2010-BMT

Driven to trucking: A love of driving brought
Joanne O’Shaughnessy to a successful career
By Cliff Abbott
Anyone who has spent time on a working farm knows
that opportunities for driving all kinds of equipment
abound. That’s where Joanne O’Shaughnessy developed
her love of driving, which she applies to just about anything that
goes fast when she isn’t behind the wheel of her 1999 Freightliner
Classic XL.
“You won’t find me sitting around,” she told The Trucker. “I’ve
always loved the adrenaline of driving anything that goes fast.”
O’Shaughnessy has deep roots in the community of Indian
Head, Saskatchewan, Canada, about 45 miles east of the provincial
capital at Regina.
Her trucking career began when she started driving grain
trucks for the farm; then she moved on to driving straight trucks
in the Saskatchewan oilfields, where her employer convinced her
she could earn more money with a Class A license. O’Shaughnessy
Courtesy of Joanne O’Shaughnessy
Joanne O’Shaughnessy said she enjoys attending truck shows when she
can. Her truck has also been featured on a CAT Scale Collector Card.
spent three days in the classroom, practiced when she could and
passed the tests to obtain her Class A. After that, she hauled pipe,
equipment and anything needed to drilling sites.
Once O’Shaughnessy turned 21, she was able to drive commercially
in the U.S. She drove company trucks until she felt she
was ready; then started up her own carrier, which she ran for 12
years. When she sold the business, she kept possession of the
1999 Freightliner she still drives.
She chose Ft. Lauderdale, Florida-based Landstar Ranger to
lease to, after installing a new 6NZ Caterpillar engine in her truck
and converting the original 18-speed transmission to a 13-speed.
She pulls a step deck trailer, hauling cross-border freight.
“It’s the best engine I’ve ever had,” she said. “I’ve always wondered
about them” (Landstar). I’ve got friends that have been
there for 26 years.”
O’Shaughnessy enjoys choosing her own loads and
was recently awarded a jacket for her first year of safe
driving with Landstar.
“I’m my own dispatcher,” she said. “I choose how
hard I want to run, when I want to run, and where I
want to run.”
She is accompanied on her runs by Chewie, a chihuahua
that provides security for the truck.
“He watches everyone out the window and barks at
them,” O’Shaughnessy said. Chewie is the latest of a
line of trucking dogs that have travelled with her. “I’ve
never been without one,” she said.
In her spare time, O’Shaughnessy drives everything
she can, from four-wheelers to snowmobiles. She and
her fiancé, Richard, travel to Jamaica, Mexico and
other places on vacations, often riding horses or driving
jet boats for entertainment. She still loves horseback
riding, although she gave up showing horses long
ago, as it was difficult to make the show circuit with a
trucking career.
O’Shaughnessy said she also enjoys attending truck
shows when she can, including the Rolling Thunder
Heavy Truck Show in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
When she isn’t working, O’Shaughnessy still enjoys
riding horses at a friend’s home near hers. She no longer
keeps them, but she still loves animals of all kinds.
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