There’s no shortage of challenges John Weston has overcome in his life.
As a small child growing up in Swindon, England, he was hit by a truck and knocked unconscious. When he woke up in the hospital days later, he couldn’t remember much; he could no longer read, write or speak the same way.
“I went into hospital one boy and came out as a completely different boy,” John says. “You come out where you couldn’t do stuff yourself. You’re not allowed out the house because you don’t know where you live. Your friends treat you differently.”
Watch John Weston’s journey to become Driver of the Year:
As he grew up, the head injury and dyslexia challenges made academics difficult and so he “failed” out of school. However, John says after the accident he developed new skills, like the ability to navigate machinery and build things. He worked a series of trade and “hands-on” jobs until an ex-father in-law introduced him to truck driving.
“So, then I went out with him for a couple of times. It’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t drive trucks, but he was different – in a good way. And I liked it.”
Eventually he came to Canada because “he wanted to drive a truck with a hood.” He hooked up with Challenger Motor Freight, which put him through their onboarding program. He has been in Canada, with CMF for 16 years, amassing 4 million collision free km. He has won several truck championships, company awards and accolades and has been promoted to be a driver trainer, mentoring and onboarding hundreds of drivers himself. He was also named the 2018 Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association for comforting a fellow truck driver in his final moments who was involved in a fatal collision.
For his service and achievements, John Weston was honoured last night with the Volvo Trucks Canada-OTA Ontario Truck Driver of the Year Award at OTA’s annual conference in Toronto.
“John overcame many challenges and much adversity in his childhood. Today, he is one of the most respected employees at a company that boasts a long tradition of developing many excellent drivers,” said Volvo’s Steve Woodward in announcing the award. “As a driver trainer, he is beloved by his trainees for his guidance, wisdom and dedication to safety. He is known by colleagues, friends and family as someone who is loyal, compassionate and unconditionally helpful.”
Steve Newton, director of Safety and Driver Development for CMF, says the trucking industry is better and safer because of the quality of training and mentoring John and professionals like him deliver.
“He came to Canada as a truck driver for us and immediately became successful,” he says. “I think John lives and breathes trucking. He is a true professional. He’s the driver that you would want to clone and make hundreds of, because he’s got everything.”
Samta Makkar credits John entirely for helping her improve her skills and mature as a new truck driver.
“From my day one until my last day (training) with him, it was amazing. He challenges you but you use your own mind and your own skills, and he helps you think of certain solutions,” she says. “With John I gained that confidence I needed and I could do whatever I had to deal with because of him.”