Truck News July 2014

July 2014 Volume 34, Issue 7

TRUCK NEWS Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981

The 6x2 debacle

Delivering daily news at trucknews.com

Page 8

A Canadian SuperRig

How your government is putting you at a competitive disadvantage

Um none officip sapero commoditat

By James Menzies

Page 22

Six-by-two axle configurations – in which only one of the two drive axles provides power to the vehicle – are gaining a lot of attention for their weight- and fuel-saving potential. According to Meritor, one of several manufacturers to produce 6x2 axles, about 4-5% of the North American Class 8 truck build for 80,000-lb GCW on-highway applications is currently being ordered in such a manner. “We think it’s going to hit 16% within the next four years,” John Nelligan, general manager, sales and marketing, Meritor North America, told Truck News. The advantages are obvious. Six-bytwos reduce weight by about 400 lbs, which can be converted into payload or translated into a fuel economy improvement ranging from 2.5-6%. And it’s not just the manufacturers citing these numbers. A recent study by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) looked at real-world usage as well as on-track tests and found that 6x2s delivered fuel savings averaging 2.5%. The results were even more impressive when singling out carriers using 6x2s in real-world applications, where average savings amounted to 3.5%. The environmental benefits are staggering. A 6x2 truck averaging 120,000 miles per year at 6.5 mpg that reduces its fuel consumption by 3.5% would reduce its CO2 output by 14,592 lbs each year. And that’s just one truck. But unfortunately, Canadian carriers looking to enjoy these savings – and Canadians who wish to breathe cleaner air – are being denied the opportunity by legislators in this country. Ironically, a Memorandum of Understanding that was intended to harmonize weights and Continued on page 43

Careers:

25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 49

PM40069240

Ad Index: 49

pg 1, 9-11, 43-45 tn july v3.indd 1

We catch up with Rodger Nelson, whose truck placed fourth at the Shell SuperRigs show.

Or go to List of Advertisers at trucknews.com

Secrets of the best

What do the Best Fleets to Drive For do that your company doesn’t? Their tips revealed. Page 46

More integration

More Canadians, including drivers, are using medical marijuana. How does this impact the carriers that employ them?

Prescription pot and trucking

Legal experts weigh in on the medical marijuana debate. And carriers may not like what they said.

Daimler unveils its first fully integrated Detroit powertrain. Page 54

For the family

Margaret Hogg gave up the bright lights of L.A. and returned home to run the family trucking business.

By James Menzies Before her first driving shift with a new carrier even began, Patti Satok lost her job. After being offered a domestic trucking job and put through the carrier’s two-day orientation, Satok’s pre-employment drug test came back positive for marijuana. Satok, who was injured on the job five years ago, uses medical marijuana for chronic pain relief while off-duty. She is one of about 40,000 Canadians now holding a prescription for medical marijuana. After her job offer was retracted, Satok initiated a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. You can read her story, published in the June issue of Truck News, at: http://tinyurl.com/TNmarijuana. This month, we explore the issue of medical marijuana use in the trucking industry in greater detail. • anadian trucking companies that employ drivers who use medicinal marijuana, may have to accommodate them to the point of “undue hardship,” or risk violating federal and provincial human rights codes. This could mean providing a driving schedule that allows them to work when the effects of the drug will have worn off, or giving them a non-driving job within the company. That’s the interpretation of the law from Ken Krupat, an

C

Ontario lawyer specializing in employment law. “The Canadian Human Rights Code (which governs most truckers) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability,” Krupat told Truck News. “Someone who requires prescription medication to treat a disability is entitled to accommodation to the point of undue hardship. This should mean that someone who is taking marijuana at some point should not lose a position because of that, assuming that they can medically demonstrate the need.” But Krupat acknowledged the balance between medication and safety would have to be considered by any human rights commission or court. Krupat isn’t aware of any current cases involving the trucking industry and medical marijuana. “This may come down to a human rights hearing with competing medical evidence,” he said. “If it could be shown that a certain amount of THC in the blood leads to or contributes to impairment – much like a certain blood-alcohol level – a company could rightly insist that truckers not drive if they test above that level…If some sort of residual level was deemed to be non-impairing, that evidence might be enough to cause a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to proContinued on page 9

14-06-10 10:10 AM

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TRUCK NEWS

EDITORIAL

3

July 2014

Reducing the risk of cargo theft

Editorial Comment JAMES MENZIES

Last month, you may have found within your issue of Truck News a special supplement on cargo security. It was sponsored by SGI and can now be viewed in the Knowledge Centers section of our Web site, Trucknews.com. We continue to build out this module, with the addition of video to further raise awareness about cargo theft and how it can be prevented. As part of this project, I recently visited with Norm Sneyd, v.p. of business development with Bison Transport. We spent a couple of hours discussing cargo theft and what Bison does to prevent it. Norm also took videographer Brad Ling and I on a tour of nearby yards to see how trailers can be properly parked to reduce the risk of a theft. We learned a lot from Norm, and you can watch video interviews we conducted with him in that same Knowledge Centers module I referenced above. They’ll be online within the next few weeks. For now, here are a few tips from Bison Transport on how to reduce the risk of cargo theft. For starters, back loaded trailers up tight against a wall. There’s more than

one good reason to back up tight to a wall or other fixed object when parking a loaded trailer. Of course, it makes it much more difficult to open the trailer doors when you can’t get at them, and that’s the obvious benefit, but parking this way also protects the seal. A disgruntled driver or good-fornothin’ scallywag who can access the trailer door with little to no difficulty can snip off a trailer seal, possibly rendering the value of the cargo inside worthless – especially if the trailer’s carrying perishable product. Bison has gone so far as to erect concrete walls along the rows of lots where it parks a lot of trailers, so that trailers on both sides can be parked with their rear doors directly against the concrete barrier. I also learned drivers really shouldn’t stop for breaks near the border. Norm said drug-runners have been known to hang out at truck stops near the border, looking for south- or northbound trucks. When they see a parked truck, they’ll slide under the trailer bolt on a box containing contraband, follow the truck across the border and then remove their

goods the next time the truck stops. The truck driver is unwittingly taking on the risk of a lengthy stint in prison. Also, drivers should always keep an eye out for anything that seems unusual. Think you’re being followed? Pull off at a rest area, drive through and then reenter the highway. Did the suspicious car do likewise? Chances are good they’re tailing you. This may seem far-fetched, but one Bison driver did this recently and reported the suspicious vehicle. The police apprehended the car’s occupants who were armed and dangerous. Bison also employs a Neighbourhood Watch program, so that drivers and staff are encouraged to report suspicious activity. If their tips lead to an arrest, cash prizes of up to $5,000 are given to tipsters.

Step up to the Healthy Fleet Challenge

The view with Lou LOU SMYRLIS

Trucking is known for its long hours, time away from home and stressful situations – all of which can lead to unhealthy eating and exercise habits. And those unhealthy habits can ultimately result in illness and premature death for too many of our industry friends and associates. Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in North America and being physically inactive boosts your chances of developing heart-related problems. Nearly 40% of the people on this continent do no spare-time physical activity at all. That figure is probably higher within the trucking industry, which requires long periods of sitting. It’s time we tackled this issue head on. And it’s nowhere near as daunting as it may seem. Did you know that just

30 minutes a day of moderate-intensity physical activity can improve your health and decrease your risk of heart disease? It’s something I would like everyone in our industry to know. To spread the word, we have joined with Healthy Trucker (a division of NAL Insurance) to announce the Healthy Fleet Challenge. Our goal is to collectively have all industry partners walk a combined total of about 25,000 miles during the month of July – effectively circling the Earth – as a way to promote the importance of better health and wellness in the trucking industry. Walking is an easy way to work physical activity into your regular routine. It’s something everyone can participate in and is that first critically important step towards a healthier lifestyle.

All fleets and allied trades are invited to participate in this event to promote the importance of getting more active. The entry fee for each team is a $1,000 donation with proceeds going to the Heart & Stroke Foundation and Make-A-Wish Canada. This isn’t a competition, although with team results posted on www.healthyfleet.com I think there will be a few fun rivalries heating up the month of July. Each team can register up to 10 individuals (O/Os, drivers or employees) to participate in this event. To participate, team members will need to download an app to their iPhone or Android device, or purchase a Fitbit device, which will help track the steps participants take each day. I’ve already got my Fitbit. It’s easy to set up and I’ve been having a

Cargo theft was once a taboo subject in the trucking industry. Finally, the industry and law enforcement have acknowledged they have a problem here and are taking steps to prevent it. James Menzies can be reached by phone at (416) 510-6896 or by e-mail at jmenzies@ trucknews.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/JamesMenzies.

great time seeing my daily results (and making sure they’re higher than associate publisher Kathy Penner’s – not that we’re competitive with each other or anything). Companies can register for the event at www.healthyfleet.com or call 855422-8333. Participants can upload their logo and team information to an online leader board to show their support of the event and see how they’re doing compared to other companies. And they can turn to www.trucknews.com, TMTV, Truck News and our Twitter feeds for fun and educational updates on the challenge. So let’s get ready for a fit and healthy summer and some great summer fun. Together we can make a healthier industry. Lou Smyrlis can be reached by phone at (416) 510-6881 or by e-mail at lou@TransportationMedia.ca. You can also follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/LouSmyrlis.

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Monthly Class 8 Sales – Apr 14 Class 8 truck sales, after starting the year on a mildly positive note with January surpassing last year’s totals, have dipped below the previous year’s pace for three straight months. The month’s sales totals, although surpassing the 2,000 mark, fell about 80 short of last year’s total. Last year’s market leaders Freightliner and Kenworth both suffered setbacks in April, falling behind last year’s totals.

This Month

OEM

Last Year

Freightliner

660

744

International

364

344

Kenworth

405

449

Mack

251

187

Peterbilt

338

371

Volvo

410

384

Western Star TOTALS

Historical Comparison – Apr 14 Sales

159

190

2587

2669

Historical Comparison – YTD Apr 14 Class 8 Sales (YTD Apr 14) by Province and OEM OEM

BC

ALTA

SASK

MAN

ONT

QUE

NB

NS

PEI

NF

CDA

Freightliner

164

268

73

112

947

347

92

28

1

11

2,043

Kenworth

185

572

129

1

227

255

24

0

0

0

1,393

Mack

46

113

52

29

338

82

6

10

0

7

683

International

44

196

27

46

563

233

58

20

5

13

1,205

Peterbilt

182

408

113

47

258

160

53

6

0

0

1,227

Volvo

147

191

28

93

464

203

52

17

0

1

1,196

Western Star

118

282

22

26

96

93

12

18

3

4

674

TOTALS

886

2,030

444

354

2,893

1,373

297

99

9

36

8,421

There was optimism for an improvement in Class 8 truck sales in 2014 after 2013 proved a disappointing year. But unless numbers pick up in the second half, 2014 will be a worse sales year than 2013, which wasn’t a particularly strong one itself. YTD numbers are nowhere close to those of 2012, the best year since the recession for Class 8 sales, but they are ahead of the five-year average. As we have noted in our research talks across the country, although large and medium-sized carriers are in a buying mood, small carriers are not and that may be contributing to the lackluster Class 8 sales results.

12-Month Sales Trends 3,200 2,800 2,400 2,000 1,600 1,200 800 400 0 SALES

May

June

July

August

September

October

2,721

2,346

2.239

2,252

2,347

2,618

November December

2,361

2,168

January

February

March

April

1,941

1,641

2,244

2587

company product

company product A

© 2012 Chevron Canada Limited. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of Chevron Intellectual Property LLC.

company product

A

company product A

A

After 10 straight months of sales coming in above the 2,000 mark, reminiscent of the industry’s capacity boom years of 2005 to 2007, they dropped slightly below 2,000 in January and considerably further in February. Good news is that they bounced back in March and April, topping the 2,000 mark both months. Also, with the US economy regaining its stride and the value of the Canadian dollar dropping against the US dollar, economic forecasters anticipate exports will lead the Canadian economy in 2014. That may spark increased truck sales as trucking will be the main beneficiary of improved business volumes with the US.

Chevron Global Lubricants CS6.indd 4

Freightliner, last year’s Canadian market leader, controls almost a quarter of the Class 8 truck sales after the first four months. Kenworth finished 2013 in the number two spot for market share, enjoying the fact that its strong western network is able to tap into the stronger western economy. But the company has faltered in the first quarter and currently sits with 17% market share, followed by fellow Paccar manufacturer Petebilt at 15% of the market.

Source: Canadian Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association

Market Share Class 8 – Apr 14 YTD

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14-06-06 11:02 AM

TRUCK NEWS On the Road

July 2014 Volume 34, Issue 7 ISSN 0712-2683 (Print) ISSN 1923-3523 (Online) Truck News, USPS 016-248 is published monthly

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6

TRUCK NEWS CONTENTS

54

3 Editorial

The Last Word She left the bright lights of L.A. to manage the family trucking business.

James Menzies shares some cargo theft prevention tips and Lou Smyrlis encourages involvement in the Healthy Fleet Challenge.

8 Cross-border We report from the Shell SuperRigs truck beauty contest where a Canadian rig was among the winners.

9-18 Canada The trucking industry looks to take on the world. And we update the often tumultuous state of affairs at Port Metro Vancouver.

20 Quebec

52

There will be tolls on the new Champlain Bridge, but how much and for whom remains to be seen.

21 Ontario

Mark Dalton in... Mark learns the SmartWay

Trison Tarps has moved into a new location where it opened the doors to customers for a special BBQ.

22-23 Human Resources What does it take to be a Best Fleet to Drive For? We have the secrets to their success gleaned from the recent cross-Canada seminar series.

25 Dr. Chris Singh - Health Are your eyes feeling strained? This could be why.

26 Al Goodhall - Opinion Bring on the wellness advisors! We need more personalized advice to stay healthy while on the road. 28-29 Bill Cameron - Opinion Lies and mistruths have broken the trust in the trucking industry. Bill recalls a few of his first-hand experiences being lied to.

31 David Bradley - Industry Looking back at the impact of NAFTA on the trucking industry and how future border pacts could be improved.

33 Mark Lee - Opinion

Contemplating one of the biggest decisions for a new O/O: How to avoid idling.

34-35 Ask the Expert Construction season is here. Be alert to avoid hefty fines – or worse – in work zones.

37 Scott Taylor - Tax Talk

It may seem like a small detail, but your company name is actually quite important.

July 2014

39-40 Karen Bowen - Health Protect your hearing with these simple tips for life on the road.

41-42 Joanne Ritchie - Opinion Joanne continues with more insights on finding the right fit for drivers and O/Os.

46-47 E quipment Daimler has come out with a new integrated powertrain. And Shell updates on the new PC-11 engine oil category.

48 New Products A new fuel payments processor is available in Canada. And BF Goodrich has a new fuelefficient drive tire.

5 0-51 F leet News The first-ever Top Fleet Employers are named. And TransForce gets serious about the US market with a major acquisition.

53 Announcements Jeff Jones retires from Cummins, several dealer appointments are announced and the Canadian Driver of the Year is named.

In every issue

4 Truck Sales Stats 49 Ad Index

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8

CROSS-BORDER

Bill Rethwisch won Best of Show at Shell SuperRigs for the second straight year with two different trucks.

It’s a repeat for SuperRigs star Bill Rethwisch CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA For the second straight year, Bill Rethwisch’s rig won Best of Show at the Shell SuperRigs competition. The prestigious truck show, held May 15-17 at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C., awarded $10,000 for the top honours from Shell, another $5,000 from MAC Trailer and 50,000 Shell Rotella MyMilesMatter reward points. Rethwisch’s 2013 Peterbilt 389 also won the

Best Engine and Best Interior categories. Last year, he won Best of Show with his orange and white 2012 Pete 389. Austin Ashley took Best of Show runner-up (pocketing $4,000 from Shell and $3,000 from MAC Trailer) for his 2007 Pete 379. That rig also won Best Chrome and Best Theme. Rounding out Best of Show honours was second runner-up Paul Rissler and his 1996 Pete 379. In all, about $25,000 in cash and

prizes was awarded at the show, which attracted working trucks from across the US and Canada. Twelve trucks were selected to appear in the 2015 Shell Rotella SuperRigs calendar. The lone Canadian to win a prize at this year’s SuperRigs was Rodger Nelson of Saskatoon, Sask., whose 2013 Peterbilt 389 placed fourth in the tractor division (see related story, this page). Nelson won $500.

