CFMS: maintenance meet is at a crossroads

TORONTO (April 26) — The 36th annual Canadian Fleet Maintenance Seminar got underway Sunday night with a reception sponsored by Mack Canada, but the real heart of the affair is slated for Tuesday afternoon, April 27.

That’s when the volunteer group that organizes the CFMS will meet a very big question head on in a formal panel session.

The Seminar is run by members of the Automotive Transportation Service Superintendents Association (ATSSA). There are eight ATSSA chapters, all in Ontario. A ninth is about to be created, in Bellevillle, Ont.

The session carries a somewhat awkward title — “Co-operative Plan for Truck Maintenance & Training on a National Basis for the New Millennium: What Role Should We Play?” — and it comes with a little baggage. There are those who think that the CFMS could move forward by linking with the Ontario Trucking Association, and others who oppose the idea, citing the Seminar’s perennial success. “If it ain’t broke…,” they say, urging that it remain independent and ‘untainted’ by the OTA’s broad political agenda.

A proposal is presently on the table that would see the Seminar become part of the OTA’s new truck show, scheduled for September of 2000, instead of operating as a stand-alone event. It’s expected that OTA president David Bradley will state the case in favor of joining forces during the session. Other panel members include Dave Ongaro of Mack Canada, Glenn Tristram of the ATSSA Toronto chapter, and Jim Pinder Jr. of MacKinnon Transport.

Moderator is Dave Drummond of Mack, and he may have his hands full as opinions fly about the future of the CFMS.

Significantly, and unlike all the others, this session won’t have to finish on time, which must surely be a first (the Seminar is always run to an unforgiving clock).

Among the other panel subjects are fatigue, wheel-end lubrication, and exhaust emissions standards. The guest speaker for Tuesday night’s banquet is Martin Carver, chairman and CEO of Bandag. The conference’s other major highlight is the presentation of the Canadian Fleet Maintenance Manager of the Year award by Volvo Trucks Canada president Mike O’Connell.

Record attendance figures had already been attained as of Sunday night, according to CFMS general manager Stan Williamson. He said there were 756 registrants at that point, from all Canadian provinces and 14 states. More were expected to check into the affair’s usual venue, the Inn on the Park, today.