From Pit Lane
Walter Ristucci, Transport Driver

2007.11.06: Walter Ristucci is the owner of Road Pro Motions Ltd., a specialized carrier company that provides transportation services to AIM Autosport. He has logged 135,240 kilometres this season, transporting the No. 61 AIM Daytona Prototype from shop to track and back. Sitting in his office – the cab of a 1996 Kenworth truck – he talked about life on the road.

This is my second home, a 1996 Kenworth long hood that was custom-built for us. It has treated me well ever since I started my business. This is actually the very first truck I bought. All my other drivers gets brand-new trucks but the owner gets the oldest truck in the fleet!

We have full instrumentation here, with 21 gauges. I can judge the weight ride on the front axle to the drive axles to the trailer axles, and all the gauges will tell me exactly what the truck is doing, when and where. I can adjust ride height sitting in my truck.

I started in racing about 10 years ago, when I left a major transportation company. Some major manufacturers called and asked me to start my own business. I've been very lucky to work with these people and build a reputation with them.

I started racing with a factory team in Canadian superbike racing. They asked me to build their trailer, outfit it, rig it out, design it, build it, engineer it, load it, get it to the track and look after everybody. Numbers weren't an issue; I was very, very lucky.

I enjoy speed. I've had several fast cars, several fast boats. It's just what I really enjoy doing. It's the rush! I've had almost eight years of professional racing and 18 years of helping people to race, including some privateers who didn't have money. I would just load 'em all up and tell them to pay me when they could, in nickels and dimes or hamburgers and hot dogs and a couple of beers at the end of the night.

At the track, I ensure that everything is proper – the generator is well-maintained and fueled and the contents inside the transporter are properly strapped. I offload everything, set up the awning, look after people's property and take care of all their wants and needs while they're on track, then carry on as a family unit.

I have to always be informed of new custom rules, documentation and any weight or fuel-carrying changes. I make sure everything gets here safely and properly.

The toughest part of driving is the wee hours of the morning. You know you've only got three or four more hours to go and you don't really want to lay down for a couple of hours because you might fall in a deep sleep, so that last stint is, 'Just get it there!'

How do I stay safe? I focus. A lot of people, when they drive, look straight ahead or focus on taillights and that's how they get tired. I find if you move your head left and right and just take in a little bit of the surrounding, it changes your focus, and then you realize exactly what you're focusing on instead of just taillights.

I've been doing this as a professional driver or as a hired driver since I was 18. I've been driving 30-odd years now. I've helped people set up their businesses, acquired contracts for them, worked for a large company and owned a very successful business. It's a great life; I'm having a blast!

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