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Rodger Nelson of Saskatoon, Sask. finished fourth in the tractor division at Shell SuperRigs.

Pouring rain and stormy skies created a grey, dreary and wet backdrop at the Charlotte Motor Speedway during the opening day of the Shell Rotella SuperRigs competition, but those conditions just made the orange and blue paint scheme that much more visible. The two-colour treatment – complete with highly-polished chrome and stainless steel accents – was Rodger Nelson’s personal pick for his 2013 389 Peterbilt. Orange is Nelson’s favourite colour, and blue matches the eight-axle double-drop trailer he pulls behind the truck. Nelson, who has driven for Titan Transport in Saskatoon, Sask. for 19 years, thought he finally had a truck worthy of entering in the international custom truck show, and he wasn’t going to let a downpour stop him from getting his ride cleaned and polished and ready for judging. He had entered the Peterbilt in two previous shows, including one in Walcott, Iowa where he won first place among trucks of the same year. Even though the truck is by no means finished yet – Nelson intends to customize the interior and change the seat coverings, adding more blue and orange as he goes, and as he is able to afford it – he’s proud of his truck and the way people perceive it. In fact, while the truck, which is led by a chrome lady perched on the top of the grille, doesn’t have an official name, it does have a catch phrase painted on the exterior. “There is a country and western song called ‘She thinks my tractor is sexy,’” explains Nelson. “We were listening in a nightclub one night, and one of the girls said, ‘That’s the name of your truck, you have to put it on there,’ so I did. And it looks pretty good.” Although he didn’t place first, Nelson won fourth place in the SuperRigs tractor division, and took home $500 in prize money. To watch Nelson point out some of his updates and customizations see http://tinyurl.com/ShellSuperRigs

3/7/14 11:39 AM

14-06-06 11:42 AM

TRUCK NEWS

9

July 2014

Carriers may have to accommodate medical marijuna users Continued from page 1

tect the rights of medicinal users.” Even if impairment levels are found to make driving unsafe, an employer may still have the obligation to retain the driver, Krupat pointed out. “The company would still be required to try to accommodate the person if there was some other position available,

or to try to work out a schedule with the person based on how many hours need to lapse after certain dosages before the person is deemed fit to drive,” he explained. “It certainly seems like there will be a great deal of litigation over this subject in the near future.” Ron Marzel, a Toronto lawyer who specializes in Canada’s marijuana laws, says medical marijuana is not al-

ways impairing. “For some people it can be impairing,” he said. “It’s very unique to the individual. For some people, the use of medical cannabis can be impairing and they shouldn’t be driving. For some people, however, it’s not impairing and there have even been court cases where the courts have said, ‘Yes, this person was consuming cannabis,

however based on the evidence they weren’t impaired – they were perfectly functional.’ So it’s a very tricky area for both employers and employees.” Marzel warned against terminating drivers just because they use medical marijuana. “If they terminate somebody or don’t give them a job simply because they use medical cannabis, that could be a violation of that individual’s human rights and the employer could find a human rights suit or complaint filed against them,” Marzel said. “I don’t think it’s sufficient on the part of the employer to say ‘You use cannabis, so we’re not going to hire you.’ They need to go a bit beyond that to assess whether or not the individual is indeed impaired by the use of medical cannabis, and there are drug recognition experts out there that can make that assessment.” Domestic drivers who are terminated or denied a job simply because they use marijuana medicinally have the opportunity to fight back. If the carrier that terminated or denied them the position based on their use of medicinal marijuana is provincially regulated, they can file a complaint with their provincial human rights commission. If the carrier is federally regulated, they can do likewise with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Damages through this avenue are usually capped at about $10,000, Marzel explained, and it could be three to eight

Retired driver touts benefits of marijuana By James Menzies Edgar Murdoch is a user of medical marijuana. He also knows a thing or two about trucking. Murdoch, 79, spent four decades plying North American highways as a professional truck driver. He says the career is largely to blame for him requiring the use of medicinal marijuana in retirement. “Changing headlights and fixing wiring without benefit of gloves on the bald, barren wastelands of Canuckistan when it’s -40 C with a 40 mph wind blowing up your ass has an accumulative effect which after 40, 50 or 60 years adds up to considerable arthritic pain,” Murdoch told Truck News. “I never did cannabis while I was on the road but I started last winter.” Murdoch consumes his marijuana by baking it into oatmeal squares, complete with raisins, cacao, cinnamon, brown sugar and honey. “My experience has been very positive,” he said. “There is still some discomfort but not the excruciating pain there once was and I can actually make a fist with my left hand, something I couldn’t do several months ago.” Murdoch, who once held a position as safety officer within the

trucking industry, said when used responsibly, medical marijuana shouldn’t preclude a professional driver from continuing their career. “The frenetic madness surrounding the whole argument regarding the use of this beneficial substance is driven by money and control and misinformation disseminated by the pharmaceuticals and other self-interest groups, not by sane reasoning or independent research conducted by real scientists with nothing to gain,” Murdoch said. “If used responsibly, as in the use of all prescription drugs, the use of medical marijuana is no more dangerous to the safety of the motoring public than taking a Tylenol 3 with codeine, which can only be had on prescription. The sensible driver will take it prior to bedtime and trust me, it does lead to a much better night’s rest.” Murdoch said taking medical marijuana before bed allows him to sleep eight hours straight. Furthermore, he said medical marijuana has a “curative” effect that other prescription drugs lack. “Cannabis is not just therapeutic, but curative as well,” he insisted, noting the arthritis in his hands has abated somewhat since he began using the drug. £

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10 CANADA

Human rights complaint an option for drivers Continued from page 9

years before a decision is reached, but the process is free for the complainant.

Alternatively, employees can hire a lawyer and initiate a Superior Court Action. This process is usually quicker and there is no limit on damages

that can be sought, but Marzel acknowledged the legal costs are often a deterrent. When pursuing a decision through the Superior Court, the

process usually concludes within six to 12 months. Truck News has contacted several truck insurance specialists to find out if medical marijuana users are insurable. However, they declined comment, as no formal policies seem yet to exist. £

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TRUCK NEWS

11

July 2014

You said it…

Readers have had a lot to say about the use of prescription marijuana by truck drivers. Here’s a sampling of opinions shared on Trucknews.com. R. Elliott

I’m against the use of marijuana for pretty much any workplace environment especially when it’s currently an illegal drug (medical use excluded) and especially when it potentially affects others’ safety. Jim

Marijuana is a drug, no matter in which form, no matter what the circumstances, whether it has been approved by a doctor or not. It causes an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate and a decreased reaction time. The effect can last for hours. Even though you may be able to manage its effects by limiting its use at certain times, one can never be sure that a driver will start his/her shift and choose to manage their pain by consuming the drug while on duty or just before duty.

and no longer use marijuana I am back on T3s, (of) which I take approximately 200 per month. Helen

I would advise everyone to become familiar with the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s Policy on Drug and Alcohol Testing. Although each circumstance can have grey lines, this is a well-documented outline, which Canadian companies should be using to ensure their internal policies do not contradict that

Carriers may worry about drivers mixing prescription pot with driving.

of Human Rights. Before everyone gets all up in arms with me regarding how truck drivers should be screened for drugs and alcohol, I agree. However, we cannot take the rules and make them fit and until such time as legislation catches up with the science of these substances we are obligated to ensure everyone is treated equally under the law.

Mark

My limited understanding is that the active ingredient for pain relief is not the same as the active ingredient for getting high, and that pharmaceutical companies are endeavouring to produce marijuana that has the former and not the latter. Which seems to make it obvious that drug tests should be testing for the former ingredient and not the latter too. £

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Greg

Pot is pot and if you’re using it for recreation or for medical reasons you do not need to be on the road in a Class 8 truck after using it. Lori

Medicinal marijuana is a weed not a synthetic drug manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. There has never been a documented death caused by an overdose of pot ever! There have, however, been many documented cases of overdoses of morphine, oxy and alcohol, two of which doctors are prescribing on a daily basis and people are taking these drugs and working completely out of it.

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I own a small trucking company. If you are driving a Class 8 vehicle fully loaded or not, you need to drive for those around you and not just yourself. If your reaction time has been slowed by a drug (medical or not) and someone else close to you loses control, now you do not have the reaction time you need on a normal mind and body function. Justin

This poor woman is stuck choosing between suffering or being employed? That is absolutely unacceptable. For all the people who have negative comments, I regret to say that a large number of you will one day change your opinion of this harmless plant when one of your loved ones finds relief from medical marijuana. Will

As a professional driver I have to be fit for duty. So how does using medicinal marijuana make (me) fit for duty as a professional driver? If you can’t drive truck without it, then go home and find another profession.

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12

TRUCK NEWS

CANADA

July 2014

All about medical marijuana The drug nearly half a million Canadians are expected to be legally using by 2024 By Sonia Straface

A

ccording to a recent Health Canada projection, there are approximately 40,000 medical marijuana users in the country; a number that is expected to rise in the coming years as the move to legalizing recreational weed is still being debated. There aren’t any official numbers on how many of the 40,000 are professional drivers, but do you know many puffs of a joint or marijuana pills you can take before an officer can charge you with impaired driving? You’d be surprised to know that there really isn’t a legal limit to how much dope you can smoke before you put your vehicle in drive because there isn’t an accurate enough way to measure how much someone has ingested. There is no weed Breathalyzer or blood-to-cannabis concentration limit in Canada to determine someone’s insobriety like there is for alcohol. There is also no way to determine when or how long ago cannabis was ingested since the substance can stay in one’s system for days or even weeks.

And for some, where medical marijuana is used for pain relief and the drug is constantly in the bloodstream because of regular use, this grey area between medical marijuana and driving expands even further since their marijuana, in the eyes of the Canadian government is technically completely legal. This blurs the lines when a medical marijuana user is pulled over (case after case in Canada are being thrown out because of the fact that there is no established insobriety limit) or is denied an employment opportunity when they fail a pre-employment drug test for say, a truck driving job. • Canada was the first country to adopt a system for regulating the use of medical marijuana when it introduced the Marihuana Medical Access Program in 2001 when at the time, there were less than 100 people authorized to possess medical marijuana. After the first year, that number climbed to close to 500. And now, Health Canada is estimating that by 2024 there will be 450,000 med-

ical marijuana users in the country. However, to possess medical marijuana legally in Canada is no easy feat. You are required to apply for permission and can only be approved by a licensed medical doctor who finds your symptoms and conditions fall within Health Canada’s rigid categories. The first category claims that you can apply if your doctor deems you have “any symptom within the context of compassionate end-of-life care” or if you suffer from severe pain or muscle

“

There are strains of cannabis which feature 75% CBD and you can’t get high off it.” Craig Jones, NORML

spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury or disease, severe arthritis or if you have seizures caused by epilepsy. In addition, the first category allows for people suffering from AIDS/ HIV and/or cancer who suffer extreme nausea, weight loss, anorexia or pain. If you don’t fall into this category, you must fall under category two, which outlines a medical condition wherein traditional treatments failed to relieve extreme symptoms, in order to apply.

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Medical marijuana can be ingested many different ways depending on the preference of the user. Smoking a joint is the most common ingestion of the drug because it is a fast way for a patient to feel the positive effects. Medical marijuana can also be taken in pill form or it can be eaten so the health risks associated with smoking (such as shortness of breath or higher risk of developing lung cancer) are avoided. Contrary to popular belief, medical marijuana and street marijuana

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are not the same thing. The major difference between the two is where the drug comes from. Buying marijuana legally in Canada from a manufacturer ensures that the quality of marijuana is consistent and controlled by Health Canada because the production of the drug in this environment is standardized. As well, when buying marijuana illegally on the street, there is a greater risk with what you could get. “It’s just a matter of ensuring there’s a quality product and that you’re not getting (marijuana that has been) cut with other things or (marijuana) that has been grown in a dirty environment,” said Jamie Shaw, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries (CAMCD), on why medical marijuana is safer than marijuana bought on the street. As well, the people using medical marijuana and those buying marijuana illegally for recreational use are ingesting the drug for different reasons. Medical marijuana users aren’t necessarily looking for a high – they are seeking pain relief, or are trying to curb side-effects like nausea or loss of appetite because of pre-existing conditions or diseases such as cancer or AIDS/HIV. Recreational users are more often than not using the drug to receive a high from the drug’s psychoactive effects. Craig Jones, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in Canada explained that there are two cannabinoids that are particularly important in medical marijuana that affect the user – THC and CBD. THC is the psychoactive component that is most often associated with the feeling of “getting high” from the cannabis plant. CBD, on the other hand, is the cannabinoid in marijuana that alleviates pain for the user. Jones says that it’s possible to vary the potency of one cannabinoid over another depending on the strain ingested or preferred by the user. “For example, there are strains of cannabis which feature 75% CBD and you can’t get high off it,” he said. “However it is also evident for some people – and this is where it gets tricky – that they don’t get the full benefit of pain relief without a little bit of the effect of THC.” Continued on page 14

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14

CANADA

More Canadians expected to turn to prescription pot Continued from page 12

The fact that there are a countless number of strains of cannabis that can all be used for different effects only adds to the confusion of what technically constitutes as driving while under the influence of marijuana, in Canada anyway. Though Jones’ organization describes itself as being anti-prohibition (which is not to be confused with being pro-cannabis) he claims it’s not true to say that regular users of medical marijuana are actually driving high.

“Cannabis does impair motor performance particularly in higher-level doses,” he said. “But people who use cannabis medicinally become skilled at titrating their dosage to their systems. So it’s not entirely accurate to say that medical users are driving while high because they in some cases need very, very little of their particular strain in order to alleviate the pain.” Shaw agreed with Jones, saying: “While so much of (driving while impaired by using cannabis) has to do with what you’re using, why you’re using it and how you’re using it, if you’re

somebody who smokes a joint for the first time at a party, then you’re probably not in a good shape to drive. But if you’re somebody who’s using it at night to go to sleep, it’s only going to have beneficial effects” Even so, the safety concerns of marijuana are what fleet executives worry about when deciding to hire someone who is a user of medical marijuana. Marijuana is known to impair one’s short-term memory and can alter one’s decision-making and their mood. Most concerning to trucking companies is that marijuana reduces one’s motor coordination and slows down reaction time for users; the National Institute on Drug Abuse claims a recent analysis of several studies found marijuana use more than doubles a driver’s chance of being in an accident. However, pot may not be the only option for you if you are in pain. Many doctors will recommend prescription drugs such as Percocet, oxycodone or Tylenol 3 for severe pain before suggesting medical marijuana. Unlike marijuana, which has a bad rap because of the stereotypical image of the pothead or stoner, these drugs can be just as – if not more – dangerous if taken before driving. Tylenol 3 (commonly called T3) is a narcotic that contains codeine and is often given to those suffering from pain caused by a multitude of reasons. Even though T3s are easy to obtain and ingest, they are known to cause drowsiness, dizziness and even blurred vision. This begs the question of what is safer – a driver suffering from chronic pain taking medical marijuana after work hours and well before a driving shift, or a one who pops a T3 before heading out on the road to help relieve their pain? • Though Canada’s laws around pot and driving are still being developed, it’s still not a good idea to cross the border if you’re a user of medical marijuana. In the United States, marijuana is still

categorized as a Class 1 narcotic and the DOT does not allow for its use medicinally. When it comes to employment drug tests in Canada, Jones said it is important to note that for regular users of marijuana (recreational or not) the drug will never leave the bloodstream. This may make it difficult for drivers, HR reps or fleet executives to understand why someone who is a medical marijuana user could fail a preemployment drug test even though it

“

Everyone metabolizes cannabis differently.” Craig Jones, NORML

may have been weeks or months since they’ve last ingested cannabis. Jones says that at the end of the day, cannabis affects everybody differently, which is the cause for all the confusion around driving laws and marijuana. “It’s a case-by-case situation because everyone metabolizes cannabis differently,” said Jones. “For example, when you metabolize cannabis through the liver – which is when you take it orally – that produces one form of pain relief but that effect is going to be different from person to person. But, it’s going to take a long time to figure out what the precise dosage (balance between THC and CBD) is to that achieve maximum safety while getting optimal pain relief.” So, what’s next for those Canadian medical marijuana users who work in the trucking industry? Unfortunately, it’s pretty much a waiting game until the government and insurance companies sort things out.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BY THE NUMBERS

13

The number of licensed medical marijuana producers in Canada.

