Working Without a Net

Stephen Large can get a truck to do two million miles but he doesn't handle himself with the same care. He had a stroke last fall at the tender age of 44.

Stephen Large babies his trucks so enthusiastically that he's run one of them for more than two million miles.

Back in 2005, because he only used Shell products and kept to a strict PM schedule, the oil corporation welcomed the Czar, Alta. owner-operator into its exclusive two-million-mile club, presenting him with a beautiful Seiko watch and taking him and his wife Angela and their young son Ryatt out for steak at Hy's in Calgary.

In late '09, when Shell wanted to shout to the world that they were rebranding their product line, they invited special guests and media to a fancy reception upstairs at Toronto's chi-chi Royal Ontario Museum.

And who did they bring along to show off their wares? Stephen and Angela Large. It was Angela's first trip to the Ontario capitol.

The truck that Large took such great care of for so many years still runs and it's still in mint shape. Powered by a 425-hp Cat 3406B and sporting a 60-in. Sleeper with bunk beds, his 1990 W900L has "every switch and gauge available in a W900," he says.

For years, it roamed all over the U.S. and western Canada, hauling livestock and feed and, toward the end of its day, heavy-duty equipment.

To hear him talk about his love of trucks is to do your heart a favor; he's as enthusiastic today as he was when he was learning about engines helping his dad on the family farm 12 miles south of Czar, a rural town near the Saskatchewan border.

He's the kind of guy who reminds you of all the things that attract young boys to trucking in the first place. These days, in addition to the two-million mile KW, Large also maintains a
1980 winch tractor that he uses for heavy-haul.

And he's a do-it-yourselfer.

"Some people think I should just hire a driver or two to run my trucks, but I've found that is not usually profitable and sometimes causes more stress than I need to deal with," he says.

"Most drivers are not very interested in driving older trucks like mine and I'm equally uninterested in drivers that don't appreciate the older classic trucks where you have to think about what you are doing.

"In fact, there are very few drivers today that would know how to run a truck like my winch truck with its hydraulic Brakesaver, six-speed main and four-speed auxiliary transmission, and a power tower to run the 30-ton mechanical winch and two-speed 48,000 rear diffs."

Like so many men in this industry, Stephen Large lovingly catered to his iron's every need, polishing the chrome, changing the lube, using the Jake and the Cat Brakesaver so carefully, he says, that he barely needed to touch the service brakes.

His ledgers get equal attention. When he and Angela purchased their 7.5-acre property a half decade ago, they put down a full 40% of the price. And when he bought his W900L new, even though it set him back $115 grand and was financed at a whopping 17% (it was the early ý90s, remember), the rig was paid off after about seven years.

The trucks, the contracts, the acreage... of all the elements that kept Large in business, only one didn't get the attention it deserved, and that's been Stephen himself.

Last fall, only weeks after his Rotella sponsored trip to Toronto, he turned 44 and had a stroke.

By stroke standards, it was mild, though he wound up in the hospital with some blurred vision and immobility. He's expected to recover but it sidelined him. And the money stopped coming in.

While the doctors say they're not sure what caused the stroke, Large admits it's not a complete surprise.

"I've been on blood-pressure meds for 12 years and also on cholesterol meds," he says. "I don't get my blood pressure checked very often, usually only at prescription renewal time, so maybe it gets too high at times."

His mother passed away due to a massive heart attack when she was only 50, so there's a little history in there. And yes, he's large. He says he knew that when he reached 350 lb, it was time to lose some weight.

"Yeah, it's a wake-up call," he admits, "and I guess it's time to look after my health better."

Baby the truck, ignore the driver. It could be a trucker's anthem. And Stephen Large, like tens of thousands of others in trucking, has no disability insurance or extended health coverage.

"I've had no luck finding any outfit that offers proper coverage to self-employed people," he says.

When trucking slowed down in the past he found work as a welder in his friend's equipment business in Spirit River. He can't work now, though, so the community is rallying around the family.

Luckily they've got most of their acreage paid off, and "my wife has a way of paying $150 worth of bills with a $1 bill," he says.

Working with Large in his efforts to get back on the road is an Orillia, Ont. entrepreneur named Tom Tiffen. He's the president of two-month-old LifeLine Logistic Services Inc.

Tiffen says his new organization is designed to help "the thousands of guys out there like that." He means the thousands of owner-operators who could benefit from being members of a purchasing group when it comes to buying all sorts of commodities ranging from fuel and truck insurance to long-term disability (LTD) coverage. He's currently negotiating with ManuLife Financial to develop a suitable LTD and medical insurance program for truckers like Large.

"We sort of have a desire to help the truckers out," says LifeLine's chief administrator Marc Holterman. And they seem to mean it: after Tiffen and Holterman learned of Large's misfortune, the pair offered him a free membership, providing they can use his truck's image on their promotional materials.

The cost to join Tiffen's membership-based company? A buck a day per year, he says.

If it works, it couldn't come at a better time. Truckers, as a group, are ageing, and health-care costs are what one might call the elephant in the room. Have a look at www.lifelinetruckers.com.

And if you find yourself in a similar predicament, here's a tip: every province administers a plan of some sort that subsidizes drugs for residents who can prove that their regular need is financially burdensome. Check out www.drugcoverage.ca for your home province's plan.

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