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From a young age, most kids have a few buckets full of toy cars and trucks. Zooming them around on floors, on tables, on chairs, on any surface our little arms could reach. Their little rubber wheels making tiny drag marks on glass, our mothers shaking their heads with windex in hand. Despite the known love of trucks from children, we see as they grow up very few take their passion for locomotives into their career paths. Only 3.4% of truck drivers are under the age of 25. An anomaly across most industries where those under 25 make up more than 12% of the workforce. Why do we see such a variance amongst young people? What is happening between childhood and adulthood that is stopping young people from becoming truck drivers? Although it is a massively essential and viable career path, most people don’t understand or appreciate everything the trucking industry does for the country and them, as an individual. Even breaking down the production of toy trucks shows you just how much we need trucks for just the smallest of things.

Your tiny truck starts out as crude oil or sometimes natural gas, locked deep within the ground. Before the oil or gas is even extracted, transport trucks are needed to transport equipment and materials to the job site. Massive trucks lugging cranes and forklifts, anything required for the extraction. Once the oil is brought to the surface, trucks are then used again to bring the crude oil to a refinery to be processed. Using heat and energy, the form of the crude oil is changed to become hardened and workable, like the plastic we know. These small pieces of plastic are then put back into a truck and brought to the factory, most likely in China, to be molded and worked into whatever shape they need it to be. Using car references, molds and paint, the factory is able to craft the indistinguishable plastic bits into a lifelike vehicle with exact details to the original car.

Once the trucks have been looked over, they are packaged and settled right back into the cab of another transport truck. This transport truck brings the goods from the factory to the shipping docs. The little trucks are then moved onto different ocean containers to be distributed around the world. Your little truck now finds itself on the Atlantic Ocean while the real trucks are coordinating the pick up and planning the best routes to make sure the toys make it to the stores as efficiently and safely as possible. As the ocean container docks, the goods are transported out and into different trucks with different routes. As the truck driver makes the last stretch to deliver the toy truck, they may be on one of the hardest stretches of the whole process. Department and toy stores are usually set in areas that are not made to accommodate the sheer size of transport trucks. With narrower lanes, more turns and more interactions with other drivers, truck drivers have to expertly maneuver the streets to get the toys to arrive safely. After a gruelling trip through busy streets, the trucks are finally able to drop off their load with the department store where they find themselves on shelves for kids to enjoy. To ensure all children are able to play, Musket Transport partners with Toys for Tots in Mississauga to bring toys to underprivileged children in the area. By storing and transporting the toys from their Container Terminal, Musket Transport is able to provide these kids with a special Christmas they might now have been able to otherwise.

As you can see, trucks are an integral part to the creation of any good. From our food to infrastructure construction to even the simplest of toys, trucks are an essential part of our economy and way of life. The unfortunate reputation of the trucking industry seems to turn parents away from encouraging their children into the transportation industry despite the fact it is a consistent and well paid career with no need for education. The industry is lacking drivers to move their goods so fleet owners are constantly looking for new drivers to train and have on the roads. If you would like to learn more on becoming a driver, for yourself or your child, you can read below the requirements to get started:  https://chet.ca/requirements-to-operate-a-truck/

Musket Transport works hard to teach kids about the transportation industry in a way that encourages them to look at how important trucking is to their world. Originally created as a way for Musket employees to engage with their kids, Musket Transport’s Sophia Sniegowski Begidzhanov has worked on creating a free eBook on the transportation industry, summarized below: ‘Since the pandemic truck drivers have been cast as essential workers or dubbed as freight heroes. As a free download and printable book, we hope to educate a wider group of people on the significance of our industry. It underpins our society. Support your child’s curiosity of everyday items and speak to the journey they all share, delivery by truck.’

Download Page: https://www.musket.ca/just-in-time-trucks-for-kidsDirect Download English: https://www.musket.ca/Content/download/just-in-time_en.pdf

Direct Download English Colouring Book: https://www.musket.ca/Content/download/just-in-time-colouring-book_en.pdf Direct Download

French: https://www.musket.ca/Content/download/just-in-time_fr.pdf

Direct Download French Colouring Book: https://www.musket.ca/Content/download/just-in-time-colouring-book_fr.pdf

A fun way to prepare this eBook for your children includes a printer, whole punch and duotang!

If you don’t have a printer at home, there are low priced options at Walmart, Staples, and other locations.