David Benjachuk from Wowtrucks.com nominated Pat Guyot as our July/August Rig of the Month driver. Pat is a great example of a successful farm boy-turned-trucker. Trained by his truck-driving dad and uncle, he began his education in trucking at an early age. He learned everything from the ground up, and although he may not have known it at the time, his future was sealed the first time he got in a truck. This is his story.

 I was born in Notre Dame, Manitoba, on July 12, 1988. I’m a third-generation trucker, and I grew up on our family acreage just outside of Haywood, MB. I was obsessed with trucks right from a young age, going with my dad every chance I got. On weekends, I would spend my time helping my dad grease, change tires, and do anything that involved the truck. He would always get me to move the truck out of the shop to wash it, and now that I look back, I’m sure it was his way of getting me to help wash. 

When I was 12 or 13, he told me to get into his truck on a Saturday morning, and we drove up our driveway, which was about half a mile long. When we got to the end, he said, "Ok, you're up. You have to learn to back this up sometime, so I’ll see you back in the yard. He jumped out of the truck and walked back to the house. It took me a while, but I made it back. I learned to back up super bs before a straight trailer. 
One of the first trucks I remember driving was an old 2-stick Mack on my uncle Don’s farm. My cousin and I would take turns driving it in the field. It was loud, smoked black, and we loved every minute of it.  

School wasn’t really my thing growing up. I eventually convinced my parents I was wasting my time there, so I quit in Grade 11. I got a job right away at the local gravel pit, loading trucks with sand and gravel—the same place my dad had worked when he was younger. I stayed there until July, then decided it was time to get my licence. The written test took me a few tries because I figured I already knew everything and didn’t need to read the books. I found out pretty quickly that I was wrong. The company paired me with one of the senior drivers so I could gain experience, and on weekends I went to my uncle Don’s, where he helped me learn how to do my pre-trip inspection. When the day finally came for my road test, I was lucky enough to pass on the first try. I’m a pretty short guy, and the following Monday, when I showed up for my first day on my own, I opened the door to find a booster seat mounted in my truck. Ever since then, everyone has called me Booster.

I hauled gravel that whole summer, then, in the fall, when work slowed down, I decided to look for something else. I gave George Klassen a call, and he was a little hesitant at the start, but said he would give me a shot. I was soon hauling hanging hogs from the slaughter plants in Neepawa to the finishing plant in Winnipeg. Best of all, they gave me a pretty much brand-new Kenworth W900 to drive.  

After doing that for about 8 months, I once again decided to try something different and went to work for New Hope Transport, where I pulled flat decks. I am beyond thankful for them because they were great for teaching guys the proper way. I spent a week in the tarp shed learning how to tarp loads of different types and then they paired me up with a city driver to learn the strapping side of it. My first solo runs were short trips to Saskatoon and back. After that, I pretty much ran Calgary and back with Super-B flat decks. 

Always looking to broaden my experience with something new, I decided to work for Patenaude Trucking out of Holland, MB, pulling Super B grain trailers to Alberta and back. Don and Winnifred were amazing people to work for. They gave me a 2006 Peterbilt 379 to drive. It had lots of chrome and lights, and I thought I was king of the world in that truck. From there, I bounced around a few different companies and back to some of the old ones always trying to find the right one. 

I was always interested in equipment hauling, and the chance finally came when I got a job driving for Dale Leoppky, who was on with Q-line. By then I was old enough to travel south of the border and mainly ran Iowa back to Saskatchewan and Alberta. After a while, I told my dad I wanted to buy my own truck, and he said, “Well, you’re already doing the work, so there is no reason not to do it in your own truck.” So, I started hunting for a truck and was lucky when Q-line opened a yard in Winkler, and the guy who took the job to run it had a 2005 Peterbilt 379 for sale. We went to look at it, and it was perfect, already all set up to pull a flat deck. So, my parents helped me buy my first truck, and off I went. 

My goal was to pull an RGN trailer, and not long after I bought my truck, I had the opportunity. I hauled lots of different things, mostly farm equipment: combines, sprayers. Then I had the opportunity to pull a 7-axle, and I enjoyed it. 

I was headed home from SK one night when my dad called, saying he was broken down in Yorkton, SK, and needed me to haul his truck home. So, I told him I'd be there later that night, and we got it loaded up and were headed home. I told him when we left there’s only one rule: you can’t smoke in my truck, so every half hour, he made me pull over so he could get out to have his cigarette. Then he decided he was going to drive, so I crawled into the bunk to sleep, and well, let’s just say there weren’t any more smoke breaks all the way home. He figured if he had the window open, that was good enough.  
I met my wife, Erin, while working at Q-line. A couple of friends were going out for drinks after the Rider game in Regina and asked me to join them. We were all sitting at a table, and our drinks came, and Erin, whom I'd never met before, went to push the drink across the table, and over it went right into my lap, and we’ve been together ever since. I have to admit, though, it gets a little heated in our house when the Bombers and the Riders play. 

