truck driver

long haul driver

heavy equipment mechanic

dispatcher

trailer mechanic

Caron Transportation Systems

This company has been very good to me over my long tenure here. Always get time off when needed, family is very important to me and they recognize that, and accommodate as needed. 
Trucking can be a very tough job at times with long hours, difficult working conditions, from severe weather, blizzards, driving snow, dust storms, extreme heat, big city traffic. All part of trucking well beyond the companies control, I'd like to see detention pay for closed roads due to mother nature, or motor vehicle accident's, the industry is ever changing, evolving, and moving forward so I feel it's only a matter of time until we are compensated for this kind of things. They move a little slow with these type of things. They have been innovative and forward thinking with some things such as there sleep apnea program where they tested all current employees, and if found to suffer from apnea provided a machine at no charge to them and with that installed power inverters in all trucks so you could power your machine if you had one provided to you. As well as all future employees were tested prior to commencement of work and provided a machine also free of charge only stipulation was if you left before six months you were required to pay for it. They've adapted to some of the new technologies, adopting automated transmissions (I'm no fan of by any means but that's a personal preference) I applaude them for adopting it, I'm not sure they'll go forward with them, they haven't worked well with our very specialized field of liquid tankers. They've been testing disc brakes, adopted led headlights, forward facing recording cameras, and an increasing amount of lift axels on new equipment purchases. I find them at times very slow to get somethings changed, and at times they seem to be stuck in the past. No company is perfect but what I'm expecting and or looking for fit me very well, and I very much enjoy the work and specialized field I'm in.  Overall a very great company to work for and with, and ive been treated very well and fairly, very happy here after all these years.

First day on the job was to haul a train from GP to Edmonton and go to orientation. Missed it because trailer had no lights wait for shop to show up a 6am to fix it. Next trip super b from GP to Edmonton. Truck should never have left GP. Kept stalling out and I'm thinking if it powers out going down some of these hills in the middle of the winter I'm screwed.  Management knew about this but told to carry on.  Based out of fox creek expected to live and work out of the truck for a week. My truck died middle of the night 47 below. Expected to hang tight till shop mechanics in gp showed 6am up to 'fix' it over the phone. Got frost bite face, ears and fingers waiting. Truck caught on fire toasted during mechanics regen. Next truck kept shutting down still expected to deliver 42 ton of sand out in bush by FC.  1am to 1pm schedule.  Was to go on day shift but spent the day in GP shop finding a workable truck after moving gear between 3 different trucks from 7am to noon by three pm dispatch decided well you might as well do nightshift come back in a couple hours drive from GP tp FC and you can work all night from 1am to 1pm hitch. Automatics trucks were not ideal in the winter.  Very aggravating.  Tired equipment. Elogs obsessed. No ot until 60 hours so sent home just after 60 to make the 70hrs threshold. No shower facilities in Dawson Creek. Micromanagement and dispatched from Sherwood Park who have no idea where or what Fox Creek is. Can end up phoning half a dozen office workers for instructions.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working here has been an exercise in watching talent get wasted and potential get crushed under the weight of outdated thinking. This organization doesn’t deserve the people it has—it only knows how to diminish them.
Leadership has chosen comfort over progress, fear over innovation, and control over trust. You’ve created a place where the best people leave and the mediocre stay, and you seem perfectly fine with that.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
You see a problem, you think through a solution, you have the competence and experience to back it up—and then leadership shuts it down. Not because the idea is bad, but because it didn’t come from them, or it challenges how they’ve always done things, or it requires them to admit there’s a better way.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
There’s no mentorship culture, no real career development conversations, no sense of people investing in each other’s growth. Leaders view employees as replaceable resources, not people worth developing. So you don’t build relationships that matter—you just clock in, do what you’re told, and clock out. The people around you are strangers, not allies.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You spend a lot of mental energy managing how you present yourself—filtering your thoughts, softening your opinions, making yourself smaller. By afternoon you’re exhausted not from the work itself, but from the psychological weight of the place.

I thought Caron was a great company when I first started with them, training was through and was checked in on regularly by mangers for  the first couple weeks. 