40,000

25 58,000 $ $ 8 10 The number of applications for licences to grow medical marijuana received weekly by Health Canada.

The average price Health Canada charges for a gram of dried marijuana.

60

The number of estimated, approved medical marijuana users in Canada by the end of this year.

The average price of one gram of street marijuana.

The number of marijuana strains offered from Canadian sanctioned producers.

477

The number of people in Canada who had access to medical marijuana in 2002, one year after the Marijuana Medical Access Program was launched.

pg 12-14 tn july v3.indd 14

The number of Canadians who are authorized to have medical marijuana today.

450,000

The estimated number of registered users in 2024 as projected by Health Canada.

$

1.3 B

The amount Health Canada estimates medical marijuana sales will hit by 2024.

14-06-09 2:16 PM

TRUCK NEWS

July 2014

15

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Trucking awards scholarships WATERLOO, ONTARIO Scholarships were awarded by the trucking industry at the fifth annual Trades & Apprenticeship Awards presentation in Waterloo. Vania Agostinho was awarded the Trailcon Leasing Trailer Service Technician Scholarship for excelling in the truck trailer module. Agostinho said she has always had a flare for the automotive sector despite others thinking that it is “too difficult to learn and work in a maledominated industry.” Al Boughton of Trailcon Leasing commented: “We see this as a great opportunity to give back, and to help a deserving individual get the necessary training that will open doors to a career in a skilled trade.” In addition, Glasvan Great Dane gave out two scholarships to worthy students. The Great Dane Truck Trailer Service Technician Scholarship was awarded to Neil Sullivan and Jason Reinhart as they were the top academic achievers in Conestoga’s College’s motive power fundamentals program. “Once again, we are thrilled to see our scholarships awarded to such deserving and dedicated students,” said Paul Cobham. “This is a great opportunity to reach out to students who have set their sights on employment in the truck and trucktrailer service industry, and provide them with some financial assistance to help fund their studies.”

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n an attempt to bring more awareness to the pressing state of the poor wellness of those in the trucking industry, Healthy Trucker – a division of NAL Insurance – has launched a Healthy Fleet Challenge where participating industry members will have a go at collectively walking around the world in the month of July (that’s 25,000 miles for whoever is counting.) The challenge is designed to be a fun way to promote a healthy, active lifestyle that is easy and exciting to upkeep. Participants in the challenge will be wearing a FitBit device – a pedometer that connects to your smartphone to track your steps on a daily basis. Those who choose can download the Moves app instead, that works the same way at the FitBit device. The competitors’

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steps will be tracked on an online leaderboard to create friendly competition between the participants. The hope is that by the end of July, the combined participants’ steps total 25,000 miles or more. What sparked the birth of this competition is the plain fact that the health issues surrounding the transportation industry are no secret. It’s an industry that is very sedentary and doesn’t seem to be as active as their working class counterparts; a study published in January of this year from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that nearly 75% of truck drivers sampled in America were categorized as being obese. This statistic makes obesity twice as prevalent in the trucking industry as it does in the rest of the US working population. Though the challenge isn’t driver-specific and is mostly geared towards the business executives, Glenn Caldwell vice-president of sales at NAL Insurance said that this sort of top-down education and promotion of health and wellness is the best way to start changing the image of the industry. “We all understand that we’re living in an industry that is maybe not the healthiest out there right now,” he said. “A lot of that comes down to the sedentary lifestyles that the drivers live. Our goal is to get them up and moving more.” Melodie Champion, nutrition and fitness coach and representative of Healthy Trucker also added that most people who work in an office environment, like business executives and those who sit a lot, like drivers, often forget about the health risks involved. “I think health and wellness is kind of a secondary thought for most industries and for most people,” said Champion. “We don’t want to do anything about [our health] until it’s too late and we are sick and unhealthy.” In addition to the challenge promoting health and wellness, Caldwell noted that it can also be good for business, since he says wellness could be the answer to the lack of drivers that is subsequently plaguing the industry. “A big issue we have is the driver shortage,” he said. “A lot of it comes down to retention and being able to attract and retain quality owner/operators and drivers, and wellness is the way to do that. Drivers want to be taught how to eat better and be more active so they can be healthier for their families.” Unlike other initiatives to get the industry healthier, the Healthy Fleet Challenge isn’t just about weight loss. “We find a lot of our members’ (concerns) on the Healthy Truck program aren’t just about weight loss,” said Champion. “(They are to) decrease stress and increase their activity level, so we wanted to do something that

14-06-09 10:37 AM

TRUCK NEWS

everyone across the board is capable of doing. Everyone can walk, so that’s

“

Our goal is to get them up and moving more.” Glenn Caldwell

why we decided to do a walking challenge.” These Healthy Trucker walking challenges have made a significant impact earlier this year. Debbie Sparks, vice-president of the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) had nothing but good things to say about them since the TCA had their own Healthy Trucker-run challenge at the TCA convention this past March. The TCA Challenge had 11 officers of the TCA equipped with wearable FitBit devices to count their steps through the three-day convention. The results were staggering. Combined the participants logged nearly 1.6 million steps and walked more than 790 miles in just three short days. “It was amazing the feedback we got,” said Sparks about when she initially told the TCA officers about the challenge. “They immediately started challenging each other. They just really got 100% behind it.” During the gala and auction at the convention, there was a one-year health and wellness package up for grabs. “The bidding got so crazy, I’m not sure what happened,” said Sparks. “But the audience challenged the guys at NAL to throw up two more one-year packages. We had three huge winning bidders all over $10,000, that they each

Trucking HR Canada seeks opinions on women in trucking industry

July 2014

17

spent on a one-year health and wellness program for their corporate companies.” Sparks believes that by starting the push towards a healthier lifestyle with business executives, the message will trickle down to drivers and others in the industry. “I’ve had a lot of people tell me, ‘Five to ten years ago we tried to do health and wellness’ but the real difference I’m seeing today is that it’s actually starting from the top down,” she said. “And that’s where change is going to happen. You know, business leaders adopt it and now we’re really seeing a huge impact.” Proceeds from the $1,000 donation to enter the upcoming Healthy Fleet Challenge will go directly to the Heart & Stroke Foundation and the Make-AWish Foundation. To get your business on the path to wellness or to get involved in the Healthy Fleet Challenge that begins on July 1, please visit www. healthyfleet.com or call 855-422-8333 to register.

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Ottawa, ontario Trucking HR Canada is conducting a series of surveys so it can better understand the issues and challenges faced by women in the trucking industry. The surveys – for employers of both sexes, women already working in the industry and career-seekers – support the organization’s new Women with Drive project and can be completed in about 10 minutes. They are accessible at www.TruckingHR.com. “Rather than relying on anecdotal evidence, these surveys will give us the data needed to develop the practical tools which will help fleets recruit and retain more women,” says Angela Splinter, CEO of Trucking HR Canada. Women represent close to 48% of Canada’s labour force, but just 3% of Canada’s truck drivers, technicians and cargo workers. They also represent just 11% of managers, 13% of parts technicians, 18% of dispatchers, and 25% of freight claims/safety and loss prevention specialists, Trucking HR Canada points out.

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18 canada

TRUCK NEWS

Plans to stabilize B.C. port put into place

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In releasing his recommendations, Ready acknowledged just how complicated the situation is at the port, and how difficult it will be to implement fixes. “We make the recommendations acknowledging that some of the commitments made will have to be implemented in the shadow of Marine Act requirements and lawsuits. That said, it is our view that immediate action must be taken with respect to wait times. To date, drivers have not been compensated for wait times and in our opinion, it is necessary to provide recommendations to assist in facilitating such compensation,” he wrote. Ready provided a formula for paying drivers for wait times, and established that the fee must be forwarded to drivers, and not retained by the trucking companies. “Port Metro Vancouver will establish a mechanism for directing the Terminal Gate Efficiency Fee (ie. waiting time fee) to be paid to the trucking companies who will be required to pass the fee on to independent owner/ operators. Starting seven days after a return to work, the Terminal Gate Efficiency Fee shall be paid at $50 per trip for time spent waiting at port terminals (Deltaport, Fraser Surrey Docks, Vanterm, Centerm) after 90 minutes of waiting time. At two hours of waiting time, an additional $25 fee will be paid per trip. At two-and-a-half hours of waiting time, an additional $25 fee will be paid per trip. Each additional half hour will be paid at a rate of $20.” He also compiled a list of where the drivers need to be located at each terminal before the wait time calculations kick in. Ready looked at the issue of trucks lacking GPS technology that can be used to track locations and wait times. “We acknowledge that PMV has worked hard to expedite the GPS program and we understand that it is PMV’s intention to have all trucks fitted with electronic monitoring devices in early July 2014. That said, it is clear to us that as each day passes without a mechanism for tracking wait times, the issue respecting how to gather, enforce and pay the wait times for those trucks which do not have GPS devices becomes more and more complex.” To address that issue, he said the port needs to create a manual mechanism for tracking wait times, and that must happen before May 28. He also suggests that method remain in place until all trucks accessing the port are equipped with GPS units. Ready stated in no uncertain terms that drivers should be paid for their

July 2014

time, and that there should be serious consequences if that doesn’t happen. He did, however, make one series of exceptions when it came to paying for wait-times. “We recommend that wait times relating to double ended moves and events beyond the control of the terminals (weather related events, power interruptions, and terminal operating system outages) be exempt from the wait time calculations,” at least until such time as those issues have been further studied and solutions can be put in place to address those situations. Responding to Ready’s recommendations, federal minster of transport Lisa Raitt, and Todd Stone, British B.C’s minister of transportation and infrastructure issued a joint statement expressing their appreciation for the recommendations. “Mr. Ready has submitted recom-

“

The days of undercutting and downloading costs to drivers are over.” Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor

mendations to Transport Canada officials, which will be acted upon quickly. These recommendations allow for wait times to be measured and truckers to be compensated accordingly, consistent with the Joint Action Plan. “It doesn’t end here. Discussions on further steps to implement the Joint Action Plan and on long-term solutions for stable and efficient trucking operations at Canada’s busiest port will continue. We are confident all parties will continue to work together to achieve longterm stability at the port.” A Unifor spokesperson also issued a statement on behalf of its members. “This announcement clears the way for wait time payments to start flowing freely to truck drivers despite the efforts of some groups to obstruct the plan for stability,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s B.C. area director. “We believe this announcement should send a strong message to all stakeholders that the Joint Action Plan will be fully implemented and that stability is preferred to chaos. It’s time for those opposing this plan to get with the program and realize that the days of undercutting and downloading costs onto drivers are over.”

14-06-09 4:58 PM

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14-06-09 10:30 AM

20 quebec

For whom the bridge tolls A battle rages over tolls on the new Champlain Bridge in Montreal By Carroll McCormick MONTREAL, Quebec The federal government insists that tolls are non-negotiable for the replacement Champlain Bridge. Montreal area politicians say, ‘No way.’ Quebec’s trucking industry says ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ The Harper government worked tolls into its 2014 budget, noting in its Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1, “The New Bridge for the St. Lawrence Act will … provide the Minister of Public Works and Government Services with the authority to enter into an agreement with a third party (P3 partner as operator) and for the latter to collect tolls, fees or other charges that may be imposed in respect

of the bridge.” The federal government announced this year that the new bridge will be a public-private partnership (P3) and that there will be a toll on it when it opens in 2018. Although no one knows, or is just not saying how much the toll will be, federal Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel has said that $7 is incorrect; rather, it will closer to what is being charged for the A30 ring road ($1.50 per axle for trucks) and the A25 ($2.50 per axle for trucks during peak periods and $1.88 per axle for off-peak periods). Really? The A25 cost $500 million and the A30 cost $1.5 billion. The new Champlain Bridge will supposedly cost between $3 and $5 billion. If tolls reflect construction costs, perhaps $7 is the bet-

It’s still unclear how much it will cost truckers to use the new Champlain Bridge. Photo by Carroll McCormick

ter guess. Gregory Thomas, federal director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation, believes that to avoid price gouging, an independent commission should regulate tolls. “We think that the bridge developer should have to make the case to a thirdparty regulator for the bridge tolls.” Furthermore, he notes, “We don’t see a very transparent connection between fuel taxes that are collected and the building of roads. In our view it would be better to

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replace regular fuel taxes with tolling.” In any case, tolls on the new Champlain Bridge appear to be a fait accompli. “The only thing remaining,” says Marc Cadieux, director general, Quebec Trucking Association (QTA), “is ‘how much will it cost?’” Quebec politicians, including Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, are against the toll. “The trucking industry is opinionated on both sides. Some say, ‘Say no to tolls, Marc,’ and others say, ‘Just lobby that the fees will be feasible’,” Cadieux says. However, he elaborates, “There has to be a financial incentive to use it. I am here to represent the fluidity of the highway transportation, reasonable costs and that new toll charging systems not be invented.” Cadieux is referring to the fact that the A30 and A25 have different tolling systems. Worse, the A25 consortium adds an extra $5.20 administration fee on the toll for users who do not have transponders. This triggered a class action lawsuit last year. “The QTA is fighting (the different tolling systems), to not reinvent what already exists. The government should oblige the P3 to use a common toll system,” Cadieux says. He adds that Lebel is aware of this problem. “Consumers have every right to demand (standardized toll collection technologies),” Thomas comments. If tolls cost less than the cost of fuel, time and wear and tear on trucks inching across the current Champlain Bridge, that would benefit the trucking industry. As currently envisioned, the replacement bridge will have three lanes in each direction, as does the Champlain Bridge now. Unlike the current bridge however, which reserves one lane inbound in the morning and one outbound in the afternoon and evening for buses, the new bridge will have a dedicated inbound and a dedicated outbound lane for public transit. Hopefully, the replacement bridge will be able to easily digest current and future traffic. Lower prices during off-peak hours, although apparently not part of the public discussion right now, could even help smooth out the daily traffic flow, and offer truckers an option. “If you have peak hour tolling the trucking industry could make a rational decision when to use the road, to use it at non-peak times,” Thomas suggests. There is a concern that vehicles could swarm free alternatives to the new Champlain Bridge, such as the Jacques Cartier and Mercier Bridges, the Lafontaine Tunnel or even the A40 to and from Trois-Rivieres. This may not happen, but still, there could be unintended consequences, even if only locally. For example, Valleyfield has been complaining that eastbound trucks that skirt the A30 tollbooths are a noisy nuisance. They do this by exiting the A20 onto Boulevard Monseigneur-Langlois and then reconnecting with the A30 beyond the tollbooths. “There has been pressure. This is a debate within the debate,” Cadieux says.

14-04-04 11:26 AM

14-06-09 11:51 AM

TRUCK NEWS

ontario

July 2014

21

KRTS launches new training program caledonia, ontario

Above, Trison Tarps president Paul Vandenberg serves some barbecued pork to guests at the company’s open house. On right, employees demonstrate how tarps are constructed on-site.

