I was raised on a farm in West Central Saskatchewan, near the Hamlet of Mantario. Being raised on a farm gave me the opportunity to start driving at a very young age. At that time, we had both grain and livestock production on our farm.

I was fascinated by the cattle liners that frequented our farm and questioned many a driver about the life of trucking. My dream was to get behind the wheel of one of those trucks at some point in my life. In 1974 my dad (Raymond Somerville), George Kool, and I purchased our first highway tractor and started hauling cattle and grain with a five-axle unit – my dreams were answered! Unfortunately, that partnership was short-lived, as that was back in the day when you had to have operating authority to haul commercially, which was difficult to get at that time. So, to be active in the trucking industry, you had to find someone with operating authority that would take you on as a lease operator. Dad and I perused the industry and approached Lorne Matchett with L.E. Matchett Trucking, and he accepted us into his operation. We were the fifth truck to join Lorne; you could say that was where I learnt about the industry.

I spent about four years with L.E. Matchett when we expanded our farmland. It required more hands-on help, so I took a brief time out of the trucking business to do that. By this time, I had two brothers (Harvey and Sam) joining us on the farm. The 1980s were upon us, and we had high-interest rates, high land values, low grain prices, and no market for grain. Anyone with a farm background, who lived in the ’80s, will remember them well. So, with this situation and more mouths to feed, we had to diversify. My younger brothers weren’t interested in livestock, so we chose to get back into trucking.

We purchased a tandem axle truck with a box and pulled a three-axle wiggle wagon. Later in 1989, we upgraded to a highway tractor and a Super B grain hopper unit to help pay the bills on the farm. We were fortunate to have chosen this route as we experienced rail line abandonment in our area, and it left farmers having to haul up to 100-120 kilometres to the nearest high throughput elevator. We had great support from our local area and were able to hire local people to expand to five units. With that expansion, our brother, Kenny, joined us in the business. Over the years, we have gone from 80% local hauling down to 5% local because the farms got larger and they acquired their own units. During that time, we developed other markets that weren’t tied so much to the local farm business. We operated our business from our farm shop, out on the farm, until January 2016, when we moved to a shop and office complex in our neighbouring community of Eatonia. We did this to get closer to better services and roads and appease the farm staff by clearing out of the shop, which we had shared up until then. We have maintained 12-16 units over the last few years focusing on Super B hopper work and liquid fertilizer movement within the prairie provinces.

During COVID-19, we didn’t experience any slowdown but had to adapt to change, as many places had rules in place to try to mitigate the transfer of the coronavirus. We had our office locked down and had our drivers follow the protocol set out by each of the companies that we did business with. If I were to make an assessment of our time during COVID-19,

I would say it benefited us. It has streamlined how we place our order requests and the unloading procedures for our drivers, resulting in time savings, which is to their benefit.

I haven’t kept track, but I have been a member of the STA for over 30 years. I served about six years on the Board, during which I gained valuable knowledge, networked with many people throughout the trucking industry, and made some lasting friendships. It’s good to have an association to turn to when you have questions and get support for issues and concerns that you may have.

I have worked with the public my entire life and have enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve dabbled in a few things over the years that have been somewhat challenging but rewarding at the same time. Along with the trucking enterprise, I was an active auctioneer in my family organization called Somerville Auction Service and in the early 2000’s we joined Kramer Auctions out of North Battleford and spent thirteen years working with them. Opportunity knocked for them, and they sold to the RB Group, and we transferred with them. COVID-19 changed auctions to be online; therefore, both Auctioneers and Ring Men were relieved of their duties. I loved the auctions in that I saw many different communities and got to mix with a wide selection of characters! I find that every opportunity that you get to mix with people will help you excel in your business. We still hold a West Central Consignment Sale with the RB Group on the first Saturday in April every year in Eatonia, SK.

The transportation industry has served me well. That being said, I’ve also seen three times when the bottom fell out of the trucking industry and then came back. The challenge is to hang in there until things improve. The last downturn took a long time to correct itself, but if you stay in it for the long term and make corrections, you can carry through. Most recent has been the fuel increases. If you don’t keep close tabs on it and increase rates accordingly, you can be upside down quickly! Equipment replacement and repair parts in short supply have also taken their toll. The driver shortage has been experienced here as well. As an owner, it is tough to take having equipment sit and then have to turn away work at the same time. It’s not something that is going to be an easy solution in he short term, unfortunately.

Anyone wishing to enter this industry must enjoy dealing with people, make sound decisions in stressful situations, be prepared to sacrifice things at certain times, and still enjoy what you are doing. The rewards will come in time if you can keep frustration at bay. I owe a lot of credit to my younger brothers as they worked along with me in making the trucking division a viable business. Without them,
I wouldn’t have grown the business to what it is today.

In my spare time, I enjoy travelling throughout the world, motorcycling, flying, and spending time with my grandchildren. If I had an opportunity again, would I do anything differently? Not likely. I’ve had a good ride to this point.