Issuu

April Fuels

Refreshing Idea

Feds bring the carbon tax PG.12

Spicer’s electric chassis PG. 57

Canadian Mail Sales Product Agreement #40063170. Return postage guaranteed. Newcom Media Inc., 5353 Dundas Street West, Suite 400, Toronto, Ontario M9B 6H8.

The Business Magazine of Canada’s Trucking Industry

COUNTING THE

TRACTORS, TRAILERS, AND MORE PG. 29

May 2019

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Contents May 2019 | VOLUME 33, NO.5

John G. Smith Rolf Lockwood Carole McAfee Wallace Mike McCarron Uber Freight photo

9 11 25 27

NEWS & NOTES

Dispatches

17 Autonomous, but Together Daimler and ZF deals support autonomous plans

18 19 20 21 22 23 62

Truck Sales Logbook Pulse Survey Stat Pack

Features

Heard on the Street

12 April Fuels

Trending

Four provinces now face a federal carbon tax, and it means new challenges for carriers.

Faces

In Gear

By John G. Smith

29 The Top 100 Sizing up Canadaâ€™s largest for-hire carriers, from equipment counts to services.

38 Uber Snub? Uber Freight has expansion plans, but why has it skipped over Canada?

49 Shock Waves Adding one electric truck is easy. Supporting several is a bigger challenge By John G. Smith

58 Product Watch

By John Tenpenny

43 Getting Traction on Emissions Will a push toward lower tire rolling resistance compromise safety?

By Jim Park

For more visit www.todaystrucking.com MAY 2019

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Letters The Business Magazine of Canada’s Trucking Industry

PUBLISHER Lou Smyrlis lou@newcom.ca • 416/510-6881 VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL Rolf Lockwood, MCILT rolf@newcom.ca • 416/614-5825 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, TRUCKING AND SUPPLY CHAIN John G. Smith johng@newcom.ca • 416/614-5812 CONTRIBUTORS: Steve Bouchard, Derek Clouthier, Carole McAfee-Wallace, Mike McCarron, Jim Park, Sonia Straface, John Tenpenny DESIGN / LAYOUT Tim Norton, Frank Scatozza production@todaystrucking.com • 416/614-5818 SALES AND MARKETING CONSULTANT Anthony Buttino anthonyb@newcom.ca • 514/292-2297 SALES AND MARKETING CONSULTANT Nickisha Rashid nickisha@newcom.ca • 416/614-5824 QUÉBEC ACCOUNTS MANAGER Denis Arsenault denis@newcom.ca • 514/947-7228 CIRCULATION MANAGER Pat Glionna 416/614-2200 • 416/614-8861 (fax) PRODUCTION MANAGER Alicia Lerma alicia@newcom.ca • 416/510-6845

Kenneth R. Wilson Award Winner

MEDIA INC.

5353 Dundas Street West, Suite 400, Toronto, Ontario M9B 6H8 416/614-2200 • 416/614-8861 (fax) CHAIRMAN AND FOUNDER Jim Glionna PRESIDENT Joe Glionna VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLISHING Melissa Summerfield CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Peter Fryters DIRECTOR OF CIRCULATION Pat Glionna

Today’s Trucking is published monthly by NEWCOM MEDIA INC., 5353 Dundas Street West, Suite 400, Toronto, Ontario M9B 6H8. It is produced expressly for owners and/or operators of one or more straight trucks or tractor-trailers with gross weights of at least 19,500 pounds, and for truck/trailer dealers and heavy-duty parts distributors. Subscriptions are free to those who meet the criteria. For others: single-copy price: $5 plus applicable taxes; one-year subscription: $50 plus applicable taxes; one-year subscription in U.S: $90 US; one-year subscription foreign: $180 US. Copyright 2019. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of the publisher. The advertiser agrees to protect the publisher against legal action based upon libelous or inaccurate statements, unauthorized use of photographs, or other material in connection with advertisements placed in Today’s Trucking. The publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that in his opinion is misleading or in poor taste. Postmaster: Address changes to Today’s Trucking, 5353 Dundas Street West, Suite 400, Toronto, Ont., M9B 6H8. Postage paid Canadian Publications Mail Sales Agreement No.40063170. ISSN No. 0837-1512. Printed in Canada.

Member

Don’t steer away from trades Re: Where are the Techs? (March 2019) Just read Rolf Lockwood’s column in the March issue and couldn’t agree more. I definitely believe high school teachers, guidance counselors, and parents are to blame for steering kids away from the skilled trades. I’m currently at a local dealer and quite enjoying it, however, the money could be better considering the $85,000 I’ve spent on tools, not to mention the $1,500 per year insurance costs for them. It seems all we can do is show teenagers that they have other alternatives to university or college, that pay to learn, and don’t leave one buried in debt and looking for work in their early 20s. — Brent Edmonson Hamilton, Ont.

Email: johng@newcom.ca

Farewell to Bill MacKinnon On March 22, after a long illness and a brave fight, Bill MacKinnon passed away at home. The MacKinnon family has SEND YOUR lost a dear husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. LETTERS TO: The trucking industry lost one its greatest builders and one of Newcom its most respected leaders. Many of us lost a friend. Media Inc., For parts of four decades, I was proud to count myself 5353 Dundas among Bill’s friends. He was a legend in the trucking industry Street West, long before I came on the scene. I recall being somewhat nerSuite 400, vous meeting him for the first time. I needn’t have worried. Toronto, Ontario Bill’s gentle, joking manner – something I would come to M9B 6H8 appreciate – immediately put me at ease. Bill did not speak often in our board meetings whether at the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA), or Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA). But when he did, people listened. He was never aggressive or demanding. He just made a lot of sense – always. I remember one year at the OTA convention, Bill came up to me with tears in his eyes and said to me, “I am so proud of this association.” How could you not be inspired to work even harder for an industry that contained people like that? — David Bradley Burlington, Ont.

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David Bradley is former president and CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance and Ontario Trucking Association.

A highway hero among us I write to you, which I have never done before, to show my appreciation for what someone did but didn’t have to do. Her name is Tammy Cable, and she is a company driver hauling B trains for Glen Tay Transportation - Contrans Tank Group. Our driver David, an industry veteran with over 25 years experience, had a brake on his trailer begin to drag. By the time he was able to pull onto the shoulder of Highway 401 to assess the problem, a small fire had started. When he tried to extinguish the fire, the tire blew up directly into him. Tammy pulled her truck and trailer to the side of the highway, ran back, and helped him off the highway to safety. Then she risked her own life – running back to the truck, cranking down the dolly legs on the burning trailer, and pulling the truck ahead to save it from possible damage. She even took the time to visit David in hospital. Wow. — Darren Neil Darren Neil and Sons Excavating Stayner, Ont. MAY 2019

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Editorial By John G. Smith

Point, Click, Move It E-commerce will continue to reshape trucking along the final mile and beyond

y computer encourages me to be lazy and impatient. Don’t get me wrong. The keyboard is the tool of my trade, and supports plenty of work-related activities. But when it comes to shopping during any downtime, I find it evermore convenient to point and click at the products I want. And once I decide that I want them, I want them now. The impatience has always been there, I suppose – either the by-product of a deadline-obsessed career or a character flaw that led to my career choice. The tools of e-commerce have simply tapped into my inherent need for instant gratification. Is there an option to have something arrive in one day rather than three? Here’s my credit card. It’s becoming harder to imagine a product that can’t be sourced in this way. I’m not alone. As buyers point and click with increasing frequency, e-commerce is reshaping trucking activities in a way that we haven’t seen since automakers first embraced Just-inTime delivery schedules. The growing reliance on the real-time updates available through telematics is just the beginning. Fleets that once focused on pin-to-pin trailer movements are introducing “white glove” delivery services that directly interact with end consumers. And the ever-tighter delivery schedules are forcing shippers to rethink where they locate physical distribution centers and warehouses. Long-established traffic lanes are being redrawn along the way. Volvo Group and Paccar, for example, recently cut the ribbons to officially open massive distribution centers, ensuring that truck parts are stored closer to their ultimate destinations. The Volvo site in Milton, Ont., and Paccar site in nearby Brampton, are both triple the size of the locations that came before them. Everyone with goods to move seems to be searching for the all-important tracts of affordable land needed to support massive warehouses in key markets. But the municipalities that enjoy riches in the form of such land would be well-advised to think beyond vacancy rates alone.

