April 2018 Volume 38, Issue 3
TRUCK NEWS Eastern Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
Pages 28-33
Pages 35-37
Page 56
Page 64
Developing diversity
Teaching the techs
Ultra-comfort
Viable alternatives
An in-depth look at the need for greater diversity in the trucking industry.
Technicians need to be taught how they best learn – by doing. A TMC panel explains.
Peterbilt reaches for the stars with the launch of a driver-centric UltraLoft sleeper cab.
More alternatives to diesel fuel are emerging all the time. What’s the best fit for yourr fleet?
Canadian ELD mandate to harmonize with U.S.
RET ADVERTAIL ISING P AGES 6 5-72
By Derek Clouthier NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Like the recent mandate in the U.S., Canada is working on its own electronic logging device (ELD) rule, and for the most part is looking to mirror the legislation of their southern neighbors. Geoffrey Wood, senior vice-president of policy for the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), provided an update on the Canadian proposed ELD mandate during an Omnitracs Outlook 2018 session in Nashville, Tenn. “The goal of this effort in Canada is to mirror the effort here in the U.S.,” Wood said, adding the CTA, which has had a position on ELDs for about a decade, did not want to see conflict between the two countries over e-logs. And for the time being, Wood said there is little carriers should be concerned about. Continued on page 17
Careers: 10, 34-63 Ad Index: 73
(L-R) Margaret Hogg of J.G. Drapeau, Messenger Freight Systems’ Louise Vonk, and Andreea Crisan of Andy Transport all abandoned their former jobs and lifestyles to lead their family businesses.
Wonder women A panel of influential women take the stage at Women with Drive to talk about how they’ve made their businesses prosper By Sonia Straface
PM40063170
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO What do Andy Transport’s Andreea Crisan, J.G. Drapeau’s Margaret Hogg, and Messenger Freight Systems’ Louise Vonk have in common? For starters, they all began their careers at their family trucking businesses after pursuing other careers. And secondly, they are all powerful, influential women within the trucking industry today. All three were part of this year’s power panel at Trucking HR Canada’s Women with Drive event in Mississauga, Ont., on March 1, where they told audience members about their experiences and how they have made their respective businesses profitable.
Starting from the bottom Crisan was on track to become a lawyer. However, in her last year of law school, she said, something didn’t feel right. Even after interning at a variety of different legal firms, she found herself wanting something different.
“By the last year of law, I was all ‘Been there, done that,’” she said. “At the same time, I had the comparison of what the family business would be like. And that’s really what I saw myself doing. I made the decision, and it was just my father and I in the business. And that’s when we really decided to build it.” Hogg, on the other hand, was pulled from her life in Los Angeles after an alarming phone call from her parents in Toronto. “It was in 1999 and I got a call that my father had Stage 4 cancer,” she said. “I stopped my life, drove to Toronto and jumped in (to run J.G. Drapeau). I didn’t know a lot about trucking, so I had to start from the bottom. I learned how to dispatch, I learned how to go over safety and compliance, how to drive a forklift, I learned everything I could before I could run the company. It took from 2000-2005 to learn everything and be strong.” Today, Hogg says she can’t imagine leaving the trucking industry to do something else. Like Hogg, Vonk was pulled into trucking after her father fell ill. Continued on page 28