That following year we got the devastating news that my dad was diagnosed with cancer. So, in March of 2013 I decided it was time to buy a brand-new truck. Peterbilt Winnipeg had a beautiful black 389 sitting in their showroom. Throughout my dad’s career, he never got to drive a new truck home from the dealer, so here was his opportunity. At that point, he was already too sick to drive, but at least he got to ride shotgun with me. In November of 2013, we lost him to his battle with cancer. I was lost, not sure what I was going to do. He was my role model. I asked him everything, but I was lucky enough to have my uncle Don (dad’s brother) step up and help me with anything and everything I needed. Still can’t thank him enough for all the help. After a year of driving it, I sold the 389 because I was sick of the emissions control and I bought a 2006 Pete 379 with a CAT engine.  

After a while, I wanted to try something different and moved over to Wild Wood Transport. They were good to work for, but I didn’t stay there long and decided to try hauling grain as an owner-op. I went over to a company out of Winkler hauling grain, and man, what a mistake that was. Stayed there for a few months and ended up having to sell my truck due to some issues with their pay package, but that happens sometimes. 

I found a 2007 Peterbilt 386 with a C13 CAT in Toronto and headed home with it. After a few years, I had the opportunity to buy a stake in my brother-in-law’s fertilizer-spreading business. We got 2 Terragator spreaders and 2 more trucks, and I remember thinking, what have I got myself into having to have employees relying on me now, but it went very well. I would truck all winter and summer, then park the truck and run the fertilizing business in the spring and fall with my wife’s help, of course. 

In July of 2019, we were blessed with our first daughter, Josie. That changed a few things, and I didn’t want to be gone as much, so I took a job working for a good friend of mine at Pembina Hills Transfer, still pulling decks. He and his wife were amazing people, always willing to help when needed, and after a few years, I decided to focus on trucking and sold the fertilizer-spreading business. After about a year, I was really missing hauling the farm equipment and wanted to have my own trailer, so I decided to head back to RDK. I was thankful they took me back, and it felt like I never left. In Feb of 2023, we were blessed with our second daughter, Lila; now I was really outnumbered at home.  After a few years of being back at RDK, I had the opportunity to buy a 2000 Peterbilt 379 again, so I sold the 386, and away we went; finally had my dream truck again. Then the opportunity came up to start pulling a RGN again, and with the big cat under the hood of the new truck, we took it. A few months later I ended up buying that trailer from them, and life was great; I had my amazing wife and daughters at home and my dream job. 

Then we got the email that RDK was bought out, and Jan 1, 2023, we were all switching over to Payne Transport (Mullen Corp). I didn’t know what to think, as I worked with these people most of the last 8 years, and they were like family, but I figured I must try it. So, Jan came, and not much changed at the start, but halfway through that first year, the changes began, and the following Feb I left. I like the small mom-and-pop outfits and have never been a fan of the big corporate outfits, so we got a job at Lee River Transport out of Winnipeg. They mainly run decks and RGN across Canada and the USA, and are amazing people to work for. 

In June of 2025, I decided to buy a 2013 Peterbilt 386 with a CAT to run in the winter. I went to Calgary to pick it up, brought it home, and jumped right into it. I wanted to do some stuff to my other truck as it’s always been my dream to have a long, stretched-out, fancy 379, so off to the frame shop it went, and I stretched it to a 275 wheelbase. I did a few other things and finally got to drive it for a few months in the fall. 

In Feb, I decided to try something completely out of my comfort zone and went up to do the winter roads in northern Manitoba and Ontario, and what an experience that was. It’s a whole different world up there. The one day we drove for 23 hours up to Tadoussac, MB, and only drove 174 km. I never left 2nd gear all day cause the road was so rough and the snow was deep.  

This spring I took some time away from Lee River to help my sister and her husband out, hauling fertilizer to their floaters and spreading it. Then once I finished that, I had the opportunity to rent a gravel trailer and haul gravel for our local municipality, and I'm really enjoying it. It took a bit to get used to sleeping at home every night and only working till 6-ish every day, but my kids sure are liking having their dad home every night. 

I’m not sure what the future holds for me, but my goal has always been to get my own authority one day and work a little closer to home, hauling equipment, gravel, and anything else anyone needs. I just haven’t had the courage to do it all yet. Lee River treats me too good to take that along onto my own authority, so once gravel dries up, I'll jump back into my 2000 Peterbilt and hit the road again.  I want to thank my wife, kids, and whole family for letting me follow my dream out here over the last 20 years; there's nothing I could want more.