getting his licence. He’d heard that Jade Transport was hiring new drivers, contacted it, and has been working for it ever since.
His career got underway hauling asphalt oil. Pulling a tanker filled with liquid is not for the faint-hearted with the load constantly sloshing in the tank. He enjoyed the learning curve as he figured out maneuvering and braking techniques.
For the first two weeks, Jade Transport had the youngster do local work under the supervision of an experienced driver-trainer. “He would give me pointers. Once he decided I was good enough, they let me go out on my own,” he said.
The young driver dreamed of working as an over-the-road driver, his wife McKenna said. The couple met while at school in Iowa. He did so for a year-and-a-half while they were dating long-distance and switched to local and regional work once they were married about seven months ago.
“By the time we got married, I was ready to be home every night,” Steendam said while participating in Shell Rotella SuperRigs at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.
He said that trucking works for him because he is not a people person and would much rather be on his own.
Steendam takes pride in his ride, saying that having a good-looking truck is rewarding. “It brings me joy; it brings other people joy. Kids stare at my truck and ask me to pull the air horn,” he said. “It is so much fun.”
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