Tonight! Rick Mercer learns to drive a rig. On a greased track.

SUDBURY, ON – Want to watch CBC commentator and funny guy Rick Mercer jackknife a tractor trailer?

The Newfoundland-born Mercer gets schooled in the art of truck driving tonight when he climbs into a truck at the Belleville, Ont., branch of Transport Training Centres of Canada (TTCC).

The episode came to life because the head of Transport Training Centres, John Beaudry, a self-described “huge Mercer fan” forwarded some video clips of the skid school to the CBC performer.

“He’s always doing these crazy things and we have some videos of our test track. I thought he’d like to try skid school.”

Mercer bit, and the crew showed up at the Southern Ontario track for a day in September.

“Did we ever have a good day up there,” Beaudry said. “He [Mercer] is a super nice guy. He’s very reserved and polite. And he’s fearless.”

The first part of the day, Mercer learned how to shift and steer.

In the afternoon, it was on to the track, first bobtailing, then with a trailer. On a greased skid pad.

 “It was a controlled jackknife,” Beaudry explains. “We have cables attached that don’t let the trailer go more than 45 degrees.

“If we didn’t have the cables, we’d need a lot more trailers,” he laughed.

As it is, the Sudbury, Ont., – based Transport Training Centres, which Beaudry launched in 1996, is the largest truck-driving school in the country. 

With 33 locations across the country, Beaudry’s company has about 200 employees, 400 pieces of equipment, and has graduated about 9,000 students so far.

Mercer takes to the track tonight at 8:00; 8:30 in Newfoundland.