Truly successful warehousing districts pay careful attention to traffic patterns, ensuring clear and unobstructed links to arterial roads and highways. Package cars and small vans may handle the outbound traffic, but the warehouse racks themselves will always be stocked using larger commercial vehicles. (So stick the tight roundabouts elsewhere.) The best zoning practices also maintain a clear buffer between industrial activities and local residents, keeping any encroaching subdivisions in check. Forward-thinking planners will even lay the groundwork for support that might be needed in the future, such as the charging stations for electric trucks. I’ve made no secret about by skepticism around electric trucks and their ability to travel any significant distances, but there is no denying the business cases that are emerging for equipment that runs shorter routes. This is where the planning comes into play. Adding a couple of electric trucks is easy. All you require is the connection that might otherwise support an arc welder. A fast charger to support more than a handful of electric trucks would demand 1,500 volts, 3,000 amps, and a whopping 4.5 megawatts of power. Those require some careful thinking. Wouldn’t it have been nice if all warehousing districts were established with some careful thinking? TT

“E-commerce is reshaping the trucking industry in a way that we haven’t seen since automakers first embraced Just-in-Time delivery schedules.”

John G. Smith is the editorial director of Today’s Trucking. You can reach him at 416-614-5812 or johng@newcom.ca. MAY 2019

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Lockwood By Rolf Lockwood

Goodbye, Bill Bill MacKinnon was the picture of civility, with a career stretching back many decades

here are people who just plain shouldn’t die. Ever. Bill MacKinnon was one of those guys, a pillar in our industry with a trucking history that goes back to the 1920s. But die he did on March 22, at home in Guelph, Ont., after a long illness. He was 90 years old. As kind and humble as a man could be, he launched his transport career in a time-honored way, joining the company his father Alexander created in Caledon, Ont., way back in June 1929. Dad had just bought a used Chevy truck to haul livestock, coal, fertilizer, and other farm supplies around the region just northwest of Toronto. A little later Bill turned 15, got his driver’s licence and soon bought a second truck to begin growing the family business. At the recent memorial service to celebrate his life, his son Evan joked that his father and grandfather doubled the size of the fleet overnight. The fledgling company never looked back, and over the next many decades Bill guided it well, moving it to Guelph and becoming one of the most respected carriers in the province. Bill was also a key builder in the success and growth of the Ontario Trucking Association, a member for over 50 years. He served as chairman twice, first in 1976, and was the longest-serving board member in the history of the association. He also served as chairman of the Canadian Trucking Association. He loved association work and had the respect of both his peers and the various government officials he ran across. His voice, a quiet one used judiciously, was one that people wanted to hear. Evan eventually took the reins and his own son Alex became COO in time. So four generations of the MacKinnon family played an active role in being part of the Ontario trucking firmament. MacKinnon Transport ran into trouble a few years ago, and in late 2017 its assets – trucks, trailers, and customers – were sold to Contrans. Significantly, 90% of MacKinnon employees were

offered employment there. Quite a few of them had 20 or 30 years seniority, which was honored by Contrans. According to Evan, then president and CEO of the family business, it was sold largely due to the company’s inability to hire new drivers. “Every aspect of the business was doing amazing – linehaul margins, revenue per mile, revenue per day, per truck – it was all doing great,” he said at the time. “The only problem we had was attracting drivers. And in the last two years, our fleet had shrunk by 35% due to driver attrition. And the inability to attract drivers was the reason, the only reason, it didn’t make practical sense for MacKinnon to be an entity on its own.” Bill and I weren’t bosom buddies, as they say, but he was the kind of guy who could make you feel that your relationship was on that level. He was always interested in what I had to say, what I thought. If I saw him at some industry dinner, I might tap him on the shoulder to say hi and he would immediately stand up to have a chat. The thing is, he was exactly like that the first time I met him the better part of 40 years ago. As a rookie trucking writer I visited him in his office to do an interview, and he welcomed me like an old friend. I knew precious little about trucking at that point, but Bill acted as if I were an equal. That was his kindness at work. People like Bill MacKinnon really shouldn’t ever die, but his was a life well lived. And many of us are better for it. TT

“His was a life well lived. And many of us are better for it.”

Rolf Lockwood is vice-president, editorial, at Newcom Media Inc. You can reach him at 416-614-5825 or rolf@todaystrucking.com. MAY 2019

April Fuels Feds tack carbon tax onto fuel prices in four provinces By John G. Smith Federal carbon taxes were tacked onto fuel prices in four provinces April 1 – complete with the threat of a $2,000 fine for affected carriers who failed to register with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). As the prices rolled forward, however, many questions remained about the reporting structure, an underlying rebate program, and even whether the tax will apply to reefer fuel. “It’s an absolute nightmare,” said Terry Shaw, executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association. “How do we utilize that carbon tax so we can actually become more efficient as opposed to it being a revenue distribution scheme?” The federal tax is now applied in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick, all of which have failed to meet federal benchmarks for carbon pricing. Other provinces have introduced programs of their own, while Nunavut and

TODAY’S TRUCKING

Yukon have opted for a federal pricing mechanism that takes effect July 1. Ontario estimates the carbon tax will increase diesel prices in its jurisdiction by 5.37 cents per liter this year and 13.41 cents by 2022. During a recent briefing at Challenger Motor Freight, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the carbon tax will add $750 million to the price of his province’s longhaul trucking operations between 2019 and 2022. A tractor-trailer consuming 88,000 liters of fuel per year could see $3,500 in extra fuel costs in 2019, and as much as $11,200 by 2022. The provinces that have had the tax forced upon them are mounting a legal challenge against the related Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, arguing it’s unconstitutional. In a clear sign that the carbon taxes will be an election issue, the Conservative party was texting the jurisdictions’ cell phones in the days leading up to the tax.

“A carbon tax will make no difference to the environment,” said Ford, a Conservative premier. “A carbon tax will also chase jobs out of Ontario – manufacturing jobs, small business jobs, and trucking jobs.” Ontario faces the federally imposed tax because the Ford government followed up on an election promise to scrap a pre-existing cap and trade system.

