Features

Federal budget offers few direct benefits to trucking industry

OTTAWA, Ont. - The trucking industry is not overjoyed about the recent federal budget announcement, and neither is another related industry.

Keeping up with the paper chase during driver hiring

Any carrier can tell you about the reams of paper that are collected during the hiring process.

A call for more resources

In a letter dated February of this year the Ontario Provincial Police notified the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada of a planned month-long crackdown on commercial vehicles, specifically those sp...

Think before you act

Like the old axiom urging us to "make hay while the sun shines,"the trucking industry has tended to do relatively well from a pricing perspective during business cycle peaks, then give back some of it...

An old smoothy: peanut butter

You're heading out and today you've decided to brown-bag it? Why not pack an old tried and true favourite, the peanut butter sandwich? Smooth or crunchy, peanut butter goes down easy.

Give your gums a break

When you brush your teeth in the morning, do your gums tend to bleed? Well, if so, then you are probably part of the nine in 10 adults who have some form of gum disease.

Praise for schools that give a damn

Where do I start? I guess I have to start somewhere because nobody else seems to want to start. Doesn't anyone care anymore? We all want to complain when someone gets hurt or killed, but what next?

Keeping a lid on it

By Jan Westell VANCOUVER, B. C. - When a boulder toppled off a dump truck in urban Vancouver, B. C., and then smashed through the window of the car following behind, it was considered a freak accident...

The three best places to look for tax savings

So you've spent the last month ripping your house apart and running your hands under the bunk mattress for any shred of paper that might justify a tax deduction. Or maybe you're diligent about keeping...

07 Engine Report

ORLANDO, Fla. - The push for cleaner truck exhaust came at an obvious cost. FedEx Freight paid an average of $4,000 extra for post- 2002 engines that reduced NOx with technology such as Exhaust Gas Re...

Understanding driver turnover

By Jan Westell LANGLEY, B. C. - A shortage of drivers is an ongoing problem for the trucking industry, and expected to get worse over the next five years. However, the high turnover rate related to th...

Here to stay

ATLANTA, Ga. - Since 2002, fuel has crept up from 9% of a fleet's cost of operating a long-haul truck to a staggering 35%. It has reached the point where fleet managers get giddy over an opportunity t...

Star trek: Test driving Western Star’s 4900 FA

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - My first time behind the wheel of a Western Star and I'm given a decked out 2008 model. For so many years as a company driver, the only time I'd get close to a Western Star was whe...

Let me recall…

MONTREAL, Que. - To err is human, nobody will deny that. And the heavy-duty truck manufacturing business is no exception. After some research, I found out that every single heavy-duty truck manufactur...

International’s new star shines bright

CHICAGO, Ill. - It's not every day a truck is highlighted on the front page of a major daily newspaper - unless it has been involved in an accident, that is. But International's new LoneStar was the h...