Couple weeks later, I was kinda left to my own devices, which was totally fine! I felt I had a pretty good handle on the job and was moving along a what I thought was a fairly effective speed having only been doing the job a few weeks and would ask for help with something If i needed. Then things kinda took a turn, and got a little overwhelming but I again went and asked for help and didn't think anything of it because I had only been doing the job for a month because I had been told that I was doing a good job for being so new and that there was a number times that people before me had gone through the same thing and to not worry about it. 

Then got a termination letter with next to no explanation other than "not the right fit". That very well could have been it and I would have accepted that but it felt like more that I wasn't being told and when I asked I got "not the right fit" again.

Some days,  I really miss working for this company.  Had some very impressive pay cheques,  which I am yet to match in my current job,  four years later.  

Workload was heavy,  but not overwhelming.  Always had enough energy left at the end of the week to wash the truck.  

The job required a lot of driving skill,  as the tankers consisted of one long compartment barrel (no smaller compartments with bulkheads,  like fuel tankers).  Consequently,  the sloshing could give you back and neck pain pretty quick if you didn't learn to drive very smoothly.  

The chemicals they transport  (sodium hydroxide, sulfuric acid,  hydrochloric acid) are VERY bad for the health.  My teeth started to crack and erode during my tenure with Caron's.  Also developed a bit of a productive cough at times,  even though I've never touched a cigarette.  

I suppose that's the trade-off.  It was one I was no longer willing to make,  for the sake of my health.

The HR department makes you all these promises of a good wage, a good life work balance, and to many other promises to get you onboard. Once you are onboard all those promises get tossed to the curb or the trash can. 

The trainers they have training you when you get hired are the worst people to train people. According to senior drivers at the terminal the head trainer is the person who has had the most spills. He has had 3 spills since I have been with the company. 

There is no open door policy like they claim. All issues stop at the terminal manager and you get told and I will quote here, "If you don't like how things are run here then you are free to leave".  That is a direct quote, from the assistant manager and the terminal manager, when I complained that my truck kept breaking down and not getting fixed properly.


STAY AWAY FROM CARON UNLESS YOU LIKE DISAPPOINTMENT

I am just staying till I can find another job.

Welcome to the company that promises everything but once you are here they deliver nothing. You will be promised a dedicated unit but you’ll end up slip seating while others drive your unit. Your paycheque will always be short and you won’t get paid for extra hours outside of your run, which is on a load rate not hourly. You will get every second weekend off but when you finish your load late Friday night and have to start shift at 4am on Monday it doesn’t leave much of a free weekend. There is a reason why they are constantly hiring and have the lowest driver moral I’ve ever seen. The revolving door of Caron seems to be spinning quicker this year as so many long time drivers are leaving and the new drivers only stay a short time it’s perplexing why they haven’t changed their ways or management, but don’t fall victim to them and look elsewhere for employment. 

Didn't matter what terminal you worked for as they all treated the drivers like pieces of meat behind the wheel. Weak dispatch and micro managed system in place. It was stated that you have scheduled days off but be prepared for non. Be prepared to work excessively long unpaid hours with no balance for personal life and work. The hardest part of the job was dispatch changed their mind lots not allowing you to prepare for the trip. I wouldn't work for they again.

A typical week varied - depeding on the focus we could be facilitating new hire training, conducting job fairs, interviewing at any one of the 6 facilities, creating and posting job descriptions, conducting investigations etc. It was very diverse and kept me on my toes. I learned time management and multitasking. 
My management was very good to me at all times. 
the workplace culture was difficult to navigate as not all the managers were on the same page and it created some conflict between departments. - I wold have to say that was the hardest part of the job. The most enjoyable part would have to be the team I was a part of.

Management and supervisor dont care at all about drivers or theirs chalenges.
Each trip is already has pre-set hours, that is mostly cannot be achieved even if you dont take any breaks and drive over speed limits. 
Salary is low for the job drivers do.
Make sure to check paycheques as often there are missing hours.
Very bad life style.
Overtime paid only after 60 total hours.
No break paid.
Bonus will loose if work less then 1 year.
many times shifts are not availible as company is not always busy and also loosing contracts because of their very high delivery price.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Truck driver 20 salaries reported	$123,500 per year
Long haul driver 6 salaries reported	$128,750 per year
Heavy equipment mechanic 2 salaries reported	$48.00 per hour
Dispatcher 2 salaries reported	$30.00 per hour
Trailer mechanic 2 salaries reported	$38.75 per hour

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