More paperwork with the carbon tax Motor carriers were left to register with the CRA and must now submit related quarterly reports about their fuel use. “Generally, a road carrier is required to register if it has business activities that are interjurisdictional, for fuel that is gasoline, light fuel oil, marketable natural gas, or propane,” the CRA announced on its website. “A road carrier that delivers goods only within the boundaries of a proposed listed province will not have to register.” “They’ve created this amazingly complex IFTA-esque system,” Shaw said, referring to the established International Fuel Tax Agreement. While IFTA applies everywhere, the carbon tax leaves “black holes” between the four

provinces and neighboring jurisdictions. “This provides an opportunity for creative folks,” he said, referring to one challenge that emerges. A carrier could purchase diesel in a province with the federal carbon tax, and collect a related rebate, but run most of their kilometers in a jurisdiction with a provincial program. To compound matters, the carbon tax is hidden at fuel pumps. It’s charged to distributors, Shaw said, adding that passing along fuel surcharges can be challenging enough when taxes are transparent and universal. He isn’t a fan of the related reporting structure, either, noting that the new paperwork is “awash in red tape” and requires individual schedules to be completed for each province. Neither is there an answer on how rules will be enforced on American carriers that cross back and forth into provinces with the federal pricing. Some New Brunswick carriers have already taken “the lead” by posting notices about fuel surcharges to cover the added costs, said Jean-Marc Picard, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association (APTA). But others operations continue to call the association

Humboldt Sentencing PG. 14

Manitoba Training PG. 14

Autonomous, Together PG. 17

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the carbon tax will add $750 million to the price of his province’s longhaul trucking operations between 2019 and 2022. (Photo: John G. Smith)

with questions about how it will all work, as the Canada Revenue Agency continues to schedule webinars on how the tax will be administered. “There were some last week. They were totally booked,” Picard said in early April, referring to the webinars. “Some have the resources to get all the information, others may not ... It’s certainly creating a lot of anxiety in the industry.” “You can be for jobs, or you can be for a carbon tax, but you can’t be for both,” Ford said. “The risk of a carbon tax

recession is real. Just think about it for a second. Every single time a trucker fills up a tank, the carbon tax will take a bite out of their employer’s pockets. That’s money that could be used to hire new workers or upgrade your fleets, or it’s a cost that will be passed on to the customers through higher prices on the shelf because that’s what a carbon tax does.” Ontario Trucking Association president Stephen Laskowski, who stood behind Ford during the

event at Challenger Motor Freight, said the rising fuel costs will certainly be a “major point of discussion” between carriers and their customers.

Truck emissions already dropping The federal government has promoted the tax as a tool to encourage environmentally friendly practices. “The effects of climate change are everywhere, and they are a constant reminder of the need to act now,” Prime Minister Justin

Trudeau said when details of the tax were unveiled. “While climate change is the biggest challenge of this generation, it also provides the opportunity to do better while growing the economy.” The federal benchmark for carbon pricing begins at a minimum of $10 per tonne and rises $10 each year until reaching $50 per tonne in 2022. One federal estimate suggests the pricing would slash greenhouse gas emissions by up to 60 million tonnes by 2020 – 8.3% of the emissions recorded in 2015. Ontario Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister Rod Phillips referred to Challenger as an example of fleets that have been reducing emissions without a tax-related penalty. “They’ve improved fuel economy, reduced harmful emissions, and are doing their part to work toward a clean environment,” he said, citing the use of automated transmissions, auxiliary power units to combat idling, and targeted driver training. Shaw agreed the trucking industry needs to take steps to reduce its carbon footprint. But what if a household simply uses their federal carbon tax rebate to buy a new TV, he asked. That will still need to be delivered by a truck. TT MAY 2019

Dispatches > NEWS BRIEFS

Humboldt driver, fleet sentenced The truck driver involved in last April’s fatal collision with a Humboldt Broncos team bus, as well as his employer, have been sentenced for their respective roles in the Saskatchewan crash. Driver Jaskirat Singh Sidhu has been

sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to 16 counts of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. “It is baffling, and incomprehensible, that a professional driver, even one with little experience, could miss so many markers over such a long distance,” Judge

Inez Cardinal said in her decision. “His inattention displays risky behavior given he saw the signs but they did not register because he continued to focus on the trailers behind him.” Sidhu’s employer, Sukhmander Singh of Adesh Deol Trucking, was fined $5,000 for failing to maintain logs, maintaining more than one log for a given day, neglecting to ensure drivers complied with safety regulations, and failing to have a written safety program.

Manitoba to mandate training Manitoba will be the latest province to mandate entry-level driver training, beginning Sept. 1. Few details have been released about how the training will be administered, but Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler said would-be drivers will have to complete 121.5 hours of training. “We believe they are very closely going to mirror Alberta and Saskatchewan,” said Manitoba Trucking Association executive director Terry Shaw. “Would we like to see some higher training? Sure, but we accept the political reality of our industry and our government partners.”

Out-of-service criteria updated The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has released the latest updates to its out-of-service criteria that governs when drivers and vehicles should be pulled from the road. The changes to the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria cover everything from brakes to cargo securement devices and seats. Updated guidelines for braking systems, for example, have been updated to include pictures of cracked brake rotor structural supports. If such cracks extend through rotor vents, the rotor is about to collapse, CVSA says. Non-manufactured holes in a steering mechanism’s drag link are now clearly forbidden as well. Bearing straps were also added to the potential out-of-service conditions for universal joints, while new rules for the

TODAY’S TRUCKING

NEWS BRIEFS

driver’s seat have been introduced to ban temporary seats that take the place of permanent seats secured in a workmanlike manner. But passenger-carrying vehicles with manufacturer-related violations in temporary seats and aisle seats can still receive a CVSA decal.

TFI International adds specialized fleet TFI International followed up on its recent acquisition of Schilli by purchasing another specialized fleet in the form of Aulick Leasing and its ShirAul tank trailer manufacturing affiliate. Aulick Leasing, based in Scottsbluff, Neb., provides contract hauling services for aggregate materials, wood by-products, agricultural commodities, beets, dry bulk materials, railroad traction sand, and food-grade product. ShirAul designs and manufactures the Bullet aluminum-bottom dump tank trailer. Aulick Leasing operates more than 120 tractors and 300 trailers out of four terminals.

our U.S. subsidiaries, to add scale and provide a wider breadth of services to our customers.”

Day & Ross continues M&A Day & Ross has expanded its U.S. footprint, acquiring A&S Kinard and Buckler

< Dispatches

Transport. That, the fleet says, makes it one of North America’s Top 10 suppliers of dedicated trucking services. A&S Kinard and Buckler Transport provide dedicated truckload and specialized services from York, Penn. Day & Ross says the move builds on its 2017 acquisition of REI Logistics & Quality Systems in Michigan.

LET DRIVERS FOCUS ON WHAT THEY LOVE : DRIVING Collect all the data you need to grow your business while your drivers IRFXV RQ GULYLQJ 2XU GULYHU FHQWULF VROXWLRQ RʲHUV SUH SRSXODWHG ʳHOGV to minimize the number of clicks on the tablet.

CN, Unifor strike deal CN and Unifor have announced a new tentative collective agreement, covering more than 2,150 employees including owner-operators. The deal was reached before an existing contract expired. “I look forward to the ratification of these agreements as we continue to negotiate longer-term collective agreements with our union partners,” said JJ Ruest, CN’s president and chief executive officer.

