Features

NATURAL GAS NO SLAM DUNK

Natural gas remains one of the most talked about subjects in the trucking industry of late, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. There is now a fairly expansive line-up of viable natural gas vehicles available and the fuel...

BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE

Rob Marshall did Home Hardware and Team Ontario proud, by winning the Grand Champion award at the National Professional Truck Driving Championships held in Abbotsford last month. Here’s the incredible thing: just weeks beforehand, he was...

DRIVING THE TWIN Y

The construction truck market continues to be mired in a slump, but Mack Trucks hasn’t been sitting on the sidelines waiting for it to come back. They’ve been doing some interesting things in R&D, chief among them the...

ALFY WRITES A BOOK

Alfy Meyer, who you may recognize as an over-the-road driver who pens the occasional column for several trucking magazines, has written a book. On Oct. 5 he threw a book launch at his Kitchener home to officially launch Abajam Chronicles: Two...

VITRAN SUDDENLY A HOT COMMODITY

Vitran Corp. announced in late September it has agreed to sell its US business to the Morouns. Yes, those Morouns, owners of that cash cow known as the Ambassador Bridge, as well as a number of transportation companies. Since it divested itself...

A TRUCKING TABLET

Detroit (it still doesn’t sound quite right without the Diesel) has taken a bold step towards expanding its telematics capabilities, with the launch of a new division dubbed Detroit Connect (okay, now that has a ring to it). The company...

VIRTUAL TECHNICIAN EARNS HIS KEEP

Meanwhile, Detroit’s Virtual Technician, who goes by the name Cody, is probably due for a raise. Virtual Technician is Detroit’s remote diagnostics program, which monitors fault codes from the company’s Redford, Mich. tech...

DO TRAILER FAIRINGS REALLY SAVE FUEL?

So maybe you’ve been wondering, do those thing-a-ma-jiggers that go along the side of the trailer, or underneath it, just ahead of the axles, really save any fuel? I’m referring, of course, to trailer side skirts and aerodynamic...

A COOLER REFRIGERATION SYSTEM?

I spent Monday morning with John Manousaridis, owner of Cornell Logistics Services, to find out about a refrigeration technology he has imported from Italy. John has eight trucks and most of them haul ice cream for Nestle, so you understand why...

ROSENAU DONATES TRACTOR-TRAILER

Rosenau Transport has given the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) a tractor-trailer to use for training and advocacy purposes. Company president Carl Rosenau has been one of the association’s most ardent supporters for 20 years,...

A NEW TRUCK INSURER ARRIVES

The Guarantee Company has officially launched its transportation insurance division, Guarantee Transportation Solution. I think a new player in this market is needed, particularly for small operators or those who specialize in a niche that the...

KIM RICHARDSON ON THE DRIVER TRAINING PROBLEM

If you’ve been reading Truck News in recent months, you know there are some strong opinions out there on the current state of training for entry-level drivers in Ontario. Some have opined it’s time for mandatory training standards....

There’s nothing quite like a truck convoy

 In trucking, there’s no better symbol of unity than a slow-rolling truck convoy. There are two types of ceremonial convoys: those that celebrate a cause; and those somber rolling tributes to a fallen trucker.

Expect more, again

Ten years ago, when I first wrote in this space for Truck News after being appointed editorial director, I wrote that “In a business climate as turbulent and as quickly changing as today’s, to stand still is to fall behind.”

Border skirmish

BLAINVILLE, Que. -- Cats and dogs soaked the track at the Transport Canada Motor Vehicle Test Centre in Blainville, Que. as Performance Innovation Transport (PIT) launched its Energotest trials Sept. 11. The research yielded to strict SAE fuel...