LONDON, ON -- Local hockey hero Rob Drummond has joined the sales force at Carrier Centers, a 52-year-old International truck dealership.

Drummond, 26, started at Carrier in early May and told todaystrucking.com that the sales business and hockey share quite a few characteristics.

“One of the reasons I wanted to get into sales is because of the competitive nature that comes with the business. And judging from the people I’ve met so far it’s the same kind of atmosphere.

“A lot of guys are joking around and you compete hard but you also have to work with your competitors.

“A lot of the skills are transferable.”

The London native was first drafted by the OHL’s London Knights when he was 15 but he started playing at 16 and stayed for five seasons.
With Drummond on board, the Knights won the J. Ross Robertson Cup and the 2005 Memorial Cup and he served as captain for the 06-07 season.

Drummond signed with the Colorado Avalanche in 2007, then played with the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL before moving up to the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL.

Eleven games into the 08-09 season, Drummond suffered a series of grievous concussions so he packed in his pro career, returned to London to study at Fanshawe College and work with a local hockey-skills development organization.

Like most young pros, Drummond is an articulate ambassador. He’s got a quick wit and says he’s learning fast and that his only previous connection to the trucking industry is the fact that his father drove truck for Xerox for 20 years.

He also knows that his hockey background will turbocharge any sales call.

“Sooner or later,” he laughs, “every conversation in Canada comes around to hockey.”

Adds Gail Fitzmorris, who works in Carrier Centers’ business development side, “he is a great addition to our organization and we are sure he will succeed in many ways.”