Clearing a path to success August 1, 2014 Back in 1995 I went through a career crisis. I had been driving for 18 years and the truck I owned was three years old, paid for, and primed for a lucrative trade-in. Trouble was,
It’s a Promise: An End to Smoke-and-Mirrors Pay Packages August 1, 2014 "I've asked you all to come here this morning so that you'll know what we're up against when the rules change next month," Denis Medeiros told his owner-ops.
America the Dutiful: Drivers and the Border August 1, 2014 A few years ago when I worked for a commercial carrier, I was about to hire a long-haul owner-operator when the time came to check his references. I had a list of two former employ
Training Wheels: Don’t Gamble and Lose With Young Driver August 1, 2014 When I was a kid I had to walk 10 miles to school. Barefoot. In winter. Uphill. Against the wind. Both ways.
Drivers: Bureaucratic Heart Failure August 1, 2014 Dave Cranley's a 48 year-old mild-mannered owner-op who hauls wood shavings out of Thamesford, Ont.
Filling the Left Seat August 1, 2014 Often, and I mean often, you can hear me saying ours is a "people" industry unlike any other.
Driver Training: The Operator’s Apprentice August 1, 2014 It might be a bit premature to call it a movement, but there's some interest percolating out there in establishing apprenticeship programs for new drivers. Simply, the shortage of
The Price of Complacency August 1, 2014 My 10-year-old son and I were on a beach this summer and even though there were several hundred people around and a team of professional lifeguards on duty, a little boy drowned.
Where the Good Drivers Are August 1, 2014 You're never very deep in a conversation about this industry before somebody brings up the infamous "driver shortage" that's supposedly going to be the undoing of us all.
Safe Drivers or the Eve of Destruction August 1, 2014 It's a brand new year and in my opinion we're on the verge of seeing some real improvements in commercial trucking highway safety, particularly in the States. The new hours-of-serv
Driver Hiring: A Failure to Communicate August 1, 2014 I recently spent an afternoon with a small fleet owner, Brian Taylor of Liberty Linehaul in Ayr, Ont., who wanted to know how he could atytract drivers -- good drivers.
Driver Hiring: Think Like a Thief August 1, 2014 Now more than ever, a good driver-screening process is critical to your business' anti-theft efforts. The prevailing driver shortage is making fleets more vulnerable to bad hires,
There’s Still One Question Technology Can’t Answer August 1, 2014 Last time I really thought about it, I figured I had things pretty much under control. That was before I ventured down to Louisville for that bit of March madness called the Mid-Am
Driver Training: Chickens & Eggs August 1, 2014 Shocking as it was, I have to tell you that recent allegations against a Calgary truck-driving school -- that it sold forged Class 1 licences --didn't really surprise me. It's evi
All Wound Up: Driver Stress August 1, 2014 Until recently, it never occurred to me that commercial truck driving had become such a high-stress profession. But recently, I attended a management seminar on the topic and m