Trison Tarps moves into larger new facility By Carolyn Gruske BRANTFORD, Ontario Although hosting an open house gave Paul Vandenberg an opportunity to socialize with customers and suppliers, it also afforded him the opportunity to do one of the things he really loves: barbecuing a 200-lb pig on his custom designed and built BBQ. The owner, founder and president of Trison Tarps typically gets the pork grilling for charity events or church get-togethers, but May’s cooking was

done in celebration of his company’s new facility. The Brantford, Ont.-based manufacturer moved into its new 48,000 sq.-ft. facility in April but May 21 was the day everybody was invited in for a look. Built on 14 acres, the new location has a 2,500 sq.-ft. showroom, 10,000 sq.-ft. devoted to tarp manufacturing, a tarp repair area, space to produce aluminum products and accessories such as storage boxes, and seven drive-through bays where trailers can be brought and worked upon. In

comparison, the company’s previous building totalled 17,000 sq.-ft. (and that was after two expansions) and was situated on two acres. Despite the amount of time and effort spent on making the project happen – it took two years to purchase the land, apply for permits, hire the contractor, design the facility, and complete the construction – Vandenberg said he never expected to be where he was today. “I didn’t have a plan to do this. I take everything one day at a time,” he told Truck News.

KRTS Transportation Specialists announced it has received approval from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) to launch a new program. The new program, called Transportation and Construction Express, will certify clients in trucking, construction and warehouse. It also includes a Professional Truck Driver Institute certificate. “For our team, it is all about employability and retention in the transportation industry,” said Kim Richardson, president of KRTS. “We want to ensure the graduates of KRTS have the best opportunity for employment and retention in the industry.” Once successfully completing the course, a student will be qualified to work in trucking, construction or warehouse distribution. “Simply put, an individual who enrolls in the program and successfully graduates should never be unemployed again,” said Richardson. Applicants must be 18 years old, have at least completed grade 10 (or equivalent) and hold a G-class driver’s licence. They must also pass an MTO medical and written exam, supply a criminal record and driver’s abstract.

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22 human resources

How to create a fleet drivers are happy and proud to work for Best practices from the Best Fleets to Drive For competition are revealed during seminar series By James Menzies

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or someone who has never run a trucking company or been a professional driver, Mark Murrell sure knows a lot about what drivers are looking for in an employer. The president of online training firm CarriersEdge is also co-founder (with partner Jane Jazrawy) of the Truckload Carrier Association’s Best Fleets to Drive For competition and as such, has conducted thousands of driver surveys and hundreds of fleet interviews over the six years the contest has been run. One of the objectives in launching the program was to recognize the best driver-focused programs employed in the trucking industry, but also to share those best practices so that the industry as a whole could make itself more appealing to drivers and prospective drivers. To this end, Murrell has conducted a cross-Canada seminar series each of the past four years, through which he shares some of the best programs and initiatives unearthed during the Best Fleets to Drive For selection process. Truck News and Transportation Media are sponsors of the series. We caught up with it May 14 in Kitchener, Ont.

The driver surveys and fleet interviews conducted each year serve to identify emerging trends, including driver compensation. Murrell noted income for company drivers has been increasing about 2% each year, primarily due to a corresponding increase in miles run. Owner/operators have fared better, seeing their income increase while their miles have decreased. Among the Top 20 winning fleets, average annual income for company drivers was $58,355 and gross income for O/Os was $175,077. Company drivers with the Best Fleets averaged 113,812 miles per year in 2013 while O/Os averaged 115,186 miles. One of the themes that emerged in last year’s driver surveys is that most drivers prefer to be paid extra based on performance rather than seniority. A strong majority (80.53%) said bonuses should be paid for performance, not tenure. Murrell discovered another interesting trend: that commonly-offered referral bonuses aren’t that important to drivers. Of the drivers surveyed, 77.3% said they’d refer their company to other drivers and 67.73% of them said they were not influenced at all by the existence of a referral bonus. Only 11.7% of drivers surveyed said they were “strongly influenced” to recommend their company to other drivers because of a referral bonus. In 2013, Murrell noted many of the

programs that were innovative and progressive during the initial years of the Best Fleets to Drive For program have become mainstream. “There’s a new normal in terms of programs drivers are being offered,” Murrell said. He offered driver scorecards as an example. “We’re pretty much to the point where everyone’s doing it,” he said. “If we come across a fleet that doesn’t have driver scorecards, that’s more of a surprise.” The use of social media has also become commonplace within the industry. “It has really gotten to the point where everybody we evaluate has a Facebook page,” Murrell said. The biggest trends to emerge last year that may become mainstream in future years, is the provision of technologies to drivers for business and personal use. As an example, Springfield, Mo.-based Steelman Transportation, identified last year as one of the top five Fleets to Watch, gives every new owner/operator a free laptop computer. Grand Island Express gives every company driver and O/O an Android tablet and Emerald Park, Sask.-based DJ Knoll equips drivers with iPhone 5s. “They’re putting good technology in everybody’s hands,” Murrell said. Taking it a step further, Murrell said some fleets are developing their own apps to assist drivers and O/Os with things like document scanning. Prime Inc. is one such fleet and 4,000 of its 6,000 drivers have taken advantage of it and downloaded the free app, putting to rest the idea that truck drivers are not

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technologically adept. “Building mobile apps is a lot cheaper than it used to be and my bet is that over the next year, we’ll see more fleets going in this direction,” Murrell noted. Another trend discovered in 2013 is that fleets are now employing trainer rotations, ensuring every new hire gets seat time with each of the company’s driver-trainers. This way, the newbies get access to the strongest elements of each trainer’s repertoire and they’re less likely to pick up bad habits passed along by a single trainer. Carriers that were identified as the Best to Drive For are also doing more in the area of public image campaigns, Murrell said, revealing a correlation between community outreach and happier drivers. MVPs: Most Valuable Programs

Some of the driver-oriented programs uncovered through the Best Fleets to Drive For evaluation process stood out as being truly unique and innovative. Load One Transportation & Logistics of Taylor, Mich. has implemented a loyalty program for drivers. They earn points for doing things well (ie. safety, fuel economy and on-time deliveries), which they can then redeem for a wide range of prizes. Central Oregon Trucking is a flatdeck fleet that built a cargo securement training facility at its terminal, where drivers can be trained on and practice tarping and tie-down procedures. A harness system was built into the roof to keep them from getting hurt. But the fleet that stood out for providing the most driver-focused programs was Prime Inc. Its home terminal offers everything from a daycare centre to a full-sized basketball court. When the swimming pool required $60,000 in repairs, owner Robert Low asked drivers if they’d prefer the pool to be fixed or for the money to be spent constructing a new outdoor park with picnic table and grills. Asking for their input meant a lot to drivers who participated in the survey, Murrell said. Prime also has taken steps to make fleet managers more accountable, including linking more than half their compensation to the performance of the drivers they oversee. “At Prime, fleet managers are incented to ensure their drivers are making money,” Murrell explained. “All those fleet managers spend time coaching drivers, capturing data, working with drivers and sharing best practices.” Prime also makes affordable education available to all its employees. Rather than just donating money to a local university, as it once did, the company now sets aside a portion of that money to go towards tuition for its employees. The Bison benchmark

As administrator of the Best Fleets to Drive For program, Murrell is often asked by fleet managers what they can do to become a more driver-friendly fleet. In Canada, the question he hears most often is “How do we beat Bison?” Bison Transport has been a four-time winner in the competition and this year was named overall winner in the company driver category. “They think differently,” Murrell said. “The view the world in a different way and they approach the business in a different way.” He pointed to their Winnipeg headquarters, which is more representative of a tech company HQ than a truck terminal. Companies participating

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TRUCK NEWS

Best Fleets by the numbers

25 $175,077 $58,355 12 98 0.278 59 7 6 The number of trucks run the smallest fleet in the top 20, TimeLine Logistic

The average gross income for owner/operators driving for the Top 20 Best Fleets

The average annual income among company drivers working for the Top 20 Best Fleets

The number of Top 20 winners who were also among the Top 20 last year

The number of fleets that made it to the finals

The number of fleets nominated

The number of Top 20 fleets that have placed there for three or more years

in the Best Fleets program are scored across a wide range of metrics and Bison achieved an overall score of 96.27% – the highest ever seen since the program was launched six years ago. “They are really setting the bar high in all these different areas,” Murrell said. One of the successful programs employed by Bison is Flex Time, which gives drivers the ability to work a schedule that fits their lifestyle – whether it’s 25 days a month, or one. The size of Bison allows it to offer regional, long-haul, LCV, domestic and cross-border runs – whatever type of work a driver is looking for. Murrell also

The average number of DOT-reportable crashes per million miles driven by the Top 20 Best Fleets

The number of years Best Fleets to Drive For has been run

said the idea is to be able to retain drivers as their needs change throughout their career. When a young driver starts a family, they can exchange long-haul work for local runs, or as their skills develop, train to become an LCV driver. Bison also pays shift premiums for night and weekend runs. “Drivers are incented to do the things they didn’t want to do before,” Murrell said. “Now, Bison doesn’t have nearly as much trouble getting people to do those runs.” Bison also has a Neighbourhood Watch program that ensures drivers aren’t subjected to hostile environments. Drivers are encouraged to report

abusive shippers and other not-sotrucker-friendly facilities. And Bison involves drivers in key decisions through its Driver Advisory Boards. We’re a good, safe fleet. Why didn’t we win?

While some fleets wonder how they could improve their workplaces and look to Best Fleets winners for guidance, others bellyache about not being selected. The selection process, Murrell pointed out, begins with a driver nomination. Any North American for-hire fleet with 10 trucks or more qualifies for nomination.

July 2014

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From there, the fleet must decide whether or not to participate in the evaluation process. Last year, 89 of 98 fleets nominated agreed to play along. (Murrell noted the percentage of nominated fleets that agree to go through the exhaustive evaluation process has increased each year). Best Fleets administrators then conduct driver surveys as well as interviews with the nominated carriers. A list of finalists is decided upon, which is then broken down into peer groups. The finalists are scored on their programs, driver satisfaction and results (ie. safety records and retention rate). Categories that are considered include: compensation; HR strategy; operational strategy; performance management; driver development and career path; and work/life balance. “It’s more than a popularity contest,” Murrell said. The sophisticated scoring process even takes into consideration the impact flatdeck work, or a fleet’s willingness to employ new entrants, has on turnover. Each year, the scoring mechanism is modified to reflect emerging trends. Perhaps the biggest change to the scoring process will come next year, when instead of naming overall winners in company driver and owner/operator categories, the competition will instead create small fleet and large fleet categories. This is because the number of carriers who run owner/operators exclusively is small in comparison to those that hire company drivers or a mix of both. The new categories, Murrell said, will also create more opportunities for small fleets.

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health

Back behind the wheel Dr. Chris Singh

Are your eyes feeling strained?

T

he muscles of the eye, just like any other muscle in the body, can fatigue or tire from overuse. In most cases, eye strain is not a serious medical condition and usually goes away once the eyes are given adequate rest. There are many possible causes of eye strain. However, using computers and/or digital electronic devices such as cell phones is one of the most commonly reported causes. This type of eye strain is called computer vision syndrome. Other activities which involve prolonged focus, such as driving, may also put tremendous strain on the eyes. In addition, exposure to bright lights may also tire the eyes. The latter two causes pertain directly to professional truck drivers. Stress and fatigue are also significant risk factors for eye strain. Finally, underlying eye problems such as eye muscle imbalances or uncorrected vision should also be considered when experiencing eye fatigue. The symptoms of eye strain vary from person to person. However, most people who are experiencing mild eye strain complain of sore, tired and burning eyes. Headaches and neck pain are also common symptoms associated with eye strain. In more severe cases, blurred or double vision and light sensitivity may be present. Some people experiencing eye strain report having difficulty focusing on specific tasks. The good news is that eye strain rarely causes any serious or long-term consequences. In fact, in most cases, the symptoms associated with eye strain will go away within a few days. Generally, the treatment of eye strain starts with identifying the underlying cause. In some cases, correcting vision problems with prescription lenses will reduce the symptoms. In other cases, modifying work habits or environmental factors will be necessary. For example, wearing sunglasses while driving or making sure there is adequate light when reading or performing close-up work. Another good tip is to position the light source behind you when reading printed material. This will avoid having the light glaring directly into your eyes. Also, avoid watching TV or working on a computer in a dark room to avoid high contrast between the screen and the surrounding environment.

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TRUCK NEWS

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Resting your eyes throughout the day is also important in preventing eye fatigue. A good rule of thumb is the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, take your eyes off your computer or work station and focus on something 20 feet away for a minimum of 20 seconds. Here are a few tips for professional truck drivers: Firstly, remember to blink often while driving in order to refresh and lubricate your eyes. Also, make sure that the heating or cooling vents are not blowing directly into your eyes as this may dry them. Finally, wearing polarized sunglasses will reduce glare and prevent eye strain due to excessive sunlight. If home remedies do not relieve the symptoms of eye strain, it is important to seek medical attention. Until next month, drive safely! Dr. Christopher H. Singh runs Trans Canada Chiropractic at the 230 Truck Stop in Woodstock, Ont. He can be reached at 519421-2024.

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14-06-09 12:29 PM

26 over the road

TRUCK NEWS

Bring on more wellness advisors

Over the Road Al Goodhall

S

“

peedy hires new wellness advisor and driver trainer. Will this newly-created, health-focused role become more prevalent in the trucking world?” Truck News asked that question in its June edition under their wellness section. Assistant editor Sonia Straface interviewed Jared Martin, CEO of Speedy Transport along with Jason Jannetta, Speedy’s newly minted driver trainer and wellness advisor. The resulting article was a fascinating read. I, for one, am keen to see trucking companies marry driver training to driver wellness. In my opinion this would be a win-win for drivers and their employers.

The Globe & Mail published an article titled, ‘The business case for healthy and happy employees’ the same week the above article was published. Here a just a couple of highlights from that article. • An investment in wellness programs returns two to five times the cost to the bottom line; • Wellness programs ignite employee engagement and should be seen as a strategic initiative not just an independent program run out of the human resources department. Over the past few years, we have seen a much greater awareness of driver health issues throughout the trucking industry. A number of companies have run weight loss challenges and the trucking media reports on driver health

issues more frequently and in more depth than they have in the past. I have attended a number of seminars on the subject myself but rarely are other drivers in attendance. From what I have seen so far, drivers don’t appear to be changing their habits in significant numbers. Drivers may be well aware of the negative effects of fast food, a sedentary life behind the wheel, lack of exercise and smoking, but many are resigned to accepting this as part of the job. This is often summed up with the expression, “That’s trucking.” In other words it’s always been done that way and will never change. Kudos to Jared Martin of Speedy Transport for taking a more innovative approach that engages drivers through

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July 2014

a wellness advisor rather than delivering a canned program that many drivers would probably end up leaving on the shelf. For the past 14 years I have kept a focus on my own health to combat the negative effects of this sedentary lifestyle. The prescription for anyone to improve their physical health is pretty simple. Eat in a healthier way, don’t smoke and exercise more. It goes without saying that it’s easier said than done. My

As drivers we all have one thing in common. We invest a huge amount of our lives in our work. experience over the past year has been a case in point. Despite all the knowledge I have gained and all the successes I have experienced, I know I would benefit greatly at this point in my life if I were able to sit down with a wellness advisor and gain a fresh perspective. In the autumn of 2000 I committed to changing my life one day at a time. I had much success. First I quit smoking and the next year I started following that simple prescription of eating less and exercising more. It worked. By the end of 2011 I had lost over 80 pounds and had taken up running as my exercise of choice. For much of that time I had been doing open board long-haul work usually on the road for three to four weeks, then home for three to five days. I think it was the fall of 2010 when I started doing a dedicated run from southwestern Ontario to Winnipeg every week. That put me home two days per week. Life was good. In the spring of 2012 I started working with a personal trainer two days per week and my health stepped up another notch. I had never felt better. I was investing 10-12 hours per week in exercise at this point and that is a huge time investment for a longhaul truck driver, but to me it was worth every minute. Life is all about impermanence though and my circumstances changed. After working for several years in Asia our daughter returned home in 2010, married, and the grandchildren started to appear. For my wife and I, having our daughter and grandchildren in our lives was the best thing that could happen. Changes, even positive ones, can have ripple effects that we don’t foresee. It’s no longer feasible for me to invest 1012 hours per week exercising. I simply don’t have that amount of time available anymore. So for the past year I’ve been struggling to find a new balance and feel that my personal health is slipping backwards. Time at the gym has stopped, running has been reduced to walking sporadically and my frustration is building. Life is difficult, isn’t it? My story isn’t your story but as drivers we all have one thing in common. We invest a huge amount of our lives in our work. Time is precious. I say bring on the wellness advisors to help each of us find that balance. Al Goodhall has been a professional long-haul driver since 1998. He shares his experiences via his ‘Over the Road’ blog at http://truckingacrosscanada.blogspot.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @Al_Goodhall.