Who has HOW? Bison Transport Bison Transport has acquired HO Wolding (HOW) of Amherst, Wisc. HOW is a 320-truck, dry van fleet with truckload operations in the U.S. Midwest, northeast and southeast regions. Said Rob Penner, Bison CEO: “The HOW acquisition represents a strategic investment in U.S. domestic transportation services that will work alongside Britton Transport, another of

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Dispatches

Autonomous, but Together Daimler takes stake in Torc Robotics Daimler Trucks and Buses is building on its commitment to develop Level 4 autonomous trucks by acquiring a majority stake in U.S.-based Torc Robotics. Torc Robotics retains its identity and personnel, and partners with the Daimler Trucks North America teams in Portland, Ore., where Daimler also operates its Automated Truck Research and Development Center. “The market is ready for highly automated trucks,” said Daimler Trucks North America CEO Roger Nielsen. “The first step will be hub-to-hub, on certain routes.” The early work will also focus on the U.S. A first prototype to showcase the possibilities “might happen very soon”, said Martin Daum, member of Daimler AG’s board of management responsible for trucks and buses. But there’s no set timeline for broader production. “My guess at the moment is that in two years, early 2021, we are able to give a complete timeline.” Daimler first unveiled its vision for autonomous trucks in the form of the MercedesBenz Future Truck concept vehicle in 2014. The next year it showcased the street-legal Freightliner Inspiration Truck in Nevada. Daimler’s Level 2 autonomous controls – incorporating a mixture of automated braking and steering assistance – are available this year in North America’s Freightliner Cascadia, Europe’s Mercedes-Benz Actros, and Japanese Fuso trucks. While the partially automated trucks rely on radar and a camera, higher levels of automated driving will require a few dozen sensors including Lidar, Daum said. “Level 4 automation allows the vehicle to operate completely on its own, and if it finds itself in trouble the truck is designed to bring itself to a safe stop,” Nielsen said. But the vision still includes drivers in cabs because their work is not Roger Nielsen of Daimler Trucks North America welcomes limited to time behind the Michael Fleming, CEO of Torc Robotics. (Daimler photo) wheel. “With the ever rising demand for road transportation, not the least through e-commerce, there is a strong business case for self-driving trucks in the U.S. market and I believe the fastest path to commercialization for self driving trucks is in partnership with Daimler Trucks,” said Michael Fleming, CEO of Torc Robotics. He stressed the importance of working closely with an OEM, rather than facing a “firewall” between software and vehicle developers. “We view it as a highly integrated system,” he said. Torc first reached out to Daimler in mid-2018. “The potential for automating driving is just amazing,” Daum said. “Global transport volumes will continue to increase over the years and decades to come, and automated driving is an important lever.” TT

ZF signs deal to acquire Wabco ZF Friedrichshafen is creating a commercial vehicle technology powerhouse under a deal to acquire Wabco for about US $7 billion. Wabco’s technologies and services include integrated braking systems and stability control, air suspension systems, transmission automation controls and aerodynamics, telematics and fleet management products. ZF focuses on driveline and chassis technologies as well as active and passive safety systems. When it’s all combined, ZF will be able to develop integrated systems like new drive systems for electric vehicles and autonomous driving. “Joining forces with highly respected ZF will create a leading global technology company well-positioned to capitalize on future demand for autonomous, efficient and connected commercial vehicles,” Wabco chairman and CEO Jacques Esulier said in an issued statement. “For ZF the acquisition of a specialist and leader for commercial vehicle braking systems means adding a stable and growing business segment and enables our existing commercial vehicle division to expand its expertise in vehicle dynamics control,” said ZF CEO Wolf-Henning Scheider. TT MAY 2019

Dispatches

Truck orders dip to 2010 levels North American orders for Class 8 trucks sat at 15,200 units this March – the lowest levels for the month since 2010, FTR reports. The totals were also below 20,000 units for the third consecutive month. While demand remains strong, the supply is limited because slots on assembly lines are filled through the year. “Fleets that need trucks are basically taking whatever is available,” the analysts say. In terms of actual sales, 2,213 Class 8 units were purchased in Canada this February, with Freightliner accounting for about 37% of them, Wards Auto says. While Freightliner trailed International’s Class 7 totals on the year, it held the lead position in February with 38% of sales. Freightliner also accounted for the largest share of Class 6 units, with 49% of the monthly sales. Ford holds more than half of Class 5 sales and secured 56.8% during the month.

Canada – February 2019 SALES CLASS 8

U.S. – February 2019

MARKET SHARES

SALES

Feb.

YTD

Feb. %

YTD %

CLASS 8

Freightliner Kenworth International Volvo Truck Peterbilt Western Star Mack Other Total CLASS 7

811 322 267 260 241 207 105 0 2,213 Feb.

1,548 629 546 474 411 373 218 0 4,199 YTD

36.6 14.6 12.1 11.7 10.9 9.4 4.7 0.0 100.0 Feb. %

36.9 15.0 13.0 11.3 9.8 8.9 5.2 0.0 100.0 YTD %

International Freightliner Peterbilt Hino Kenworth Ford Total CLASS 6

129 161 18 74 35 4 421 Feb.

296 270 174 114 70 12 936 YTD

30.6 38.2 4.3 17.6 8.3 1.0 100.0 Feb. %

Freightliner Hino International Ford Kenworth Isuzu GM Peterbilt Total CLASS 5

67 45 16 7 2 0 0 0 137 Feb.

124 87 46 10 5 4 0 0 276 YTD

Ford Hino Isuzu Dodge/Ram Freightliner Mitsubishi Fuso GM International Kenworth Peterbilt Total

225 103 49 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 396

377 186 152 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 739

TODAY’S TRUCKING

www.total-canada.ca

MARKET SHARES

Feb.

YTD

Feb. %

YTD %

Freightliner International Peterbilt Kenworth Volvo Truck Mack Western Star Other Total CLASS 7

8,018 2,739 3,029 2,780 1,743 1,163 386 0 19,858 Feb.

17,223 5,889 5,498 5,053 3,340 2,182 865 0 40,050 YTD

40.4 13.8 15.3 14.0 8.8 5.9 1.9 0.0 100.0 Feb. %

43.0 14.7 13.7 12.6 8.3 5.4 2.2 0.0 100.0 YTD %

31.6 28.8 18.6 12.2 7.5 1.3 100.0 YTD %

Freightliner International Peterbilt Kenworth Ford Hino Total CLASS 6

2,198 1,079 503 343 306 198 4,627 Feb.

4,881 2,423 1,048 718 647 300 10,017 YTD

47.5 23.3 10.9 7.4 6.6 4.3 100.0 Feb. %

48.7 24.2 10.5 7.2 6.5 3.0 100.0 YTD %

48.9 32.8 11.7 5.1 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 Feb. %

44.9 31.5 16.7 3.6 1.8 1.4 0.0 0.0 100.0 YTD %

International Freightliner Ford Hino Kenworth Isuzu Peterbilt GM Total CLASS 5

1,946 1,873 1,116 604 245 61 2 70 5,917 Feb.

