Tonka Services – Greg Whittaker

Our January Meet the Members, Tonka Services, is owned and operated by Greg Whittaker and his wife Christy. Greg shares his story:

I was born and raised in Valleyview, Alberta. My grandfather (on my mother’s side) was born in Vancouver and lived the rest of his days as a rancher in Williams Lake. He followed his dream of homesteading his dream in NW Alberta.  in his late twenties in the Sunset House area, where he had his sons and daughters, my mom being the oldest. All my family live in and around the Okanagan.

Outside of our work, we like to participate in all the usual sports, biking, moto, snowboarding, snowmobiling and getting out on the lakes whenever possible.

I’ve been in the trucking business my entire life. Mainly moving drilling and service rigs using large winch trucks anad cranes. I was also in the rental business putting out surface equipment for rigs in NW Alberta and NE B.C. I was commuting back and forth. When Covid hit, it changed my program.
 

Our biggest challenge is growing our business where industrial property is tough to source. Additionally, it’s a lack of services locally to support a trucking business. Pemberton is the end of the line, it takes a lot of coordination to keep things moving efficiently. We also recognize the well-known struggle that potential employees face in finding a place to live that is both available and affordable.

The greatest reward of operating our business is being established and involved in the community in this region. I’ve seen the challenges people face here and it’s nice to be able to work with people to accomplish our mutual goals and improve everyone’s quality of life.