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2.3 Challenger_TruckNews_Jul2014_Layout 1 14-06-05 3:00 PM Page 1

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28 opinion

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Small Fleet, Big Attitude bill cameron

Lies and mistruths have eroded trust

I

can be pretty thick-skinned about a lot of things. Call me any name in the book. It’s been done, and doesn’t really bother me anymore. Everybody has an opinion, and if yours differs from mine, then fire off the insults with both barrels. We’ll all get over it when we cool off. There’s one sure-fire way to get under my skin though – and I never get over it – and it happens in this industry a lot: Lie to me. Liars have a special place on my list: the bottom, and that will nev-

er change. I consider lying to be the deepest insult and lack of respect you can show another human being. This is not one of my typical rants against large carriers. They aren’t any guiltier than some small carriers, or drivers. Cozy terms such as ‘little white lie,’ or ‘misled’ still qualify as lies. Years ago, I applied for a job with a trucking company of about 100 trucks – large, by my standards – and was granted an interview. The recruiter gave me what I considered a ridiculous written test called a ‘Personality Inventory Quiz.’ Even the title was foolish. It gave numerous scenarios of social or work situations, then asked me to pick the best answer provided. Depending on which boxes I checked off, the recruiter’s computer would pigeonhole me into a personality type, and reveal what type of worker I would be. I handed back the test, and told the interviewer I had not answered one particular question because there wasn’t an appropriate answer. Assuming that I just couldn’t read, she read the question to me: “If you had to tell a lie, could you look the person in the eye, or would you avoid eye contact?” “Exactly,” I said. “There is no answer. Lying is not a necessity, it’s a choice, and a poor one. If I screw up, I’ll have the decency to admit it, and I’d like to think I could expect the same courtesy in return.” As the temperature dropped in the room at the same rate as her face reddened, I knew the interview was over.

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TRUCK NEWS

July 2014

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I honestly thought it was a trick question. I was immediately shuffled off to the terminal manager, who explained the run I’d be doing, if hired. It was a convoluted triangle, expected to be completed twice a week. (I’m a very steady runner, and I had no clue how this was going to happen). “Easy run,” he said, “Do it with my eyes closed.” By the look of the 75-year-old face on a 50-year-old man, I expect he had done just that. Several years ago, I got a call from a local owner/op, who had only done dry van work. He was a relatively young man, but well north of 400 lbs. Mr. Obvious told me he couldn’t handle tarping, but asked if I would have any flatbed work he could do? I explained that I could keep him busy without ever touching a tarp, but the freight he would be hauling would consist of the worst paying work we had, and I didn’t feel it would be financially sufficient. I gave him some numbers, and he agreed. Years later, I learned this person was telling his buddies that he had applied for work, but the rates didn’t suit his standards. Technically, this was true; now try telling the whole story. We once hired an owner/op who lived close to the border we crossed the most frequently. He was interested in the job, as long as he could periodically be home through the week. Of course he could, so I explained our work schedule: leave Sunday, return late Friday with three trips complete. Next week, leave Monday, park it Friday morning with two trips complete, then repeat the cycle. Pickup and delivery instructions were e-mailed for every trip. After loading on a Friday for a Monday delivery, as specified, I called Sunday evening to see if the border crossing had gone well. No it hadn’t, because he had no intention of leaving home till Monday, instructions be damned. He claimed to be unaware we ever left on Sunday. His ‘passing through home throughout the week’ also turned into a specific evening every week, until midnight. He lasted here less than a month. Wouldn’t the truth have prevented a lot of headaches and inconvenience on his part and ours? So how does this issue affect small trucking companies? Most of us do our own hiring, because we don’t have a specific HR person. Drivers have been lied to so often – and to such extremes – by carriers of all sizes, that they rarely believe anything they’re told, truth or otherwise. For a few years, 85% of our outbound freight went to the New Jersey or Philadelphia areas. It paid very well, as a regular diet of this part of the country should. Owner/operators pulling company trailers were earning $2-$2.30 per mile. Even with rates such as this, we had no more luck with recruitment than previously, or since, because potential hires simply didn’t believe the rates; they had been sucked in by tall tales at other carriers for their whole career, and just assumed this was another fantasy. A little honesty would do us all a world of good. Bill Cameron and his wife Nancy own and operate Parks Transportation, a four-truck flatdeck trucking company. Bill can be reached at williamcameron.bc@gmail.com.

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INDUSTRY

Industry Issues DAVID BRADLEY

Practical ideas for the next border pact

W

ith 2014 marking the 20th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and talk of perhaps opening the agreement up, or at least a new border agreement, now’s the time to take stock of where we’re at and where we might go from here. NAFTA has been good for the economies of the three signatory countries. As a derived demand industry and since trucks haul most of the goods traded, trucking has been a chief beneficiary. But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Nor has NAFTA achieved its full promise at least as it pertains to freight transportation. Amongst the early casualties of the unilateral decision by the US to not allow Mexican trucks to travel beyond the border “commercial zone” which was supposed to happen by December 1995 – a situation which persists to this day other than in various pilots – was the demise of trilateral efforts to achieve greater harmonization of continental trucking standards. More importantly, the US’s pre-occupation with the southern border has at times stymied bilateral solutions over concerns that “If we do it for Canada, we’d have to do it for Mexico,” or “We have to treat you the same as the Mexicans.” Then there was the 9/11 tragedy and the resulting heightening of security that has led to a “thickening” of the border. While we were told both enhanced security and trade facilitation was achievable if companies and individuals became trusted traders, it hasn’t always worked out that way. Over the years there have been various Canada-US border initiatives; the most recent being the Beyond the Border (BTB) Action Plan aimed at bringing more balance to the security-trade facilitation equation. So far, actual deliverables – at least among the measures of most interest to trucking such as restoring in-transits and allowing the repositioning of foreign empty trailers – have been somewhat elusive but we maintain hope for some positive outcomes. Going forward, we don’t expect any significant changes. EU-style borders or labour mobility are not in the cards. But, there are things that could be done that would enhance the com-

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petitiveness of North American supply chains by creating more tangible benefits to trusted traders; further border automation; the efficient use of current border infrastructure and strategic new investment; and, labour mobility rules consistent with modern logistics practices. The terms pre-clearance/pre-inspection/pre-screen are sometimes used interchangeably. A case in point is the pilot (a BTB initiative) now underway at Buffalo/Fort Erie. What is being piloted is not preclearance as some think, but rather a CBP pre-inspection on the Canadian side after which the truck will cross to the US side, come to a rolling stop and then either be cleared or sent to secondary. Whether this two-stop approach is better than the current one stop remains to be seen. So far the results have been promising but pre-clearance – where there are no stops for trusted traders because the driver, conveyance and freight have all been risk-assessed and released prior to arrival at the border – would be a much better option. The US and Canadian e-manifest programs – ACE and ACI – represent the starting point for border automation. Under ACE carriers can use transponders to transmit RFID signals to CBP. Unfortunately, the Canadian program does not include the transponder option even though if available it would speed clearance. But, even better would be to take things a step further and introduce an RFID-enabled border crossing ID card for commercial drivers, eliminating the need for transponders and/or multiple cards (FAST, TWIC, CDRP). The existing FAST card infrastructure could serve as the platform. Tiered security clearance levels – ie., where FAST lane access or front-ofthe-line access to secondary – could be restricted to those with a high clearance level. In terms of border infrastructure a few more bridges or at least some additional spans/lanes would be helpful at least at some of the busiest crossings. Having some of that capacity reserved for commercial traffic only would also be good. But if our experience in trying to get that second bridge built at Detroit-Windsor – North America’s single largest gateway for trade – is any indication, it’ll be tough. It is incredible that the only thing preventing that project from moving forward is for the US federal government to pick up the US$250 million cost of the US Customs plaza. NAFTA did not address the antiquated labour mobility rules governing the point-to-point movement of goods by a foreign carrier – ie., cabotage. Again, there is currently no prospect for EU-style cabotage. But, some increased flexibility would improve efficiency and productivity and allow for more effective utilization of drivers and vehicles. Harmonizing the immigration cabotage rules with the equipment cabotage rules would seem to make sense. These ideas are really not particularly bold. They are practical and would have a beneficial impact on cross-border operations. Whether they ever see the light of day, only time will tell.

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14-06-05 4:08 PM

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14-06-06 3:50 PM

TRUCK NEWS

OPINION

Small You sayFleet, tomato, IBig sayAttitude tomahto MARK LEE

I

had thought long and hard before I took the leap into becoming an owner/operator, to the point where I was certain about which truck I was going to buy, how long I was going to keep it, where I would get it serviced, who I was going to lease on with and which areas I wanted to run. But there was one thing I was still undecided about: idle reduction technology. I was certain that I did not want to idle my truck. That is just not an option on the newer engines – the emission control systems do not respond well to idling and the last thing I want to do is tempt fate. I may have a full warranty, but I do not want to put it to the test with something that could be prevented. The alternatives to idling are not cheap, but neither is idling. My truck uses about half an imperial gallon of fuel per hour of idling, so in the heat of summer or the depths of winter that could well mean 30 to 40 gallons of fuel a week, so that’s a cost of around $150 on diesel alone. Multiply that by 20 to cover an extreme winter (this is Canada, after all) and a reasonable summer and that’s $3000 taken care of. Three grand is not a fortune, but it’s on par with a fuel mileage loss of 0.5 mpg and that sheds a completely different light on the subject. Three grand a year over the projected four years of my ownership of the truck just so happens to work out to the same price as having a diesel-powered auxiliary power unit (APU) fitted, so it’s a wash – except it isn’t. An APU also requires servicing and routine maintenance, but those costs can be put against the increased wear and tear and increased frequency of servicing the big engine, so as a ballpark figure you can say it’s still a wash. But this is not just a simple pen and paper exercise. The cost of an emissions system breakdown can run into thousands, even if it is covered by warranty. The chances of a breakdown happening in my yard are pretty slim, so I’ll be out on the road somewhere; at best I’ll lose a day’s revenue, at worst it could be a week or more. This would likely require the load I’m under to require repowering and the cost of that could be passed on to me. Then there are hotel bills and other unexpected expenses. Of course I can always stay out and make up the lost time and corresponding revenue, but I don’t want to have to do that. The whole reason for buying a truck was to give my family a better life and while some days my wife would tell you she wishes I was out on the road longer, deep down she doesn’t really mean it. Well, maybe she does, but that’s a whole different story. Okay, so I’m joking a little there, but the point I’m making is a serious one. We’re out there for long periods of time as it is, so prolonging that is not something any of us really want to do. We may do it to earn a little more, but to have to do it puts it up near the top of my list of things I don’t want to do, right up there with going in a submarine. And believe me, I really would put up a fight if you tried to get me in a submarine.

pg 33 tn july v3.indd 33

Exploring my idle reduction options Now my reference to submarines wasn’t as random as it first appears. You see, a submarine uses its main

starting and even run a heating element on the main batteries to ensure they had plenty of juice on a cold winter’s morning, or I could even go the whole hog and buy an electric APU. Either method would be cheaper than a diesel APU – both to purchase and operate – so instead of it being a break even, it would actually save me money and every penny I save is pure profit. The winter part of it scares me though. Yes, a bunk heater is more than capable of keeping me warm, but if we

The emissions systems do not respond well to idling and the last thing I want to do is tempt fate. power source to produce and store electricity to power its ancillaries, so I considered that method. I could hook up a separate bank of batteries and use them to power the bunk heater in winter and a small portable air conditioner for the summer. I could fit a block heater to help cold

July 2014

33

have a winter like the one we’ve just experienced and I’m sat for a day or two because of a shutdown, that electricity is going to dwindle down to the point that I need to fire up the big engine and we come full circle back to the potential problems that idling can cause. So I’m getting a diesel-powered APU. I’ve narrowed my choices down to two manufacturers; they both have a good dealer network, they’re both very involved with the small diesel engine market and they’re both around the same price. It looks like I’m going to have to toss one of the Loonies I’ll be saving and let that decide for me. I just need to decide which one is heads and which one is tails. A fourth generation trucker and trucking journalist, Mark Lee uses his 25 years of transcontinental trucking in Europe, Asia, North Africa and now North America to provide an alternative view of life on the road.

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14-06-06 1:38 PM

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pg 34-35 tn july v3.indd 34

E-mail: kellacott@laidlawvan.ca

34 SAFETY Ask the Expert

SCOTT CREIGHTON

Roadwork season has returned

T

emperatures are rising, the ice and snow melted away weeks ago, and everything has taken on an undeniably greener hue. It’s enough to make a professional driver shudder. These are the signs of construction season. Pylons are now multiplying at a rapid rate along the nation’s highways, reshaping routes and contributing to overall traffic congestion. Seasonal safety hazards have emerged in the process. Narrowing lanes, added distractions and slowmoving work vehicles all contribute to collisions, injuries and deaths. Every year, about 40 people are killed and 2,000 are injured in work zone crashes, according to Characteristics of Work Zone Crashes and Fatalities in Canada. Most of the collisions even occur in clear conditions, but the crashes at night tend to be the most severe. (Researchers believe the threats under the cover of darkness could be linked to factors such as higher average speeds). The danger is no less severe south of the border. There were 609 motor vehicle fatalities in US construction work zones in 2012 alone, according to an analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). And from 2003 to 2007, about 70% of the US fatalities took place between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Large trucks are actually involved in more than their share of resulting work zone fatalities, too. Between 2000 and 2008, one in every four work zone fatalities involved a truck, according to the US Federal Highway Administration. To put this into perspective, large trucks were involved in only 12% of all highway fatalities in general. At first glance, it can seem strange that work zones present such a threat, particularly since so many of the problems happen when conditions are clear. These stretches of highway are supposed to be designed with safety and visibility in mind. Advance warnings are provided in the form of lower posted speed limits, transition zones are planned to give enough room for drivers to change lanes, and buffer areas offer a space where the lanes merge. Each stretch of highway is well defined before a vehicle enters the work area itself. There is even a steep price to pay for speeding through the zones. The related fines in these work areas are typically multiples of those imposed

14-06-05 4:19 PM

TRUCK NEWS

July 2014

35

on other stretches of highway. Besides that, there isn’t much to be gained by ignoring the lower speeds. A vehicle travelling at 105 km/h will save less than a minute – a mere 52 seconds – when travelling through a three-kilometre work zone, when compared to a driver travelling 70 km/h. Still, any change in speeds and lanes will require an extra focus. Some surrounding motorists see warning signs about an approaching work zone as an invitation to speed up and jockey for a better position in a transition area. Once in the work zone itself, they can be distracted by such things as moving equipment rather than maintaining an appropriate following distance. The threats even continue where the work zone comes to an end. When reaching this spot known as the termination area, many motorists seem to race back to highway speeds right away, giving little thought to the

Any change in speeds and lanes will require an extra focus. traffic or other remaining hazards around them. It all requires added vigilance from those in the driver’s seat. The good news is that the elevated view from a truck cab can provide advance warning about the approaching work, leaving room to find an appropriate lane and warn surrounding drivers with hazard lights. Trip planning techniques can also help drivers prepare for these areas long before they approach a roadside sign. Details about ongoing highway construction projects, for example, are often just a click away. Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation offers detail about such work at www.mto.gov. on.ca/english/traveller/trip. Information about US projects can be found at www.HighwayConditions.com. Of course, truckers who work within the zones will continue to face unique safety-related responsibilities of their own. In a study of US fatalities between 2003 and 2007, more workers were struck and killed by construction vehicles than cars, vans or tractor-trailers. Activities in these areas require their own precautions, from following the guidance of trained traffic control personnel to wearing the appropriate reflective clothing when stepping out of the truck. Outside the cab, it’s important to remember that about half (48%) of killed roadside construction workers were run over or backed over. Added vigilance on everybody’s part will help to ensure that workers remain safe inside or outside the cab. This month’s expert is Scott Creighton, manager risk services, transportation and logistics. Scott has served the trucking industry for 25 years as a driver, safety manager and in loss control and risk management services as well. Northbridge Insurance is a leading Canadian commercial insurer built on the strength of four companies with a longstanding history in the marketplace and has been serving the trucking industry for more than 60 years. You can visit them at www.nbins.com.

pg 34-35 tn july v3.indd 35

Ryder is currently looking for quality . . . .