4,479 4,193 2,232 1,047 469 132 5 81 12,638 YTD

32.9 31.7 18.9 10.2 4.1 1.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 Feb. %

35.4 33.2 17.7 8.3 3.7 1.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 YTD %

56.8 26.0 12.4 4.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

51.0 25.2 20.6 3.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

Ford Dodge/Ram Isuzu Freightliner Hino GM Kenworth International Peterbilt Mitsubishi Fuso Total

3,549 711 408 217 156 21 2 2 0 0 5,066

7,098 1,397 721 703 257 32 7 2 2 0 10,219

70.1 14.0 8.1 4.3 3.1 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

69.5 13.7 7.1 6.9 2.5 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

Source: WardsAuto

Dispatches

L gbook2019 APRIL 26-27

12-14

Alberta Motor Transport Association Leadership Conference Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge Kananaskis, Alta. www.amta.ca

JUNE 7-8 Atlantic Truck Show Moncton Coliseum Complex Moncton, N.B. www.atlantictruckshow.com

Private Motor Truck Council of Canada Annual Conference Crowne Plaza Fallsview Niagara Falls, Ont. www.pmtc.ca

JULY 12-14 519 Loud Nâ€™ Proud Truck Show and Shine Orangeville Fairgrounds Orangeville, Ont. www.519loudnproud.com

SEPTEMBER 14 Recruitment and Resources Expo Mississauga, Ont. www.rttnexpo.com

OCTOBER 16 Surface Transportation Summit Mississauga, Ont. www.surfacetransportation summit.com

28-31 North American Commercial Vehicle Show Atlanta, Ga. www.nacvshow.com

ALUMINIUM FLATBEDS BUILT IN CANADA

Ontario: 519.878.4051

www.alutrec.com MAY 2019

Dispatches

Pu se Reader Survey Tell us your thoughts on ... your workplace and industry It’s been a long winter, but there are plenty of factors that dictate how long a workday can feel. Maybe you love being around your coworkers ... or dread crossing paths with a certain dispatcher. In this month’s Pulse Survey, we wanted to gauge how you view your workplace within the trucking industry.

How happy are you with your career choice?

37% 28% 20% 7% 5% 2% 1%

Satisfied Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

What is the biggest external force that affects the way you view the trucking industry? 27% 15% 14% 12% 11% 9% 6% 5% 1%

Regulatory burden Regulatory enforcement Traffic congestion Public opinion Financial pressures Other Highway condition Changing equipment Family opinion

“Inconsistent rules and regulations.”

How happy are you with the state of today’s trucking industry?

How happy are you with your current job?

n 13% o 18% p 42% q 24% r 3%

37% 26% 21% 5% 5% 3% 3%

Do you feel supported by your coworkers?

YES

NO %

19 %

Which of the following would make a positive difference in the way you feel about your current job?

Do you feel supported by your direct manager?

YES

73 % 27 %

Today’s Trucking Pulse surveys are conducted once per month, covering a variety of industry issues. To share your voice in future surveys, email johng@newcom.ca.

TODAY’S TRUCKING

Satisfied Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Somwhat dissatisfied Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

47% 25% 20% 14% 13% 13% 11% 8% 6%

Higher pay Recognition for service More vacation time Different managers Flexible hours/flexible dispatching Team-building activities Newer/different equipment Different coworkers More variety in tasks

Next month: Job searches

Dispatches

StatPack 10 REGIONAL FLEETS WANTED

$184.8 MILLION IN REVENUE Titanium Transportation Group capped off a strong 2018 with fourth-quarter revenue up 20% and net income for the three-month period reaching $1.3 million. For the full year, Titanium saw revenue climb 43% to $184.8 million and profit reach $5.8 million. The company grew its driver base by 14% on the year and paid off $11.3 million in debt.

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) is looking for 10 regional fleets to showcase the real-world fuel efficiency that can be realized when running within 150-500 km of a home base. The council’s Run on Less Regional demonstration will kick off from various Canadian and U.S. locations on Oct. 8, and conclude Oct. 27 at the North American Commercial Vehicle (NACV) Show. It’s expected to include sleepers and day cabs, returning home several times per week. For details visit

www.runonless.com

1,436 LB. LOST Participants in the first leg of the 2019 Healthy Fleet 10-Pound Challenge shed a collective 1,436 lb. in January and February. Teams that led the losses included Erb Group of Companies (217.9 lb.), Challenger Motor Freight (144.5 lb.), Trans-Frt McNamara (118 lb.), Sutco Transportation (110 lb.), and TCW (69.6 lb.). More details are at www.healthytrucker.com

$7.3 MILLION FOR CLEAN TECH 160,000 SQ.FT. OF PACCAR PARTS Paccar Parts’ new 160,000-sq.ft. facility in Mississauga, Ont., will serve 65 dealers and TRP stores in Eastern Canada, as well as dealers in the northeastern U.S. Its 17 employees will fill about 2,100 customer orders per day. The number of parts stocked in the Greater Toronto Area has increased 72% since 2009, outgrowing the old regional distribution center in nearby Brampton.

The Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) will receive over $7.3 million for the Alberta Zero Emissions Truck Electrification Collaboration (AZETEC), part of $100 million the province is investing in clean technology. “The AZETEC project demonstrates that Alberta’s commercial transportation industry is leading the transition towards innovative, zero-emission transportation that meets the province’s unique needs,” said AMTA president Chris Nash.

GUARDS ABOVE 10,000 LB. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is opposing legislation that would mandate underride guards on all sides of commercial motor vehicles over 10,000 lb. The organization says the proposal would yield few, if any, safety benefits and cost the industry billions of dollars to comply. MAY 2019

Dispatches

Heard Street on the

Seven named Road Knights The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) has named seven drivers to its 2019-20 Road Knights team that will travel the province to meet with students and community groups. Among them are William Hickey of One for Freight, Mike Iasparro of Canadian Tire, Michael Mann of Trimac Transportation, Kevin Matthews of Trans. Frt. McNamara, Treana Moniz of Bison Transport, Jackie Van Wynen of Zavcor Trucking, and Rod Verbeke of Trimac Transportation.

Fleetstop honored by Wabash Calgary’s Fleetstop Trailers was named one of Wabash National’s top dealers for 2018. Twenty-six dealers are part of the company’s Dealer Ambassador Program, and 16 were honored for their performance. This was the third straight year Fleetstop received the honor.

Bill MacKinnon, 90 Bill MacKinnon, former leader of MacKinnon Transport, passed

Young to lead Trucking HR Linda Young, the vice-president of HR and people development at Bison Transport, will lead Trucking HR

Linda Young

Canada’s board of directors. Joining her on the board for the first time will be Cindy Clarke, formerly from Western Star and now president of Women in Supply Chain, Stephanie Theede, vice-president of human resources at RTL-Westcan Group of Companies, and Rachel Arseneau, owner of GX Transportation Solutions. Oksana Exell, president and CEO at the Western Transportation Advisory Council (WESTAC), has committed to another term. Mark Seymour, president and CEO of Kriska Transportation Group, continues his term as vice-chairman.

away March 22 at the age of 90. The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) dubbed MacKinnon an “industry pioneer and key builder in the success and growth” of the association for more than 50 years. He was the association’s longest-serving board member and once served as chairman of the Canadian Trucking Association.

Dan Griffin

Titanium searching for CFO Kasia Malz has resigned from her role as chief financial officer at Titanium Transportation Group and now assumes the title at Lift and Co. Alex Fu, who had been Titanium’s director of finance, was named interim CFO.

Griffin to lead Dana strategy Dana has appointed Dan Griffin

Fortin, Munden join CTA executive team The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) has named Jean-Claude Fortin of JE Fortin as vice-chairman, and Greg Munden of Munden Ventures as secretary-treasurer, under a recently announced reorganization. They replace Don Streuber of Bison Transport and Mark Seymour of Kriska Transportation, who respectively served in the interim roles during the transition.

Link’s new OEM connection Link Manufacturing has hired Anthony Ermitage as its new OEM account manager. Ermitage will be responsible for developing Link’s sales relationships with fire truck, crane, and other commercial vehicle OEMs. He has more than 13 years of experience working in Navistar’s credit card, marketing, and purchasing groups.

