March 2018 Volume 38, Issue 2
TRUCK NEWS Eastern Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
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Tax time
Family business
Hydrogen hybrid
Looking to buy?
It’s a good time to be in the trucking business, but take time to set up your company properly.
Inspired by their uncle, brothers Matt and Eugene Barkan have found a fulfilling life and career in Canada.
Kenworth has showcased a new hydrogen hybrid highway tractor. We took it for a spin.
The used truck you choose could make or break your business. We offer some shopping tips.
It’s time to talk
RET ADVERTAIL ISING P AGES 49 -
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Accidents, loneliness, and fatigue are all part of the job as a truck driver By Sonia Straface TORONTO, ONTARIO It’s an uncomfortable topic to bring up with friends and family, let alone bosses and coworkers. It’s not nearly talked about enough in most industries, and certainly not discussed enough in trucking. I’m talking about mental health. Statistics show that on any given week, more than half a million Canadians will miss work because of a mental health problem. And those numbers don’t include those people who mask their mental health issues as something else. Studies also show that one in five Canadians are suffering from mental illness today. However, truck drivers in particular seem to be at a greater risk for mental illness when you take a closer look at the nature of the occupation. Being out on the road, alone, sometimes for weeks at a time, takes a toll on one’s mental health. It’s Continued on page 22
PM40063170
Careers: 30-47, 63 Ad Index: 57
The supply chain will become even more connected as blockchain technology is developed.
Preparing for blockchain Instantaneous payments. The end of customer disputes. The elimination of paperwork. How blockchain technology can revolutionize trucking. By James Menzies TORONTO, ONTARIO Dave Cox, president of Polaris Transport, is willing to completely rewrite the business. “My mind is open to changing it all,” he told Truck News in an interview about blockchain technology, and its potential to comprehensively change the transportation business. “We have to get goods and services to market, whatever that looks like, but I’m prepared to rewrite the service operating model if the blockchain technology and the robotics tell me I should.” To say Cox is a believer in technology – and specifically blockchain – is an understatement. He’s fascinated in blockchain technology, though he downplays his expertise. “I’m a hack at this,” he acknowledged. However, Cox takes pride in Polaris’ use of technology and sees blockchain as the next big opportunity. “We have made a large investment in technology,” said Cox. “At Polaris, we have people here that have the same interest I have in utilizing the technology. The thing I like about blockchain is, it makes a small person relevant. It makes a small company relevant because it’s a
very decentralized environment. Essentially it’s a digital accounting ledger.” Blockchain was born from the rise of Bitcoin in the late 2000s. In simple terms, it’s a decentralized digital ledger. In the book Blockchain Revolution, authors Don and Alex Tapscott explained it this way: “The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions, but virtually everything of value.” “It’s a public ledger, where transactions are recorded and confirmed anonymously,” explained Justin Bailie, president and co-founder of Canadian technology firm RoseRocket. “It’s a record of events, shared between multiple parties, and most importantly, once information is entered it can’t be altered because the blockchain is permanent.” He anticipates seeing more discussion around the subject of blockchain in the trucking industry going forward. “Now that electronic logging devices are done, I feel this is the next talking point,” he said. “I think this will be the next hot topic: should trucking companies be strategizing around blockchain?” Continued on page 26