Features

The real case on truck speed limiters

If you drive truck for a living in Ontario or Quebec, should you be enthused about the dismissal in an Ontario court this month of a speed limiter ticket given to driver Gene Michaud because the Justice of the Peace ruled the province’s...

Parkway project dump truck drivers snub Teamsters…for now

WINDSOR, Ont. – About 140 dump truck drivers – both owner/operators and those working for small companies – seem resistant to an organizing drive by the local Teamsters union.

Michigan opens long-delayed bridge truck road

DETROIT, Mich. – A dedicated truck road, long in the planning, has finally opened on the Detroit side of the Ambassador Bridge, a win-win for truckers who no longer have to navigate the streets of inner city Detroit, and for neighbourhood...

Choppy seas for East Coast carriers as costs soar

DIEPPE, N.B. – Truckers in the Atlantic provinces have seen rate creep this year, but new and higher fees in four areas – fuel surcharges, cost of living, drop trailer and security – at Marine Atlantic keep that ferry operator...

New report details dire driver situation in Quebec

MONTREAL, Que. – A strong demand for Class 1 drivers, an aging workforce and increased competition from other markets spell challenging times ahead for Quebec carriers.

Why profit-sharing may be the ultimate incentive program for owners and drivers

A few months ago I was asked by the Central Ontario chapter of the Fleet Safety Council if I would like to participate in an upcoming panel discussion about driver incentive programs. I accepted, always eager to offer my two cents from a...

We can’t continue to roll over and play dead

Over the past few months there have been a spate of truck rollover incidents all within about 20 kilometres of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) head office in Toronto. Invariably these have occurred at on- or off-ramps to one of the...

Why doesn’t anyone want to be a trucker anymore?

It is amazing how few people – even those from within the trucking industry – understand the realities of life behind the wheel.For those of you who aren’t living it every day, here’s an example of a day in the life of a...

The fight against fatigue begins with a trip plan

Discussions about a shipment often touch on little more than pick-up and delivery times, details about the freight, and ultimate destinations. The related scheduling efforts?

Starting a business?

Choosing a structure for your business is a very big deal, and your decision will have a significant effect on how you report your income, the type of returns you file each year, and how you support expenses.

A cautionary tale down Mexico way

In 1992 the governments of Canada, the US and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), creating one of the largest trading blocs in the world. Two years later, when the agreement came into force, the CEO of the first...

Introducing the ‘dine and DASH’ diet

Most of us want to look our best for the summer. It would be great to feel our best, too. Let’s look at a diet that can help accomplish both.

You don’t have to be hauling hay to suffer from hay fever

As summer approaches, we look forward to spending days at the beach and warm nights around campfires, but for some people summer signals the beginning of hay fever.

Getting an A/Z licence has become far too easy

In last month’s column, I suggested that truck driving schools should be forced to follow a legislated, standardized curriculum in an effort to cultivate a safer crop of new drivers. However, there is still an unofficial feeder system of...

Worth the wait?

Is the cost saving potential of fuel-efficient technologies worth the up-front investment? Answering that critical question, based on real-world trials, is at the heart of a new study just released by Natural Resources Canada, entitled Results...