TODAY’S TRUCKING

Anthony Ermitage

to senior director of strategy, product planning, and program management for commercial vehicle and the aftermarket. He will be responsible for growth initiatives for Dana’s commercial vehicle and aftermarket businesses, including expanding Dana’s global e-commerce platform and enhancing the company’s product portfolio. In another announcement Bill Nunnery was named senior director of aftermarket sales, customer service, and marketing.

Dispatches

Trendingg on

.com

Lion’s leader makes case for electric trucks Most of the fleets linked to the Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) still work with diesel-powered trucks, but Marc Bedard arrived with a message: “The business case for electric makes sense.” “You can have savings of $35,000 or more every year per [electric] truck,” the president of Quebec-based Lion Electric said in a keynote address during TMC’s annual meeting. “When you do have incentives – and in some regions there are a lot of incentives – then your overall savings grow.” The manufacturer, already known for producing electric school buses, recently unveiled an electric Class 8 urban truck known as the Lion 8. It features up to 480 kWh of power, with an electric motor rated up to 350 kW, and a range of about 400 km. And it was drawing crowds on the tradeshow floor the night before. “I’m no Elon Musk, and I didn’t smoke any weed when I came up with this idea,” Bedard said, referring to the Tesla founder. “All we have done is commercialize what you told us that you needed.” There has been an undeniable shift in the conversations. When he began discussing electric vehicles eight years ago, almost no one had heard of Tesla. Four years ago he was talking about electric school buses with a 105-km range. Today, the focus has shifted beyond environmental benefits to discuss an electric

@todaystrucking Your go-to social media source

truck’s return on investment. Maintenance on an electric truck will cost 60% less than the work associated with diesel engines, he said. An electric motor, for example, has 20 parts compared to the 2,000 in a diesel engine. Across the vehicle, there will be about 7,000 parts compared to 30,000. There is no exhaust system, diesel particulate filter, transmission, or oil. The regenerative braking alone promises to triple the life of service brakes. “The total cost of ownership is lower,” he added, referring to electricity costs that can be four times cheaper than diesel. For now he recognizes the ranges limited by existing battery densities. “We should target what’s possible with the proven technologies,” he said of the focus on urban use. “An urban truck makes sense because we can offer a range that is achievable now.” Bedard believes that longhaul applications are still a “few years” away and “just not possible” with existing technologies.

25.1K

FOLLOWERS

If you’re not following us on Twitter, you’re missing out on some interesting discussions in the world of trucking. From regulations to product news, we have you covered.

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF TWEETS POSTED BY TODAY’S TRUCKING THIS MONTH

KEEP IN TOUCH facebook.com/ TodaysTrucking

March 13 . @fordnation: You can be for jobs or you can be for a #carbontax but you can’t be for both ... the risk of a carbon tax recession is real. #ONpoli #trucking @ChallengerMF

March 21 The finishing touches count. A panel at #TMCAnnual19 discusses ways that #truck options can be used as a powerful tool to tackle the #drivershortage. Read the details here. https://www.todaystrucking. com/truck-comforts-seen-as-powerfulrecruiting-tool/ …

March 25 Steering, suspension systems to be focus during annual @CVSA #Roadcheck inspection blitz. www.trucknews. com/transportation/roadcheck-blitzto-focus-on-steering-suspensionsystems/1003090561/ …

@todaystrucking

TodaysTrucking1

MAY 2019

leads the way Great isn’t simply a promise, it’s our purpose. It’s why we’re looking to the future, developing new technologies and focusing on our customers’ growing needs. It’s what makes us ready for the road ahead and why Great Doesn’t Stop. GreatDane.com

Great Dane and The Oval are registered trademarks of Great Dane LLC. 741 DMD 0319.

Legal

Think twice before you write a reference letter By Carole McAfee Wallace

positive reference letter can seem like a welcome favor for a long-term employee, but a recent court case illustrates why fleet managers may want to think twice before writing such a document. It all began with a blocked route. Michel Arel, a truck driver with Transport Dessaults, told a client that a load wouldn’t be delivered because of an illegally parked vehicle. His customer clearly wasn’t happy. They called the fleet, and the fleet’s president called Arel. That discussion became heated, and the driver hung up. When Arel reported to work the next day, he learned that he wasn’t assigned a load. A supervisor called him into a private room and handed him the notice of a four-day suspension that had already been placed in the driver’s mail slot. Arel lost it, pushed his supervisor and left. A video camera caught it all. The supervisor then called police to file an assault report, and Transport Dessaults terminated the driver’s employment. After he called the president to apologize and express regret, the supervisor withdrew the police complaint. A week later, Transport Dessaults even provided Arel with a letter of reference confirming his position, 10 years of service, and stating that he “proved to be a good employee who performed his tasks in a

completely professional manner” and would be “a great asset” to a future employer. The driver found a new job within a few weeks … and then launched his unjust dismissal application. Under the Canada Labour Code, a non-managerial employee with at least 12 months of service can only be dismissed by a federally regulated employer if there is a bona fide lack of work, a position is eliminated, or there is just cause for termination. You would think that forcefully shoving your superior after angrily tearing up a suspension notice would constitute just cause, but this wasn’t the case. The adjudicator found that Arel was guilty of gross misconduct when he pushed his supervisor, but the employer’s favorable reference letter issued so closely after that event meant the dismissal couldn’t be upheld. The adjudicator awarded severance pay but did not order Arel’s reinstatement, given the breakdown in the employment relationship. Transport Dessaults filed an application with the federal court for a judicial review, arguing that the fleet’s actions after Arel’s termination were irrelevant, and that the finding of gross misconduct supported just cause in the dismissal. The federal court decided it had to consider a broader context to determine just cause, and would look at

Arel’s employment history and consider whether trust was permanently severed by the actions. The positive letter of reference led to the finding that the immediate dismissal wasn’t justified, and the order to pay severance was upheld. Transport Dessaults was likely trying to help its former employee find a new job, but this affected its ability to argue just cause. It’s why many employers now have a policy against providing a letter of reference, or limit themselves to providing a confirmation letter that sets out the dates of employment, positions held, duties, and responsibilities. Terminated employees have a duty to mitigate damages by actively seeking new work, and a positive reference letter is an important tool in such a search. If the employee finds new work right away, this could remove grounds for a wrongful dismissal claim

or dramatically reduce the amount to which they would be entitled. An employer is not legally obligated to provide a reference letter, though. Employers need to think carefully before issuing such a document. They may be sued by a future employer who relies on a glowing reference that turns out to be untrue. The former employees themselves might sue because of an honest reference that’s deemed to interfere with their ability to find new work. Sure, employers can mount a defence if they honestly believe the content in the reference letter, but that may be little comfort when they’re being sued. TT Carole McAfee Wallace is counsel at Fernandes Hearn LLP, and can be reached at 416-203-9551. This column is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

MAY 2019

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Open Mike

Big players, real estate, and more driving M&A By Mike McCarron

hile researching my annual column on Canadian trucking mergers and acquisitions (M&A), I went back and read last year’s commentary to see what changed. Back then I said the activity revolved around two things: “Big carriers continued their sprint to scale, looking for plug-and-play tuck-ins that add customers, drivers, and coverage.” “With the demand for commercial real estate at an all-time high, decisions to sell will be motivated more by real estate than transportation.” This year, the big boys and dirt continue to be major drivers in a vibrant marketplace for consolidation. What I said last year is still true today. But there have also been a lot of changes, with more looming. They are affecting the active M&A market, too.