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14-06-05 4:19 PM

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Call Vern at 1-888-209-3867 or 519-536-1192 14-04-01 1:39 PM

TRUCK NEWS

TAX TALK

Tax Small Fleet, Talk Big Attitude SCOTT TAYLOR

M

aybe we’re just getting lazy about dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s, but simple mistakes with names on tax forms, finance contracts, insurance documents, and other official paperwork can make life extremely complicated. Whether you’re a sole proprietor or an incorporated trucking business, there may be several names tied to your business. There’s the legal name you got when you registered your company. Maybe you have a DBA (“doing business as”) or you’re under another carrier’s authority and have its name on the side of your truck. In any case, putting the wrong name on a form can lead to processing delays, missing paperwork, incorrect financial calculations, and raise the risk of an audit, fines, and other penalties. Truthfully, the mistake may not even be your fault. And just as truthfully, you’re the one who will face the frustration due to the person at your bank, equipment dealership, carrier, or other supplier not being diligent about completing documents accurately.

What’s in a name? Everything shop. Did you remember to give them a copy of your Corporate Certificate when you incorporated? Did they update their records so that your corporate name appears on the invoices and statements? They didn’t? Guess what? All those GST/HST input tax credits are also going to be denied. What about the new trailer you’re about to lease or buy? Will the folks at the finance place use the correct name on the documentation? You’d better make sure. Even though the payments will come out of your corporate bank account, you should expect a hassle from CRA if your personal name is on the documents.

Beyond CRA

This is not some made-up scare tactic. I’ve seen owner/operators denied large parts of their refunds because of this type of technicality. Being diligent about legal names is not just for CRA. In our business here we also help clients get their Canadian and US operating authorities. I have a sole-proprietor client who goes by his middle name. He put that down as his given name when he applied for his operating authorities instead of using his legal first name. I have another client who applied for his operating authorities using a non-registered trade name. Their insurance companies are not happy so we’re going to re-do

July 2014

37

their applications to avoid any confusion in the future. No matter how your operation is structured, make it a habit to use your legal business name on everything you provide to clients, vendors, or a government office. This includes invoices, contracts, business cards, letterhead, your Web site, marketing materials, and of course tax forms and other government paperwork. When you get named personally in a lawsuit because the plaintiff did not know (or claims not to know) that you’re doing business as a corporate entity, or you rush to the bank to cash a cheque but get turned away because it doesn’t have your legal business name on it, you’ll wish that all your i’s and t’s had been in order. Scott Taylor is vice-president of TFS Group, providing accounting, bookkeeping, tax return preparation, and other business services for owner/operators. Learn more at www.tfsgroup.com or call 800-461-5970.

Get your name right

Let’s say you incorporated as 1234567 Ontario Inc. after many years as a sole proprietor owner/operator. A year goes by and here comes Canada Revenue Agency to do a GST/HST audit of your corporation’s first-year quarterly fil-

The CRA auditor is likely going to deny claims for GST/HST paid on fuel, repairs and other deductions. ings. You’ve got all your documents ready for the auditor to go through. Everything looks good except one thing: your carrier didn’t update its records and contract to include your new corporate name right away. Most of your broker settlements still have your old name on them. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. The carrier caught the error and fixed it. However, the CRA auditor is most likely going to deny claims for the GST/HST paid on fuel, repairs, and other deductions on those statements. Why? Simply because the name on the “receipt” (your broker settlement) is wrong. Your GST/HST refund was filed under your corporation’s name so all invoices must be paid by your corporation. Remember that engine job you had done four months ago? And the new steer tires you bought in January? You’ve been dealing with that shop for years. You’re like Norm from Cheers: everybody knows your name. That’s right, they know your name. You’re not 1234567 Ontario Inc. at the

pg 37 tn july v3.indd 37

14-06-06 1:30 PM

Rosedale tab.indd 1

14-04-24 10:09 AM

HEALTH

Preventive Maintenance KAREN BOWEN

Have you heard?

D

o you hear everything when you listen to your favourite radio station, watch a movie, talk to your dispatcher, and/or chat with a friend? No? If your hearing has gone downhill lately, maybe your ear canal is clogged. All three sections of your ear – the outer, middle and inner ear – are important for hearing. The three parts of your outer ear – the pinna, the acoustic meatus and the ear canal – simply and effectively direct external sounds internally towards your eardrum. The pinna (or auricle) is the visible skin flap on each side of your head; the external acoustic meatus is the hole that allows the sound to enter your head; and the ear canal ends at your eardrum. The middle ear consists of your eardrum (tympanic membrane), which separates the ear canal from the internal tympanic cavity.

TRUCK NEWS

July 2014

39

In the tympanic cavity, a chain of three small bones (ossicles) – the malleus, incus, and stapes vibrate as your eardrum vibrates. The middle ear carries and changes the acoustic energy from the sound waves in the air to fluid/membrane waves within the cochlea of the inner ear. The inner ear is the most complex part of your ear. It consists of a bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the temporal bone of your skull with a system of passageways composed of two main parts: the cochlea and the vestibular system. The cochlea, necessary for hearing, converts the sound pressure patterns received from the malleus, incus and stapes into electrochemical impulses and carries this sound information via the auditory nerve to your brain to be analyzed. The vestibular system is responsible for maintaining balance. As you can imagine, your hearing system is delicate. Fortunately, your body has a built-in protection and maintenance system to keep it running smoothly; earwax is a vital component. Hair follicles and glands produce earwax – a mixture of sweat, hair, skin, long-chain fatty acids, alcohols, squalene and debris, all held together by a waxy oil (cerumen) to keep the ear canal lubricated, supple and healthy. Earwax filters dust and protects the ear canal from infection, water, insects and fungal growth. Earwax’s appearance varies. It can be light to dark brown, or even orange. Older people produce less. Normally, earwax drains on its own without causing problems. As the skin of

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Continued on page 40

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14-06-06 2:16 PM

TRANS-SEND FREIGHT SySTEmS lTD.

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40 HEALTH

How to protect your hearing Continued from page 39

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your ear canal sheds, the wax is carried to the outer part of the ear canal through epithelial migration, which is stimulated by your jaw movement. Although earwax usually moves to the outer ear independently, earwax blockage still is the most common ear problem doctors see, affecting about 6% of people. Since only the outer half of the ear canal produces earwax, earwax does not usually become lodged deep in the ear canal unless it gets pushed in. Cleaning ears with cotton swabs, bobby pins, or a finger can lead to a blockage; so can using earplugs or wearing hearing aids. Impacted earwax may result in hearing loss, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), dizziness, earaches, vertigo and/or a feeling of fullness in the ears. The following home treatment will probably resolve any earwax problems you are experiencing. Begin by softening the wax. Use an eyedropper to introduce a few drops of baby oil, mineral oil, olive oil, hydrogen peroxide or glycerin into your ear canal a couple of

Owner Operators Required

times a day for up to five days. After a few days (and when the wax has softened), use a rubber-bulb syringe to gently squirt warm (not hot) water into your ear canal. Tilt your head and gently pull your outer ear back to ensure the water fills the canal. Then, drain this water by tipping your head to the side. You may want to capture the draining liquid with a paper towel to see if you successfully dislodged the wax. Finish by gently drying your ear canal with a towel or a blow dryer set on low. Professional help may occasionally be needed to diagnose and resolve an earwax buildup, in the following situations: your earwax has become tightly packed against the eardrum, and you have tried to remove it without success; you think you may have ruptured your eardrum; your ear is painful and/or develops drainage; you have a related fever; or you’ve had past ear surgery. If you currently use earplugs to block the sound in your rig, consider using a headset instead to avoid pushing wax deeper into your ear canal. If you frequently experience earwax blockages, your doctor may recommend the following wax-removal medication as a preventative measure: carbamide peroxide (Debrox, Murine Earwax Removal Drops). As a caution – these drops can irritate the sensitive skin of your eardrum and ear canal, so they should be used sparingly and only on the advice of a doctor. Are you now thinking about taking better care of your ears? Glad to hear it! Karen Bowen is a professional health and nutrition consultant, and she can be reached at karen_bowen@yahoo.com.

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Finding the right carrier Continued from page 41

want fewer miles at higher revenue. Running miles is pure cost, so you want to minimize the cost while maximizing revenue. In other words, look for revenue opportunities where the truck makes money while incurring low or no cost, ie., while sitting at a loading dock or making multiple stops – paid, of course. Employee drivers will also want to ask about health/wellness and other benefit packages a carrier may offer. You can place a value on these benefits that will help when you’re comparing pay packages. And owner/ops can’t leave out the costs of doing business with a carrier. For all you earn with one hand, the other hand could be paying it out just as quickly. Ask what you pay for and how much: insurance, plates and permits, administration fees, service charges and mark-ups, and other special equipment requirements will all affect your net revenue. And please, don’t leave out a discussion of fuel surcharges. Contrary to popular belief, there is no regulation governing the collection and pass-through of fuel surcharges. As a business owner, it’s up to you to ensure your rate covers your costs, including fluctuating fuel prices. If the carrier is forthcoming about compensation, you’re on the right track. If you’re getting vague or convoluted answers, move on to the next carrier on your list. Your preliminary questions for a carrier should also include a discussion of the carrier’s turnover rate. If the rate is high, there’s probably a reason. Check out the carrier’s financial performance and safety record. Tying your cart to a particular horse means you’re going where it pulls you. If the carrier is on a DoT hit-list for safety violations, so are you. If it’s days or weeks away from foreclosure, so are you. If the carrier operates in the US there is a wealth of data available through FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS), which gives you the skinny on a carrier’s safety performance – past and present (ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms/Data/Search. aspx). The Ontario transportation ministry’s Carrier Safety Ratings service allows you to check a carrier’s current Safety Rating using its CVOR or name (carriersafetyrating.com). MTO tracks safety data for every carrier that operates in Ontario, even those based outside the province. Other jurisdictions are getting onboard with similar systems; check out Manitoba’s carrier snapshots program, C-SNAP, example. For financial information and credit checks try Equifax or Dun & Bradstreet (equifax.com or dnbexpress.ca). There’s a modest fee for some of these services. Armed with at least this much information, you’ll be in a better position to make apples-to-apples comparisons of several carriers and find one that fits. These days, if you’re a competent driver with a clean record, and can cross the border to boot, you’re golden. Don’t settle for a carrier that’s anything less. Joanne Ritchie is executive director of OBAC. Trouble finding a fit? E-mail her at jritchie@obac.ca or call toll free 888-794-9990.

14-06-09 5:04 PM

TRUCK NEWS

equipment

July 2014

43

Fleets frustrated over 6x2 prohibition Continued from page 1

dimensions regulations across the country – to effectively reduce red tape for carriers – may be partly to blame. The MOU defines a tandem axle as a dual axle assembly in which weight is distributed evenly across both axles at all times. While this is almost always the case with today’s ‘smart’ 6x2s with electronic load-shift capability, there are times during low-traction events in which the weight is shifted temporarily to the driven axle to improve grip. These electronic load-shift systems, such as Meritor Wabco’s Electronically-Controlled Air Suspension (ECAS), address

long-running concerns about traction in 6x2 configurations and make 6x2s viable in wintery or hilly geographies. But they also, in the eyes of some Ontario bureaucrats, effectively transform the non-driven axle into a liftable axle – even when the axle does not, in fact, lift. Make sense? We didn’t think so. So we asked the MTO, via a spokesperson, for an explanation of the rules. We got back government gobbledegook. We then turned to Meritor, which along with industry partners has been lobbying provincial and territorial governments to allow the use of current generation 6x2s.

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Meritor’s Brad Hicks has been involved in the discussions. “Here’s the issue,” he explained. “The way they define a tandem axle is: two closely coupled axles, neither of which is liftable. But then when they further interpret the definition of liftable axle, they are taking the position that any axle whose loads can be modified – either by the driver or even automatically – is considered a liftable axle. We’ve tried to make the argument that you never completely unload the non-driving axle, or tag axle, during load transfer but they have taken the position that by their definition, it is liftable and therefore is not an approved tandem axle configuration for SPIF vehicles.” Those same ground rules don’t apply for non-SPIF vehicles, but those are limited to trailer lengths of 48 feet. All the provinces and territories but

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B.C., Quebec and Ontario have indicated a willingness to rewrite the MOU to clarify the rules and to pave the way for the allowance of modern 6x2s, Hicks said. B.C. has taken a firm stand against 6x2s over fears traction will not be sufficient given the province’s mountainous terrain. That position is not likely to change, so B.C. fleets can rule out 6x2s for the foreseeable future. (There are drivers in Europe – where 6x2s are mainstream and where some significant mountain ranges reside – who may think concerns about traction are overstated. But that’s an argument for another time). The greatest frustration in all of this is that Ontario and Quebec are digging in their heels when there seems to be no reasonable technical reason to prohibit 6x2s. In doing so, they’re depriving their respective provinces’ trucking companies the ability to compete with US carriers that can use 6x2s unfettered right across the country and who undoubtedly run those same trucks north of the 49th parallel. While not much has been made of this issue at the fleet level, Truck News has spoken to carriers that are running 6x2s in Canada knowing they’re technically illegal. “There’s no way for MTO to actually catch one redistributing weight, unless they were to put a couple hundred feet of glare ice on the approach to the scale platform,” one fleet manager told Truck News, admitting he was willing to take the chance. Rob Penner, COO and executive vice-president of Bison Transport, expressed frustration that lawmakers in Canada are keeping his company from using technologies that are widely used by US competitors. “We continue to be extremely frustrated by regulations that prohibit the effective use of new technologies, particularly those designed to reduce the cost of fuel consumption and the reduction of tractor weight,” Penner told Truck News. He noted the federal and provincial governments have had no problem adopting emissions standards that forced the use of unproven technologies, burdening the industry with excessive downtime and related costs. “Yet, when it comes to industry-led initiatives that present tried and true fuel economy improvement strategies, which also benefit the environment in a meaningful way…we have to battle for years just to be heard.” The end result, said Penner, is that “We are left at a competitive disadvantage to our American counterparts, who are continuously citing remarkable fuel economy gains with the added use of these technologies. They are utilizing this enormous cost-based advantage to sell against us on cross-border business and worse yet, you don’t have to look very hard to see them running within our national and provincial boundaries with the very same equipment we are not allowed to legally operate.” Meritor’s Nelligan acknowledged some Canadian fleets have conducted a costbenefit analysis and have decided it was worth the risk to run 6x2s in Canada. “I would venture to guess that if you went to a scale and looked underneath a few trucks, you’d find a few of them are missing interaxle drivelines,” Nelligan said. “There are some in Canada. We don’t want to start a witch-hunt but we do have fleets trying them. A lot of these fleets are running a very high percentage of their time in the US and they have to compete with US fleets, so they need the same advantages those US fleets have in fuel economy and weight.”

