Features

ARROW BUYS BOSE SEATS AS PART OF WELLNESS INITIATIVE

When B.C.-based Arrow Transportation decided to offer a formal health and wellness program to its staff, the first thought was to create a group weight loss challenge along the lines of the Biggest Loser TV show. But the company decided to...

PREPARING FOR ECONOMIC VOLATILITY

Noel Perry, managing director and senior consultant with FTR, said during the company’s State of Freight Webinar that the current economic recovery has been unusually steady, if slow. This has been good news for carriers, since volatility...

TRAILER WIZARDS LOOKS TO HAUL AWAY HUNGER

Trailer Wizards is in the midst of a holiday food drive, which will continue to Nov. 29 at participating branches across Canada. Each branch is collecting food for local food banks and would love to see customers stop by with a donation of...

HOLA FROM MEXICO

It has been a bit of a slow couple weeks since the last edition of Hooked Up, but that’s all about to change. I’m writing this edition from Mexico, where I’ll be visiting some truck fleets and reporting on various news from...

BIODIESEL, ONTARIO? REALLY?

Just last week came news that the province of Ontario is considering a biodiesel mandate, that will see diesel contain a 2% biofuel blend by April 2014, ramping up to 4% in 2015. My first thought on this is, why? Why biodiesel and why at all?...

BRINGING GAS TO THE ISLAND

Speaking of cleaner fuels, there has been so much talk about natural gas of late, and it’s mostly the big fleets that get all the attention. However, out west, little Cold Star Freight, which runs about 35 trucks, is getting involved in a...

LONESTAR REUNITED WITH 15L POWER

The distinctive International LoneStar has been a somewhat popular truck in Canada - at least it was till Navistar stopped offering the ISX15 engine under the hood. Well, that combination is back, which should provide some renewed interest in...

TRAILER TALK

I recently had the opportunity to tour Utility Trailer’s Clearfield, Utah plant, where it constructs its refrigerated trailers. The tour itself was interesting, as Utility employs several unique manufacturing processes that address...

As professional drivers, our lives can change in an instant

Last month in this column I posed the question: Is this trucking lifestyle really for me? I know that it is and have come to understand that the daily grind, the amount of time on the job, and the repetition can drag a driver down from time to...

Reader responses show some of us need thicker skin

After writing this column for one-and-a-half years, I’ve noticed a trend developing in the responses that I receive.

Canadian company offers scale bypass system that uses existing infrastructure

EDMONTON, Alta. -- A Canadian tech company is making waves in the US, where its weigh station bypass system has the potential to save the trucking industry and enforcement agencies untold millions.

Autumn brings seemingly annual diesel crunch to west

EDMONTON, Alta. -- Diesel fuel was in shorter supply than normal across the west as September rolled over into October. And it looks as if the crunch may be an annual occurrence for diesel supplier Suncor and its Petro-Canada wing.

Food drive wheels into Western Canada

CALGARY, Alta. -- In the two months before the holiday season, 18 Wheels of Christmas is rallying to collect donations in support of local food banks.

Keeping your liver fit and trim

We often link liver disease to excessive drinking. However, the most common chronic liver disease in North America, Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), is experienced by people who drink little or no alcohol. With this condition, because...

Longer term vision for truck weights and dimensions standards needed

A way back in February 1988, in a galaxy far, far away the Canadian Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation & Highway Safety of the day, jointly endorsed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve uniformity in regulations...