Red hot interest in freight brokers With last year’s mandate of electronic logging devices (ELDs) swirling about in the U.S., no carrier wanted to buy a broker and take on freight that exceeded their available capacity. Those supply-and-demand winds have shifted. On the supply side, transactional freight brokers are getting nervous about the sustainability of their business model. They’re not blind to the billions of Silicon Valley dollars being invested to “technology

the big boys who have been gobbling up their market share. One thing I find interesting is the number of deals that are never announced. Many nervous first-time buyers prefer anonymity and go along their merry way by quietly tucking in their acquisitions.

The “R” word

out” transportation middle men. Brokers see what’s happening to retailers (Amazon), hotels (Airbnb), taxis (Uber), and other industries, and fear that they’re next. On the demand side, freight brokers with high margins, scalable customers, and pliable owners are coveted by carriers and fellow brokers alike. Sellers that run a process are getting more offers, higher valuations, and better terms than at this time last year. Even brokers with small sales territories are being hunted down to replace outside sales reps and direct customers that truckers struggle to find.

Sector crosspollination CN’s acquisition of the TransX Group of Companies is a

sign of more “sector crosspollination” to come. Shipping lines, airlines, and logistics firms are looking to get into the trucking game to deepen their supply chain capabilities, get more of their customer’s spend, and take back any outsourced business. Having more transportation sectors with companies interested in hauling their own over-the-road freight should be a boon for truckers looking to cash out or retire.

A busy small/ mid market The small and mid-sized fleets with fewer than 100 trucks are officially active buyers as well. Money is cheap and many fleets are sitting on cash they are anxious to spend, just like

Who knows what to make of the economic slowdown being predicted by the major news outlets. But I do know that an economic slowdown would reduce the selling price of trucking companies. During a recession there are fewer buyers as companies shift gears to focus on internal matters, like tightening their belts and preserving cash flow. With less competition, active buyers look for the bargains that emerge during a recession. Lots of carriers I’ve been speaking with are scared that, if they don’t get out soon, they could be stuck for years to come – or be trapped in a buyer’s market. One thing that hasn’t changed this year is the value of companies. They’re all worth exactly the same as last year – what someone will pay for them. TT Mike McCarron is the president of Left Lane Associates, a firm that creates total enterprise value for transportation companies and their owners. He can be reached at mike@ leftlaneassociates.ca, 416-551-6651, or @AceMcC on Twitter.

MAY 2019

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RED-L DISTRIBUTORS LTD 9727-47 Ave. Edmonton AB T6E 5M7 Tel: (780) 437-2630 redl.com

49 NORTH LUBRICANTS 1429 Mountain Ave., Unit 2 Winnipeg MB R2X 2Y9 Tel: (204) 694-9100 Fax: (204) 775-0475 49northlubricants.com

CASE ’N DRUM OIL INC 3462 White Oak Road London ON N6E 2Z9 Toll Free: 1 (800) 265-7642 cndoil.ca

TRANSIT LUBRICANTS LTD 5 Hill St. Kitchener ON N2G 3X4 Tel: (519) 579-5330 transitpetroleum.com

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MACEWEN PETROLEUM INC 18 Adelaide St. Maxville ON K0C 1T0 Toll Free: 1 (800) 267-7175 macewen.ca

CREVIER LUBRIFIANTS 2320, Rue de la Métropole Longueuil (QC) J4G 1E6 Tél : (450) 679-8866 crevier.ca

NORTH ATLANTIC REFINING LTD 29 Pippy Place St. John’s NL A1B 3X2 Tel: (709) 570-5624 northatlantic.ca

>> The final word on movers and mergers in Canada’s trucking industry. The Today’s Trucking Top 100 is the definitive ranking of for-hire fleet sizes in Canada, offering insights into those who are adding or retracting available capacity. Rankings are based on a sum of supplied truck, tractor, and trailer counts (shown at the bottom of each listing).

THE

TOP

1(1 – 2018 ranking) TFI International Saint-Laurent, Que. www.tfiintl.com 514-331-4000 STOCK Trucks: 2,209 TFII Tractors: 6,578 Trailers: 26,581 OO: 8,568 Employees: 17,026 Rating sum: 35,368 Services: TL, LTL, D, E, I, TC, B, Tank, W

1OO A ranking of Canada’s top for-hire fleets

Canada’s biggest fleet gets bigger TFI International is undeniably Canada’s largest for-hire fleet, and it continues to demonstrate an aggressive growth strategy. Chairman, president, and CEO Alain Bedard said in a recent call with analysts that the fleet invested $150 million in acquisitions during 2018 – and projects another $200 million during the year to come. Normandin Transit of Napierville, Que., was one of the biggest Canadian deals, featuring more than 300 tractors and 1,000 trailers to bolster truckload and less-than-truckload activities. Not every deal involved dry vans, though. The most recent fleet to adopt TFI’s red swoosh was Schilli Corporation, which specializes in bulk loads hauled throughout the U.S. Midwest, southeast, and gulf coast regions. When independent contractors are included in the totals, that accounts for more than 340 tractors and 500 trailers. Ontario-based Gorski Bulk Transport and Toronto Tank Lines joined the TFI family in 2018, too. As for the deals to come, Bedard said they will likely be small in nature. Buying back TFII stock is another alternative, he added.

2 (2)

7(6)

Canadian National Transportation

TransX Group of Companies

Montreal, Que. www.cn.ca 888-888-5909 Trucks: 0 Tractors: 1,150 Trailers: 7,500 OO: 1,150 Employees: 100 Rating sum: 8,650 Services: TL, I STOCK

Winnipeg, Man. www.transx.com 800-665-7598 Trucks: 71 Tractors: 1,390 Trailers: 4,795 OO: 776 Employees: 2,195 Rating sum: 6,256 TL, LTL, D, I, TC, B

Two giants come together

The biggest single shakeup in this year’s Top 100 ranking involved Canadian National Transportation (CN), which acquired the TransX Group of Companies. The deal was first announced Oct. 30 and closed this spring. The businesses were hardly strangers, though. They had been supply chain partners for years, said Keith Reardon, CN senior vice-president – consumer products supply chain growth. “This transaction will support the safe and efficient movement of our customers’ goods to their end markets in a fast-growing consumer economy,” added JJ Ruest, CN president and chief executive officer. TransX continues to operate independently out of Winnipeg.

CNR

3 (3) Mullen Group Okotoks, Alta. www.mullen-group.com 866-995-7711 STOCK Trucks: 1,515 MTL Tractors: 3,372 Trailers: 8,537 OO: 1,099 Employees: 4,709 Rating sum: 13,424 Services: TL, LTL, D, E, I, TC, B, Tank, W

Trucking activities offset oil meltdown Struggles in Canada’s oil patch have not been kind to Mullen Group. Chairman and CEO Murray Mullen referred to conditions in late 2018 as nothing less than a “market meltdown”. But the company’s trucking and logistics activity has been a saving grace. Mullen’s truckload segment alone saw annual revenue increase 14.7% to a record $873.3 million. Adjusted net income for 2018 was up 46.9% to $62 million. Corporate acquisitions in the past year included DWS Logistics of Mississauga, Ont., a third-party logistics and warehousing service with distribution centers in the Greater Toronto Area and B.C.’s lower mainland. The deal included more than 500,000 sq.-ft. of warehouse space. This hardly means that Mullen has abandoned trucking-related investments to serve the oil sector. The company also acquired Canadian Hydrovac, which serves midstream, pipeline, construction, and municipal clients in Western Canada. Another deal included AECOM’s Canadian Industrial Services Division, featuring more than 250 pieces of equipment including pressure trucks, hydrovacs, vacuum trucks, combo units, and fluid hauling equipment.