Page 1 of 1 Production: jb

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Highway Safety for approval in April but they did not approve it. That group will reconvene in September, at which time Meritor hopes it will be successful in influencing change. One possible outcome is that some provinces will adopt the change while others will not – meaning it’s possible that Ontario and Quebec could continue to prohibit the use of smart 6x2s while the other provinces, which have shown support, will allow them. The arguments in favour of allowing smart 6x2s are simply too strong to abandon, or to ignore, Hicks reasoned. “It almost gets down to a situation where the provinces and territories are victim of this well-intentioned requirement (in the MOU) that the loading be equal,” he said. At least one fleet manager Truck News spoke to isn’t waiting for government to approve the use of 6x2s. “It is sad the MTO is so archaic,” he said, asking not to be identified for fear of becoming an enforcement target. “I intend to purchase the 6x2 (in quantity) and will gladly take my chances in a court of law (if fined).” PANTONE P185

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While Meritor stops short of recommending 6x2 axles with ECAS in Canada, truck dealers here are more than willing to take orders for them. The load-shift capabilities are enabled only in low-traction situations and at 25 mph, weight is automatically redistributed across the two axles. About 97% of the time, a 6x2 axle with ECAS meets the legal definition of a tandem axle. Adding to the confusion, a 6x2 without load-shift capabilities is not illegal – but it is impractical. But it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a truck inspector to differentiate between a traditional 6x2 and one with electronic load-shifting capabilities. “What are the odds that trucks are going to go over the weigh scale in loadtransfer mode? Those odds are pretty low,” Hicks said. “Some unnamed provinces and territories have said, ‘why worry?’ We can’t in good conscience promote the use of a product that’s violating the regulations but as a practical matter, I’m guessing there’s some (6x2) US trucks that have travelled into Canada – trucks that are perfectly legal in the US – and they’re not being detected.” Hicks noted that even in Ontario and Quebec, from whence most resistance has come, policymakers have acknowledged the benefits of 6x2s. But they feel the challenges in changing the existing rules are too burdensome to overcome. “Everyone has been pretty supportive of the concept,” Hicks said. “In Ontario, they have said to make a change like this, it has to be a legislative change and that is very, very difficult for them to make and they are not prepared to do so. Nobody has said this is not a good idea. They can see the merits of it. But there are a couple provinces that can’t see a way forward given the laws that are on the books currently.” Of course, legislation can be – and has been – changed, especially when the environment stands to benefit (ahem, speed limiters). Meritor – along with partner organizations and even competitors – is continuing its lobbying efforts. The Task Force on Interprovincial Weights and Dimension Policy has developed a recommendation that would allow ‘smart’ 6x2s, by permitting temporary load-shifting from the tag axle onto the drive axle of advanced 6x2 systems. Eleven of the 13 provinces and territories supported the proposed change. That proposal was forwarded to the Deputy Ministers of Transportation and

July 2014

Dixie Rd.

TRUCK NEWS

14-01-16 10:17 AM

14-06-10 9:39 AM

46 equipment

Pushing the envelope Daimler boosts powertrain integration, employs downspeeding for further fuel savings By James Menzies DETROIT, Michigan Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) has upped its fuel economy game once again, assembling a fully integrated powertrain that utilizes downspeeding. The company has set an ambitious goal to improve its fuel economy by 5% every two years. It did so when moving from the Freightliner Cascadia to the Cascadia Evolution two years ago. The next step up comes in the form of a new Integrated Detroit Powertrain (IDP) that combines Daimler’s DD15 engine, its

DT12 automated mechanical transmission and front and rear Detroit axles. When spec’d as a 6x2, the package will provide fuel savings of up to 7% over today’s Cascadia Evolution, Detroit officials announced during a press briefing at the company’s Redford, Mich. plant. A more traditional 6x4 package will still deliver savings of about 5%, they said. The announcement culminates a long-term goal of Daimler’s, to unleash the full potential of vertical integration. “The Cascadia Evolution was our first real effort at integration,” said

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David Hames, general manager, marketing and strategy with DTNA. “It has been a tremendous success and our first demonstrable example of what vehicle integration really was.” Detroit is now bringing downspeeding to the table. The DD15, DT12 and Detroit steer and drive axles with a 2.28 ratio (for 6x2s, 2.41 for 6x4s) allow the truck to cruise at 1,200 rpm (compared to 1,350 before), providing fuel savings. Further improvements come in the form of a six-blade fan (compared to nine today) that produces less parasitic loss when on. It also runs quieter, officials said. “We now have all the ingredients together and can take vehicle integration to a new level,” Hames said. The IDP package will be aimed at on-highway applications. Officials said the company is looking to simplify the spec’ing process for customers. The goal is to provide customers with the lowest “real cost of ownership,” Hames said, which takes into account driver profiles, turnover, types of loads and how frequently a truck is running empty or full. Brad Williamson, manager, engine and component marketing with DTNA, said the new integrated powertrain will initially be offered with a 400 hp/1,750 lb.-ft. rating. Customers will be able to achieve 8 mpg or thereabouts in typical linehaul applications. The new powertrain marks the first time DTNA has taken advantage of downspeeding. “This is our first venture into downspeeding,” Williamson said. “We think we’ve done it better than anybody.”

The new package also represents Detroit’s first 6x2 axle offering. “We know they’ve been coming on,” Williamson said of 6x2s. “They’re really where we’re going if you want fuel economy. You’re going to get less rolling resistance because you have one dead axle and the second thing is less weight, about 400 lbs less weight than what a standard 6x4 weighs.” There are complications in Canada, however, where 6x2s are technically illegal. A Memorandum of Understanding signed onto by the provinces defines 6x2s as liftable axles – even if the tag axle does not lift – since weight can be automatically shifted to the driven axle in low-traction situations. Still, for US fleets or other customers who want the benefits of a 6x2, this offering will be available with Meritor Wabco’s Electronically Controlled Air Suspension (ECAS) load transfer technology, to provide traction in slippery conditions. But even when choosing a traditional 6x4, Williamson noted customers will still see a fuel economy improvement of up to 5% compared to today’s vehicles. The new package will be available to order on the Freightliner Cascadia Evolution in January 2015 and on the soon-to-be-launched Western Star 5700 later next year. A new app will go live in June, available for Android and Apple devices. The slick app, previewed for members of the trade press, allows customers to explore the benefits of vehicle integration and each component that comprises that new integrated powertrain. £

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TRUCK NEWS

July 2014

47

Shell provides update on PC-11 By Carolyn Gruske GREENSBORO, North carolina Assuming things go according to schedule, the new PC-11 diesel engine oils should be ready for purchase beginning in April 2016. For that to happen, the final product specifications need to be delivered by the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) New Category Evaluation Team (NCET) by the end of Q2 2015, explained Dan Arcy, global OEM technical manager and industry trade association liaison for Shell Global Solutions. During a technical briefing for trucking and transportation journalists, Arcy outlined some of the thresholds and benchmarks, the new, yet-to-be named (the PC stands for “proposed category”) oil will have to meet. All engine oil currently on the market needs to pass a number of tests before it can be approved for use by engine manufacturers, and the PC-11 oils will be no different. Seven of the existing tests will be carried over to the new standard and used as part of the evaluation process. But PC11 oils will also have to pass three new tests and one modified test. The first of the three new tests is an aeration test performed on a Caterpillar C-13. The second is a Mack T-13 oxidation test, which Arcy called “a very severe test, more severe than we’ve ever had in the category.” The third is a shear stability test with more stringent requirements than have existed in the past. The modified test is expected to be a scuffing/adhesive wear

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48 new products

TRUCK NEWS

July 2014

BF Goodrich launches SmartWay-verified drive tire greenville, south carolina

excellent grip and retreadability. The DR444 remains an option for customers more concerned with long removal mileage, she said. “Both are complementary and we will continue to have both in our product offering,” Murphy said. BF Goodrich now offers SmartWayverified tires for drive, steer and trailer positions. The new addition is currently available in two sizes: 11R22.5 and 275/80R22.5. BF Goodrich is owned by Michelin and produces tires at an intermediate price point.

BF Goodrich has announced the launch of its SmartWay-verified DR454 drive tire. The tire is aimed at the owner/operator and small- to mid-sized on-highway and super-regional fleet markets, where fuel economy is a concern. The tire complements the existing BF Goodrich DF444 drive tire, which will remain in the company’s product portfolio. Donna Murphy, business segment manager with BF Goodrich, said the new tire combines fuel efficiency with

“The BF Goodrich brand is known for its heritage of proven performance in trucking history and understands the importance of helping fleets take control of their day-to-day business,” said Murphy. “It’s a brand that fleet operators can count on, and our goal is to continue to build this trust with new offers that meet their critical business needs. The new BF Goodrich DR454 SmartWay-verified highway drive tire provides regulation compliance and fewer stops at the pump, which fulfills the needs of these important customers. I urge

everyone in the industry to stay tuned because this is just the beginning of exciting things to come for the BF Goodrich brand.”

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The WEX Fleet Card, used by 315,000 customers representing seven million vehicles in the US, is coming to Canada and has its eyes set on the trucking industry here. The company provides a fleet card that can be used across 10 fuel networks in the US and Canada for fuel and related purchases. It provides detailed reporting and fraud prevention features to help fleets reduce their total fuel spend. Because WEX designed and owns the back-end system, it says it’s able to provide Level III data – such as odometer readings and driver ID numbers – which fleets can use to better track their fuel purchasing behaviours. “When we set out to develop a program in Canada, we tried to model it after what we did here in the US, which was a closed-loop proprietary program,” Bernie Kavanagh, vice-president, strategic accounts with WEX told Truck News in an interview. “Customers are able to put controls on what they buy, when they buy and where they buy and receive detailed reporting in near real-time, to allow folks to make good buying decisions.” Customers can manage the types of purchases drivers are allowed to make beyond fuel (ie. oil, truck washes, etc.) They can also control when and where fuel can be purchased, preventing, for example, nighttime or weekend fuelling. “The savings come in being able to better manage your program,” Kavanagh explained. For drivers, the process is simple. With the WEX Fleet Card in hand, they can purchase fuel at any approved lo-

cation. Drivers are assigned an ID number so the fleet managers can ensure fuel is being purchased only be authorized users. Currently, WEX has a robust US customer base consisting of light- and heavy-duty vehicle users as well as mixed fleets. It acquired Fleet One several years ago, which was a trucking fleet card specialist. WEX said it identified Canada as a good growth opportunity because many of its US customers were already doing business here and several of its fuelling partners (such as Esso) have locations in Canada. “The reason we’re focusing on Canada right now is in support of our customers and partners,” Kavanagh said. “For years, we’ve been talking about having a more robust program there, so a lot of this really has been just following our customers and partners.” While the WEX Fleet Card is billed as a universally accepted fleet fuel card, truck fleets will notice the major truck stop chains are absent from the list of fuel merchants. This could be an issue considering drivers appreciate the trucker amenities (ie. weigh scales and showers) offered at these locations. Kavanagh noted its list of fuel partners is still growing and more recognizable fuel merchants will soon be added. “We have 10 merchants signed up now, representing 2,500-3,000 sites at this point,” he said. “We are working with all merchants at this point, working with the networks to make sure we can get on their schedule for their upgrades. We want to get as much acceptance as we can.” Current fuel merchants include: Centex; Crevier; Esso; GasKing; Mr. Gas; Pioneer; 7-Eleven; Western Petroleum; Wilsons; and XTR. For more info, visit www.wexinc.com.

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Carrier Centers has announced a new Fleet Assist program, which it says will help fleets manage and reduce their maintenance costs. Fleet Assist maintains fleet maintenance schedules and provides the tracking information required for warranty recovery, allowing fleets to reduce downtime and ensure compliance, the company announced. Carrier Centers developed a database management system to help fleets manage their maintenance and repair records. The product is available in three tiers: Compliance, Support and Management, providing varying levels of service. The Compliance package allows Fleet Assist to monitor maintenance schedules for each unit and ensures compliance with MTO, CVOR and other requirements. The Support package includes schedule monitoring and also offers the monitoring of repairs, scheduling of service and repairs and record-keeping of all maintenance files. The Management package includes all of the above, and also offers recommendations for preventive maintenance, negotiation of repairs and determination of warranty eligibility.

14-06-06 3:06 PM

TRUCK NEWS

ADVERTISERS PRODUCT/service index

ALPHABETICAL LIST

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July 2014

49

Kriska Transportation.................. 32 L. Hansen’s Forwarding............... 43 Laidlaw Carriers (Bulk/Dumps)...... 36 Laidlaw Carriers (Tanks).......... 26,41 Laidlaw Carriers (Vans). . .............. 34 Liquid Capital Midwest................ 45 Michelin.................................. 52 Morgan’s Diesel Truck Parts. . .........11 NAL Insurance...........................15 National Truck League. . ............... 44 Ontario Drivers Medical............... 51 P&D Freightlines....................... 40 Penske.. ...................................16 Peterson Manufacturing. . ............... 8 Q-Line Trucking. . ....................... 37 Quick Truck Lube........................19 Ryder Logistics & Transportation.... 35 SAF- Holland.............................17 Scotlynn Commodities. . ............... 35 SGI Canada.............................. 24 Shell Canada Products Ltd. . ............ 2 Snowbirds Auto Connection.......... 39 Stateside Transportation Consultants. . . 53 Tank Truck Transport.................. 39 Tankmart International.................. 6 Texis Truck Exhaust.............. 9,48,49 TFX International....................... 43 The Rosedale Group.. .................. 38 The Truck Exhaust Place...............12 Thorsons................................. 31 Thunderstruck Trucking............... 28 Trailer Wizards.......................... 49 Transcourt Tank Leasing.............. 51 Transit Lubricants.......................13 Transport Financial Services......... 49 Trans-Send Freight. . ................... 40 TransX Group Of Companies. . ........ 29 Trison Tarps............................. 51 Truck News-Truck Ops.............. 50 Truck News/DriverLink. . ............ 53 Truck News/Subscription. . ......... 45 Villeneuve Tank Lines.................. 28 Wilsons Truck Lines.................... 29 Woodcock Brothers.................... 42 XL Radiators. . ............................15

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50 fleet news

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TransForce has announced a major US purchase, acquiring truckload carrier Transport America. The deal gives TransFoce a substantial US presence. Transport America operates 12 terminals throughout the US, employs 2,000 staff and independent contractors and operates 1,500 tractors and 4,000 trailers. The Eagan, Minn.-based company was founded in 1984 and provides dry van truckload transportation services across the US. TransForce expects the deal to close by the end of June. The purchase price was approximately US$310 million and includes the assumption of about US$150 million in Transport America’s debt. TransForce says the deal should add about US$350 million in annual total revenues to its operations. “This acquisition will immediately provide TransForce with a critical mass in the highly-fragmented TL sector in the United States and we stand to benefit from Transport America’s extensive geographic footprint and longstanding relationships with blue chip customers,” announced Alain Bedard, chairman, president and CEO of TransForce. “Transport America is an efficient, well-managed company that generates solid operating margins. We expect this transaction to be immediately accretive to earnings and to provide a sound return on investment to the benefit of our shareholders.” “The acquisition meets all of the criteria we established as we explored ownership options, and we could not be more pleased,” added Scott C. Arves, Transport America’s president and CEO. “Together, with shared resources and stronger access to capital to support growth, we will be better positioned to serve customers and provide increased opportunities for our employees.”

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TransForce buys Transport America

Canada Cartage was honoured with Coca-Cola’s first ever Canadian Carrier of the Year award. This year was the first time Canadian carriers were invited to the corporate conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The award is given to the carrier with the highest scores in a series of different evaluations such as on-time percentage, tender acceptance, and customer service. Senior director of business development for Canada Cartage, Tim Evans said the company is honoured to receive the award.

