September 2016 Volume 36, Issue 9
TRUCK NEWS Reason for optimism The Top Fleet Employers program has found carriers are upping their human resources game.
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
A new middleweight Detroit has launched its first medium-duty engine, the DD5. We took it for a spin.
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Mullen Group CEO Murray Mullen says now is the time to begin preparing for a recovery in oil prices.
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Planning ahead
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Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
Roadcheck results revealed
Tanker tips What to consider when buying or leasing a new tanker trailer and some tips for maintenance. a ce
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New Brunswick has lowest OOS rate while Alberta’s is highest in Canada OTTAWA, ONTARIO Results of Canada’s 2016 International Roadcheck were recently released and like last year, nearly 82% of commercial vehicles inspected in Canada passed CVSA’s on-road inspection criteria. The three-day blitz took place June 7-9 across Canada, the US and Mexico. In Canada alone, inspections were carried out at random at 146 sites across the country. In total this year, 1,698 commercial vehicle enforcement officers conducted more than 8,100 Level 1 inspections (the most thorough of the on-road inspections). Results show that 7,736 of the trucks, trailers and passenger carrying vehicles were issued new decals to show they met the highest degree of safety and mechanical fitness according to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). In total, 1,480 trucks were placed out of service during this year’s Roadcheck in Canada. Close to half (46%) of those placed out of service were due to brake system defects and brake adContinued on page 14
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Repeating as champs Home Hardware once again shines at Ontario Truck Driving Championships; Shawn Matheson named grand champ By James Menzies NAPANEE, ONTARIO It is often said in sports that while winning a championship is tough, defending one is even tougher. But if the drivers from Home Hardware were feeling some added pressure coming off a dominant performance at last year’s Ontario Truck Driving Championships (OTDC), they weren’t showing it on the course at the Flying J in Napanee July 16. The Home Hardware representatives once again made many trips to the front of the room during the awards banquet to collect their trophies and the private fleet will once again be well represented at this year’s nationals, to be hosted in Brantford, Ont. Sept. 16-18. Grand champion was Home Hardware’s Shawn Matheson, who also won the tandem-tandem category. He narrowly edged out the tandem-tandem runner-up and Home Hardware colleague Tom Griffiths. The grand champion award is given to the driver who outperformed the average score of the class by the widest margin. Asked if he was surprised to win the award, Matheson said, “It sure did come as a surprise. It’s a great day. Awesome.” He has competed in the provincials 10 times and has ad-
vanced to the nationals five. “It’s always special,” he said. A full field of 46 drivers competed in this year’s provincial competition. Each had to earn their way in by placing among the top drivers at regional competitions. Other category winners included: Stewart Jutzi, Erb Transport, straight truck; Clary Ward, XPO Logistics, single-single (by a one-point margin over runner-up, rookie Martin Jacobs of YRC); Bryon Winfield, Home Hardware, single-tandem; and Dan Congdon, YRC Reimer, B-train. The highest points of the day award was also collected by Matheson, while Harpreet Singh of Speedy Transport was named the top rookie. For the first time ever, five drivers tied with perfect scores in the pre-trip inspection part of the competition. They included: Rory Holland (Waste Management); Satnam Singh Saini (FedEx Freight); Clary Ward (XPO Logistics); Martin Jacobs (YRC Reimer); and Tom Griffiths (Home Hardware). Griffiths won the MTO Safety Award, for achieving the highest combined score in the pre-trip inspection and written test categories. Continued on page 27