He continues to drive his truck with passion at 84

“If you like what you do, it’s not work, it’s fun”, launches by replacing his cap Réjean Pelletier, who continues to drive trucks at the height of his 84 years.

“If you leave grumbling, you’d better not leave, and stay at home,” pushes the man, who has already attracted the attention of industry media such as Truck Stop Quebec and Transport Routier.

While the sector is crumbling under the weight of the labor shortage, Réjean climbs into his truck every week to travel nearly 1,400 kilometers from Quebec to the Maritimes. For him, it’s a way of life.

“I never had time to be bored. I always worked 15 to 18 hours a day,” he recalls.

During the pandemic, he took up Lego blocks, but as soon as he was able to get back on the road without too many constraints, he was quick to do so.

“I know the United States by heart. I have long been to California on a regular basis. I went up in furniture and I came back with fruit,” he recalls.

“I take it as a game. I’m proud to leave and come back,” he sums up.

Every year, Réjean passes his medical examination for the ears and eyes in August to be able to drive.

“No age restrictions»

At the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), it is recalled that “there are no age restrictions for the Regulations relating to the health of drivers, and to the policies of the Company”.

“It’s really his state of health that determines whether he can maintain his professional class,” explains his spokesperson Gino Desrosiers.

Barely 14 heavy vehicle drivers aged 75 to 84 were involved in accidents causing bodily injury in 2021, compared to 101 for those aged 20 to 24, SAAQ data extracted for The newspaper.

This, even though those aged 75 to 84 (5,252) were almost twice as likely to hold a Class 1 truck driver’s license as those aged 20 to 24 (2,837).

“a dean»

For the boss of Réjean, Sylvain Lévesque, president of Transport Saint-Hyacinthe, the 84-year-old man is nothing less than “a dean”. Even if he doesn’t have the strength of young drivers in the prime of life, his skills are worth their weight in gold.

“To drive, take a trailer, from point A to point B. It’s excellent. He’s vigilant,” he said.

20% older drivers

Crossed at the EXPOCAM trucking show, a stone’s throw away, Saint-Hyacinthe, Jean-Pierre Desormeaux, 75, also had good words for this profession that inhabits him, and has never left it since.

“I continue to drive trucks three to four hours a day as a vegetable delivery man,” he shares.

“Being a truck driver is another life. We have the married life, the single life and the life of a truck driver”, he says.

125 kilometers away, at Groupe Somavrac in Trois-Rivières, his talent acquisition advisor, Rosalie Samson, is seeing more and more older workers moving into her office, which bodes well for the industry in raises.

“We have between 10% and 20% of truckers aged 65 and over. We see more and more retired people returning to the job market,” she observes.

More financial incentives

At Trimac Transportation, Sébastien Sasseville, terminal manager for the company with 150 trucks in Quebec, more than 10% are over 65 years old.

“We need these people for their experience,” says the one who sees the phenomenon with a good eye.

According to Julien Paré, who teaches transport by truck, the profession of truck driver now manages to attract new profiles.

“I remember workers at the Electrolux factory who had lost their livelihoods. Some 69 or 78 year olds have found a job in trucking”, breathes the one who is today a supervisor of a company in the food industry.

But for Marc Cadieux, CEO of the Quebec Truckers Association (ACQ), governments would benefit from adding financial incentives to keep them.

“Sometimes, two or three days a week, in related trades, such as a dispatcher, that can make the difference,” he concludes.

– With the collaboration of Nicolas Brasseur