14-06-06 3:23 PM

TRUCK NEWS

July 2014

51

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Ottawa, ontario Ten of the best workplaces in the Canadian trucking industry were recognized as part of the inaugural Top Fleet Employers program, organized by Trucking HR Canada.The program examined employee recognition, compensation, lifestyle, employee engagement, wellness, professional development and recruitment and retention initiatives, employed by fleets of various sizes. Winners include: Bison Transport; Erb Group of Companies; Home Hardware; J&R Hall Transport; Kindersley Transport; Kriska Transportation; Logikor Inc.; MacKinnon Transport; SLH Transport; and Transpro Freight Systems. “These 10 fleets clearly recognize the value of sound human resources practices,” says Angela Splinter, chief executive officer of Trucking HR Canada. “They have demonstrated their commitment to programs which play a vital role in recruiting and retaining a skilled workforce. Work like this will become increasingly important as the trucking industry grapples with its intensifying shortage of employees and job candidates.” Through the evaluation process, several best practices were identified, organizers say. For example, Bison connects with personnel through a monthly newsletter, Transpro surveys employees before launching a new initiative, and J&R Hall has a confidential open-door policy to ensure employee concerns are addressed. Kriska was recognized for its deferred profit-sharing plan, Logikor offers an RRSP for drivers and MacKinnon has a fuel bonus. Home Hardware, meanwhile, has a performance bonus program that looks beyond rates per kilometre. High-scoring recognition programs include Erb’s honours for retiring employees, Kindersley’s VIP recognition program and SLH’s recognition of milestone anniversaries. Trucking HR Canada plans to issue a Top Fleet Employers 2014 Best Practices Report, on www.TruckingHR.com. Applications for the second year of the program will be accepted beginning in December.

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14-06-06 3:25 PM

Mark Dalton : Owner/Operator

Part 2

By Edo Van Belkom The story so far… Bud is off for a couple of days so Mark gets a load from his replacement. It’s a sweet load of cowhide into California. Mark is concerned that the trailer he’s given to use is not compliant with the SmartWay program that is mandatory in California, but the shipper convinces Mark that the trailer is compliant and everything will be alright…

• Mark drove through British Columbia without incident and found himself at the Pacific Highway Crossing that linked Surrey, B.C. to Blaine, Wash. The wait was about half an hour, which was average for this time of year, and when his turn came he kept to the right and pulled up for primary inspection. Fortunately, all of Mark’s paperwork had been processed ahead of time so this was likely going to be his only stop at the border. Still, the US Customs officer seemed to take an extra long look at the papers in front of him, then took a leisurely glance at the trailer behind Mother Load. “Load’s going to California, huh?” “That’s right. Is all the paperwork in order?” “Paper’s all okay,” the officer said. “You planning on driving all the way there?” It was an odd question, but Mark knew better than to be smart or act like a know-it-all. One time crossing the border in Niagara Falls, he made the mistake of being a smartass and the Customs officer pulled him over for secondary inspection and basically tore his rig apart piece by piece looking for who-knows-what. From that experience, Mark knew it was best just to answer the questions that were posed to him. “Yes, sir,” he nodded. “That is my intention.” “You know there are a lot of new regulations for long haulers operating in California... and not just for companies in California. They apply to anybody who is hauling loads in the state.” “I’m aware of that, sir.” “Your trailer doesn’t have any skirts on it. That’s a dead giveaway. State trooper will be able to spot you a mile away.” “I don’t expect to avoid the keen eye of law enforcement, sir,” Mark said, laying it on a little thick, but if it saved him further investigation or hassle, it was worth it. “Besides, the company I’m hauling for ships to California all the time and they’ve assured me that their retrofit schedule complies with the requirements.” The officer smiled at that, a smirky sort of smile that left Mark feeling uneasy. “Do you have any paperwork that says the company is complying with the SmartWay regulations, or did you just take someone’s word for it?” Now Mark was genuinely worried. Judging by the way this border officer was talking, he’d seen his fair share of truckers entering the US absolutely unaware and unprepared for what was waiting for them in California. One thing was for certain, Mark was not going to admit that he had simply taken the shipper’s word. He flicked his head toward Mother Load, “The trailer’s got a SmartWay thing stuck to the front of it.” The smirk on the man’s face grew wider. “Stickers are nice,” he said, “but a Large Fleet Compliance Plan

trailers, as well as the tractors pulling these trailers to be outfitted with Environment Protection Agency SmartWay approved technologies. A SmartWay-certified trailer is one that’s equipped with low rolling resistance (LRR) tires, side skirts and front or rear fairings. Refrigerated vans needed side skirts and LRR tires, with all the other fuel-saving devices recommended but not required. The idea behind all of this was to reduce fuel consumption through efficiency (namely, less aerodynamic drag and rolling friction) with the ultimate goal being a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from all heavy-duty vehicles. It was an honourable goal and if anyone was going to get the ball rolling by forcing the trucking industry to get more efficient it would have to be an industrial and economic powerhouse state like California. Sure, it would all pay off in the long run, but in the short-term these regulations put the screws to small operators using older equipment, who had to retrofit their fleets, and thereby adding expense and shaving revenue off already slim profit margins. The regulations also applied to all tractors and trailers travelling in California regardless of where their home base may be. That meant every truck coming into California from Mexico, Canada, and every other state in the union, must also comply with the California law. The net effect was that either everyone would become compliant, or carriers might opt out of California routes because they just couldn’t afford to get their fleets into compliance. Mark found himself somewhere in the middle of all of it. Mother Load didn’t have a SmartWay birth certificate, but she’d been retrofitted with the required items, as well as a few that were nice-to-have but not a requirement, like fuel-tank fairings and aerodynamic bumpers and mirrors. Past that, as long as 75% of this guy’s trailer fleet complied with the regulations he should be all right. If he had 46 trailers like he said he did, then only about 36 or so needed to be SmartWay compliant in 2014. That meant that he could have ten trailers yet to be retrofitted and still be all right. If he had just three yet to do, he was probably around 90 or 92% compliant which was way ahead of the game. Then why was it that each mile closer to California, Mark became more and more unsure of himself? As he crossed the California border and got onto US Interstate 5 there was no roadblock and no California Highway Patrol waiting for him. Past the border, at the first weigh station he drove through, he got nothing more than a friendly wave from the officer in the coup. That had to be good, right?

Mark learns the SmartWay would be way, way better.” Mark’s worry landed in his gut like a boulder. What the hell was a Large Fleet Compliance Plan, and why didn’t he have one? Still, he wasn’t going to let this man see him sweat. Instead of commenting on the compliance plan, or a lack of one, Mark pressed on. “Does this mean you’re not going to let me into the country?” He shook his head. “No, ’course not. All that California stuff is state law. You’re still welcome in the United States, but there could be a roadside check at the California border.” “Really?” “Oh, yeah. They’re gettin’ real strict on all that environmental stuff down there. More and bigger fines all the time.” “That’s good to know, thanks.” “You’re welcome. Have a nice day.” • Later in the day, at a truck stop in northern Oregon, Mark took the time to look up the California Air Resource Board regulations regarding SmartWay-compliant long-haul trucks. But no matter which article Mark read, or from what source, it appeared that everything the shipper had told him about being SmartWay compliant was true. As far as he could discern, SmartWay regulations required 53-foot or longer dry van and refrigerated

Mark Dalton returns next month in Part 3 of Learning the SmartWay. Did you know there are two full-length novels featuring Mark Dalton?: Mark Dalton “SmartDriver” and Mark Dalton “Troubleload.” For your free copy register with eco ENERGY for Fleets (Fleet Smart) at fleetsmart.gc.ca.

Illustration by Glenn McEvoy

52 fiction

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14-06-06 3:28 PM

TRUCK NEWS

announcements

July 2014

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A well-known Cummins executive retires; Canada’s Driver of the Year named; and Ontario dealers announce hirings and promotions. Jeff Jones, vice-president, North American engine business and marketing communications is set to retire from his position at Cummins on June 30. Jones joined the company in 1977 as a regional service manager. Since then, he changed positions from customer-facing roles, to OEM account management. Taking his place as leader of the North American engine business is Amy Boerger who will be responsible for national accounts, field sales and OEM business. She joined Cummins in 1984. Lori Thompson will take Jones’ place as vice-president – engine business marketing. She will have the responsibility for global marketing and growth opportunities. She joined Cummins in 1979. • Tallman Truck Centre has announced the hiring of Chris Hutter as vicepresident of sales for its Mississauga location. Hutter brings to the position more than 20 years of experience and success in a variety of senior leadership roles, Tallman announced. The company said he’ll be tasked with

growing Inernational’s market share in the Greater Toronto Area. Hutter will also oversee Tallman Truck Centre’s new trailer sales business in the GTA. • Trailer Wizards has named Anne McKee executive vice-president. In her new role, McKee will work on providing customer-friendly, timely service and on developing the company’s commercial trailer business across Canada, Trailer Wizards announced. McKee has worked at Trailer Wizards since 2011 and helped integrate Lions Gate Trailers, PTR, Pixar and TIP assets into the rebranded Trailer Wizards. • Bison Transport’s Rob Wells has been named Canadian Trucking Alliance and Volvo Canada’s Driver of the Year. The award honours a man or woman on the road who drives safely, gives back to their community and enhances the image of the trucking industry, organizers say.

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Signature: Date: Signature: Date: Driverlink is proud to protect the privacy of your personal information as required under federal privacy laws. If you would like to see a copy of ourisprivacy please go to www.driverlink.com/privacy.asp. If youunder would like aprivacy printedlaws. copy Ifofyou our would privacylike policy, please Driverlink proud topolicy, protect the privacy of your personal information as required federal to see a call usofatour 1-800-263-6149 and we be happy to mail one to you. copy privacy policy, please gowill to www.driverlink.com/privacy.asp. If you would like a printed copy of our privacy policy, please call us at 1-800-263-6149 and we will be happy to mail one to you.

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Child Find (Ontario) Inc. is an affiliate of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection Inc. Together, they provide missing children services in the Province of Ontario.

14-06-09 4:49 PM

54 the last word

TRUCK NEWS

July 2014

From the photo studio to the warehouse Margaret Hogg was your average child of a transportation-centered family. She spent her summers in her parents’ warehouse, helping out the family’s trucking business. But when she grew up she decided to pack her bags and move to glamorous Los Angeles where she fell in love with taking pictures and even photographed celebrities for a living. Sonia Straface spoke with her recently about why she gave up her dream and life in LA and is now the manager and face of J.G. Drapeau Transport.

Y

ou’d be hard-pressed to find a woman driving next to you along the freeway in a tractortrailer. You’d be even more hard-pressed finding a woman who is the face of a successful Canadian freight company who knows the ins and outs of the business. But if you happened to stumble upon Margaret Hogg, you’d question why there is even a shortage of women in the transportation industry in the first place. Hogg is the general manager of J.G. Drapeau Transport, a family-run company that specializes in the transportation of hazardous materials, though it also offers LTL, FTL, container and expedited service. Her parents started the business some 43 years ago (Drapeau is Hogg’s mother’s maiden name). Her father,

Margaret Hogg George, the company’s president, worked all over the industry before opening shop, as a driver, forklift operator, and dispatcher. Her mother, Jocelyne is vice-president and helped her husband out by doing the accounting for the company. Though you would never be able to tell, she hasn’t been in trucking her whole life (it would be an understatement to say she knows her business and trucking in its entirety), Hogg was introduced to trucks at an early age before taking a break from it all. “As I was growing up, I think I was 12, I would come in the summers and work in the warehouse,” she said. “Back then it was a little more legal to do it. I just felt a passion to help him (her fa-

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ther) out and be there for him.” Hogg’s passions changed when she became a teenager. At the young age of 16, she decided high school wasn’t for her and dropped out. “I just found it so boring,” she said. “I wanted to just get out there and really work and learn things in the outside world.” Shortly after dropping out, she found a job with a division of Magna International called Resin Guard and worked there for a few years. Once the plant closed down, Hogg set out to see more of the world, so with $100 in her pocket she went to find herself and ended up in the US. Hogg spent the greater part of the ’90s living in Los Angeles, Arizona, and Florida. She didn’t get a job in the transportation industry there; instead she earned cash by cleaning houses for the rich and famous. When she saved up enough money, she bought herself a camera and stumbled into the world of photography where she became a notable studio photographer who shot many people in the music industry including Madonna, the Counting Crows, and Sarah McLachlan. “I never took any classes, I’m just one of those people – not that I don’t believe in school or university or degrees – it’s just I have a different view of things and I can just learn whatever I need to learn and I don’t need a school book to do it,” said Hogg. “I even taught myself how to drive a forklift truck. I just do those things. The same thing happened when I was in Los Angeles, because when I was down there, I was living on the beach, because I didn’t have anywhere to live, I was just trying to find myself. And then I bought a camera, and just started teaching myself how to take photos.” When the year 2000 was rung in, everything changed for Hogg. She got a call from her parents who were inevitably getting older and becoming sick and needed help running the business. Hogg dropped everything she was doing and went back to Etobicoke, Ont. to help them out. “So since then, I’ve been learning every aspect – in the office, in the warehouse, dispatching, everything,” she said. “So that’s why I’m here today, just taking care of them.” Hogg says that in the early years, she had to deal with men in the industry that didn’t believe she had what it took to run a transport company. “When I first got back into it in 2000, it appeared that a lot of men would look at me and go ‘You don’t know this because you’re a woman,’” she recalled. “And that’s part of why I just got in

there and I learned everything.” Like her father, who when he started the business wouldn’t come home until late at night when Hogg was growing up (sometimes not at all), she followed suit. She began working 15- to 16-hour days until she understood the ways of the industry. Hogg says because of this, and her wide knowledge about trucking now, she isn’t subjected to the misogyny as much as she was back when she first started as the general manager. To say the company is still standing because of Hogg isn’t a stretch. When the recession hit in 2008, her quick thinking to build a 200,000 sq.-ft. warehouse allowed the company to survive. The massive warehouse is still growing today, but the truck fleet is something the company wants to stay small. Hogg says it’s not uncommon for people to ask why they haven’t expanded their business to have more trucks. Hogg’s answer is simple: “It’s never been about the size. It’s been about the service. That’s our way. We’re just a small, family-run business.” Hogg’s customers seem to appreciate this outlook on business; the company’s first ever customer is still a happy client to this day, nearly 43 years later. Even though her passion for photography took a backseat to her current job, Hogg says there are aspects of the job she really likes. She says she enjoys getting through the many challenges of running a small fleet comes with today, like finding drivers who are willing to cross the border and work long, tiring hours. “At the end of the day, it’s the satisfaction of getting over the many challenges in the industry. Whether it’s employee challenges, a driver challenge, a customer challenge, it’s working through that.” Hogg added the toughest part of the job is how underappreciated the transportation industry is. “I’d be at a party and people would say, ‘Oh so what do you do?’ and I’d say, ‘I’m in trucking,’” she recalled. “And they’d be like ‘Oh.’ And they’d turn around and walk away. I don’t like when someone doesn’t respect what it takes to get the job done.” Though trucking isn’t as widely appreciated as Hollywood stars and musicians, Hogg says, “It can be very glamorous. It just depends on how you represent yourself in the industry.” Hogg still enjoys taking pictures and uses photography as break from her day job. She has her own Web site (http:// margarethoggphotography.com/) where you can see her work. She is looking forward to the Boots & Hearts music festival this summer in Bomanville, Ont. where she will be taking photos for a trade magazine in Los Angeles called Music Connection. “It’s my passion,” she said. “And my escape from the whole challenge of the trucking industry.” But even with all of its success, there is still uncertainty about the business staying in the family. Hogg doesn’t have any children and she is unsure if her brother would eventually want to take over the company. “There’s been a lot of times people are like, maybe you should sell now, and I’ve contemplated it,” she said. “I’m not worried about me getting a job in the future. But I know I’m not going to throw away my parents’ dream.”

2014-06-03 9:00 AM

14-06-09 4:44 PM

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14-06-10 9:19 AM 14-06-03 3:51 PM

FUEL•SAVER

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2/11/14 2:11 PM 14-02-11 2:41 PM