January 7, 1991 is the first day of my career at Gardewine. I was honestly late for my first day by an hour. Started working on the dock for the late Don Vandal. I learnt everything thru my colleagues on the dock such as loading and unloading trucks, shipping and receiving and keeping your work space clean. Two years later Don asked me how my typing skills were and I told him I typed 60 words per minuteand he decided to hire me as a junior city dispatcher. Two years later of office experience, they decided in moved me to midnights on the dock as a foreman. Two years later they moved me to afternoon shift to perform the same experience. Gardewine then started a Courier division in which I monitored for years until Don asked me backed into City Dispatch. Fiveyears later i moved from City Dispatch to Flat Deck Dispatch and have been there for almost twenty years.
I must say after working for a company for almost 35 years, you get to know a few people personally and treat them like family. You then realize that they are not there forever and most won’t retire with you. Amongst the hundreds if not thousands of people I have dealt with over the years, you remember most of them and their witty traits. Special trips were the most exciting for me. Driving for owner operators and then asked to go on special pickups or deliveries to exceed a customer’s expectations. Being asked to fly to Toronto and Sudbury to assist their terminals when things were busy. Making a special run to Snow Lake in a snow storm to deliver necessary parts was another major milestone of mine. Good thing my brother was working there then.
Service awards, company barbecues and profit sharing chequeswere always a real treat to receive. My personal favourite rewards were a pat on the back or a “great job” coming from higher above.
I enjoy working as hard as I possibly can to make the company better and more efficient for our customers.
Almost 35 years have gone by and I still have 10 more in the bank to give!
