July, August and beyond

Where do we go from here, our dream of making a new life in Canada has been shattered and with no other plans for our future i didn't know what to do ,so i just got on with my life, our life.

I of course checked the Internet searching for another position in Canada, applying on line to some and just sending e mails to others, flat decks, hopper bottoms and even cattle liners these would be right up my street as i am from a farming family, but the thing i hate most is when people don't reply to you , i realise that people are busy and maybe getting numerous job applications but a quick reply saying [sorry we cant help at this time ] is all that's needed you just know where you stand then.

I was even given the numbers for a couple of company's that were looking for drivers but even these could not help as they had no LMOs or were not in the program anyway, if i had landed status then no problem

Then one day i noticed that H&R Transport of Lethbridge were coming over in September to the UK looking for drivers again, and were having interviews up in the north east should i mail them and have another go, na i had been there before and it didn't end well so i told a mate of mine [Mark Bowdin] that they were coming and suggested to him to have a go, what had he got to lose, at least he didn't have to go to Canada for his interview ,just a couple of hours up the A1, he did and he got one.

Meanwhile as they say i had been doing just as i was told , too keep in touch with the company i had had the interview with in Saskatoon, normally on a Friday afternoon just as he was about to go home, so as not to interfere with his work to much and i must say that at no time did i feel he did not want to talk to me

September was coming and my thoughts were back to H & R and getting an interview with them, so i decided to send a E mail right to the heart of the company, David Foder and ask him to see me up in Newcastle , this i thought would cut out the agent and give me a better chance, so i sat down and compiled a good letter i thought, not begging either well if you don't ask ya don't get.

And i didn't get , not a thing not even a sorry we cant help at this time thing either, i wont try again or put people i know and respect in that sort of position again !

November

For the first time since June the job situation was brought up in the conversation and i didn't bring it up either, he said that in there conference call the requirements for 2010 had been discussed and that they were aware that they would need to hire drivers and these drivers would have to come from abroad, as the pool of domestic drivers were heading back to there original haunts

January 2010

I had spoken to the company since November just to wish him a happy Christmas etc and to find out any more on the job front, but it was the end of the month that was the start of things to come.

Yes they were starting the process of taking on foreign workers again and yes they are going to hire me and yes i was at the top or very near the top of the list BUT there LMOs had run out and that meant they would have to apply for them and that would take a few weeks and there was no guarantee that they would get them.

April 2010

10 long weeks later

At last they had got the LMOs that they required, but far fewer than they had in previous years, but a least they had them. so what was next for us, well i was now in contact with the Driver Relations and admin assistant, They asked for a couple of documents that were on file and i duly sent them over by email, next came the police checks and they asked us to have medicals one for me as a driver and one for Louise just to make sure we arnt going to drop dead anytime.

Mine was the D4 driving licence medical that all drivers have to take when they apply for a licence or get to their 45th birthday and as this was creeping up on me i had to do it anyway, i also had their company medical that they sent over for pre employment, this was done at the same time as the D4.

Louise just did the pe employment medical that would be sufficient for now as we knew that once over there we would have to do a big one for the sinp. As i have said before this company likes to have all documentation sorted before you go over, or even get a job offer and Louise and i have said that when it all starts to happen we will be here one day and gone the next

so its May the 9th and we are still waiting for the police checks to come back,[ just over 15 working days] so we can scan them and send them off