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the tribune wednesday september 20 1989 pi5 local woman makes inroads in haulage kate gilderdale correspondent while women are making in creasing inroads into male- dominated professions its not every day you come across a female trucker stouffvilles margaret wilcox has been driv ing gravel trucks for more than two years and cant imagine do ing anything else her original job choices were conventional enough she started work as a secretary for an insurance company in the ci ty and went on to become a switchboard operator at bell canada when she and her hus band had children i did tem porary office jobs after i had the first two but when everett arrived i started driving a school bus for simcoe transit driving large vehicles was not a new experience for margaret who had driven trucks on her fathers farm just south of ballantrae he used to haul animal feed and stuff so im used to driving trucks my brother kevin drove them then and still does once he came home with a great big transport when i was pregnant with my first son she recalls i took it for a run my mother was having a fit her decision to drive a school bus wasnt based entirely on her driving ability but was also a reaction to a childhood tragedy in her family my younger sister was kill ed by a school bus when she was eight shed dropped something in front of the bus and went to eick it up the driver didnt see er and she was run over it happened on a country road with no traffic thats really why i got into it i wanted to see what it was actually like in the bus and how something like that could happen while it made her acutely aware of the safety hazards she admits its difficult to instill caution in children i try to convince my kids but theyre just as bad they dont realize the danger and the responsibili ty involved when they re riding the bus eventually however the wear and tear of driving boisterous students persuaded her to try something new my brother had been after me to drive a truck but i didnt feel i was capable of handling one of those things hauling gravel she notes however when he needed someone to drive a friends truck one day she agreed to help out and found she loved it i thought i really want to try this and i told my brother i was going to drive a truck two weeks later she got a call from churchill haulage in port perry asking if she would be interested in working for them they would only let me drive locally at first they had some concerns about insurance because there are very few women drivers only about six that i know of that winter her employers r a greens of stouffville your neighbourhood meeting place wednedsay night is singers night also every thursday night d j jeff stouf fer at 900 pm 220 main st e stouffville 6407211 durham polo club qpen house polo demonstration polo game 2430 free to the public sunday sept 24th chukka forge farms hwy 7a east of port perry 2nd farm on north side west of town of nestleton rain day oct 1st for polo info call 9864026 d david a brown dds mcld is pleased to announce that he has joined the orthodontic specialty practice of dr allan davis dr barry shapero at 42 prospect st 22 richmondst ste 205 newmarket richmond hill 8981201 8847550 34 main st n markham 2943080 house burned to the ground and he asked if she would take his new tandem truck so i went out and got my licence which allows me to drive tractor- trailers although women are scarce in the haulage business it was a woman linde graham who took me out and trained me on her truck margaret notes there was only one problem she recalls i just couldnt back the thing up i spent a whole day at the sales barn go ing backwards and forwards and when i finally went to do the test the examiner didnt ask me to back it up straight but into a driveway and id never done that to her relief she not only handled the manoeuvre successfully she also passed the test while a certain amount of legpulling from fellow workers is inevitable if you mind that you shouldnt be doing it she finds it an extremely friend ly and supportive environment to work in if youre doing anything wrong the guys will tell you it you break down or if something happens to you theyll always stop to help its a very friendly business she still gets some surprised looks when she arrives at the job site and gets out of her truck but thats something shes used to now i feel totally equal to the men i feel ive pro ven myself out there on one occasion she lost one of the shoes she was wearing while she was dumping gravel one man came up with a backhoe and dug for 45 minutes looking for it i told him not to worry but he dug until he found it every day on the job is dif ferent she declares i really see truck page 16 tome doors sashes mouldings hardware etc time to finish your home receive your choice of qualitc door hardware free with all trim packages purchased during october and november 1989 for that special project traditional milk paint and oil paint now available stain and accessories custom windows doors trim moulding flooring hardware and security products quality service value store hours mon thurs friday saturday 730 500 730 700 830 1230 post beam comer of hwy 48 stouffville rd 6406616 6421633