Today's Trucking Staff

Bison’s Rob Penner named TCA chairman preview image Bison's Rob Penner named TCA chairman article image

Bison’s Rob Penner named TCA chairman

NASHVILLE, TN - Rob Penner, president and Chief Executive Officer of Bison Transport, has been named chaiman of the Truckload Carrier Association (TCA) for the 2017-2018 term. Penner, the second Canadian to ever hold a chairman position with the TCA, took the stage at the association's annual convention in Nashville, Tennessee, and began by cracking a joke that he'd be the first chairman in a long time without an accent. "It is truly a privilege to serve you all as the chairman of the TCA," said Penner. "Eight or nine years ago I got a call from TCA past chairman Kevin Burch, to see if I had any interest in becoming an officer here. This association and the opportunity to get involved and to know many of you has provided tremendous value to me personally, as well as to our company, Bison Transport."

Bison, Big Freight take home grand prizes for fleet safety

NASHVILLE, TN - Manitoba-based Bison Transport and Big Freight were awarded the Truckload Carriers Association's National Fleet Safety grand prizes for small and large carriers during Tuesday's Truckload Carriers Association's 41st annual awards. The awards are given to companies who display an unparalleled commitment to safety. Divisional winners were divided into six categories defined by miles driven. Those companies were then invited to compete for one of two grand prizes, one for carriers with annual mileage below 25 million miles and the other for companies who accumulate over 25 million miles. Companies competing for the award have the lowest accident frequency ratios per million miles annually.

Federal budget vows more funding for transportation

OTTAWA, ON - The federal 2017 budget includes new transportation initiatives including a National Trade Corridors Fund that is meant to address capacity constraints and freight bottlenecks at major ports of entry, in addition to improving connections between rail and highway infrastructure. The National Trade Corridors Fund is set to receive $2 billion over 11 years from the federal government to support its activities. In addition, the budget mentions an additional $5 billion will be supplied through the Canada Infrastructure Bank to focus on trade and transportation priorities. Also revealed in the budget was an allocation of $50 million over 11 years to launch a trade and Transportation Information System to support a new Canadian Centre on Transportation Data. According to the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), there isn't a lot of national data regarding the movement of goods, and an investment in something like a Trade and Transportation Information System should improve the current situation.