▲

TL = Truckload LTL = Less than Truckload D = Dedicated E = Expedited I = Intermodal TC = Temp. Control B = Bulk Tank = Tanker W = Warehousing

MAY 2019

W eb sit e

Cu st om er Li ne

Pr ov in ce

He ad

20 18

Ra nk

Fleet

Off ice

THE TOP 1OO

Day & Ross

Hartland

866-329-7677

www.dayrossgroup.com

Canada Cartage

Mississauga

800-268-2228

www.canadacartage.com

Bison Transport

Winnipeg

800-363-0003

www.bisontransport.com

TransX Group of Companies

Winnipeg

800-665-7598

www.transx.com

Trimac

Calgary

403-298-5100

www.trimac.com

Challenger Motor Freight

Cambridge

800-265-6358

www.challenger.com

Armour Transport

Moncton

800-561-7967

www.armour.ca

Charger Logistics

Brampton

905-793-3525

www.chargerlogistics.com

Groupe Robert

Boucherville

800-361-8281

www.robert.ca

UPS Canada

Mississauga

800-742-5877

www.ups.com/ca

Manitoulin Transport

Gore Bay

800-265-1485

www.manitoulintransport.com

M-O Freightworks

Brampton

905-792-6100

www.m-o.com

CAT/ Canadian American Trans.

Coteau-du-Lac

800-363-5313

www.cat.ca

Westcan Bulk Transport

Edmonton

800-661-2855

www.westcanbulk.ca

Kriska Transportation Group

Prescott

800-461-8000

www.kriskagroup.com

Rosedale Group

Mississauga

800-588-0057

www.rosedalegroup.com

Hyndman Transport

Wroxeter

800-265-3071

www.hyndman.ca

Titanium Transportation Group

Bolton

905-851-1688

www.ttgi.com

Purolator

Mississauga

905-712-1084

www.purolator.com

Consolidated FastFrate

Woodbridge

800-268-1564

www.fastfrate.com

Erb Group of Companies

New Hamburg

800-665-2653

www.erbgroup.com

Arrow Transportation Systems

Kamloops

250-374-3831

www.arrow.ca

Siemens Transportation Group

Saskatoon

800-667-8556

www.siemenstransport.com

International Truckload Services

Belleville

800-267-1888

www.itstruck.ca

SGT 2000

St-Germain-de-Grantham

819-395-4213

www.sgt.ca

Speedy Transport Group

Brampton

800-265 5351

www.speedy.ca

XTL Transport

Etobicoke

800-665 9318

www.xtl.com

Groupe Guilbault

Quebec City

888-880-3801

www.groupeguilbault.com

Simard Transport

Montreal

514-636-9411

www.simard.ca

Rosenau Transport

Edmonton

800-371-6895

www.rosenau.ca

CCT Canada

Mississauga

905-362-9198

www.cctcanada.com

Warren Gibson

Alliston

800-461-4374

www.warrengibson.com

(NR) = not ranked in 2018

TODAYâ€™S TRUCKING

Ow ne r-o pe ra Em to rs pl oy ee s Ra nk in g To ta l

LT L

2027

6070

1961

2465

8722

•

444

2313

4386

857

3160

7143

•

1700

4800

870

2250

6500

•

1390

4795

776

2195

6256

•

1117

4138

781

2892

5255

•

1325

3300

144

1850

4625

•

150

975

3450

2050

4575

•

550

3600

125

450

4150

•

855

3258

386

3645

4134

•

2862

170

362

12000+

3394

•

204

745

2305

338

3254

•

172

407

2372

345

2951

•

450

2300

215

841

2750

•

759

1853

205

1058

2612

•

655

1705

220

935

2360

•

525

1550

105

905

2135

•

430

1700

470

2130

•

475

1500

175

550

1977

•

177

462

1296

12000

1935

•

292

1618

575

1434

1929

•

149

507

1259

109

1500

1915

•

425

1358

176

875

1877

•

456

1320

111

787

1846

•

260

1575

150

625

1840

•

275

1345

300

1621

•

105

430

1050

425

435

1585

•

335

1250

686

1585

•

348

1200

1100

1552

•

355

1100

255

660

1545

•

325

1100

700

1505

•

152

357

980

1489

•

280

1200

524

1480

•

Ta nk er W ar eh ou sin g

Tr ai le rs

625

De di ca te d Ex pe di te d In te rm od al Te m p. Co nt Bu ro lk l

St ra ig ht Tr uc Tr ks ac to rs

THE TOP 1OO

• •

• • • •

•

• • •

•

• •

•

• •

•

• •

•

• • •

•

• • •

•

• •

• = Yes Blank = No

•

• •

• MAY 2019

W eb sit e

Cu st om er Li ne

Pr ov in ce

20 18

He ad

Ra nk

Fleet

Off ice

THE TOP 1OO

Groupe Morneau

Saint-Arsène

844 884-2727

www.groupemorneau.com

B&R Eckel’s Transport

Bonnyville

800-661-3290

www.breckels.com

Verspeeten Cartage

Ingersoll

519-425-7881

www.verspeeten.com

Caron Transportation Systems

Sherwood Park

780-449-6688

www.carontransport.ca

VersaCold Logistics Services

Vaughan

800-563-2653

www.versacold.com

Highlight Motor Group

Concord

905-761-1400

www.highlightmotor.com

KTL Transport

Richmond

604-515-1499

www.euroasiainc.com

Caravan Logistics

Oakville

905-338-5885

www.caravangroup.com

Andy Transport

Montreal

514-667-8500

www.andytransport.com

Penner International

Steinbach

866-729-7134

www.penner.ca

Schneider National Carriers – Canadian Division

Guelph

519-826-7028

www.schneider.com

Chambers Transportation Group

Vernon

800-575-2355

www.chambersgroup.co

AYR Motor Express

Woodstock

800-668-0099

www.ayrmotor.com

Groupe Transport St-Michel

Saint-Michel

877-454-9973

www.transportstmichel.com

Toronto

416-240-0897

www.thomsongroup.com

Cooney Group of Companies

Belleville

613-962-6666

www.cooney.ca

Transport Bourassa

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu

800-363-9254

www.bourassa.ca

Paul’s Hauling

Winnipeg

204-633-4330

www.paulshauling.com

Sokil Transportation Group

Edmonton

800-661-9923

www.sokil.com

Big Freight Systems

Steinbach

800-665-0415

www.bigfreight.com

Transport JC Germain

Trois-Rivieres

800-263-9295

www.transportjcgermain.com

Groupe Nadeau

Sainte-Melanie

800-363-2757

www.groupenadeau.com

Falcon Motor Express

Caledon

905-951-4500

www.falconxpress.ca

APPS Transport Group

Mississauga

800-465-2513

www.appsexpress.com

Apex Motor Express

Brampton

800-895-2739

www.apexltl.com

Groupe Boutin

Plessisville

800-567-5841

www.boutinexpress.com

Trans West

Lachine, QC

514-345-1090

www.groupetranswest.com

Aheer Transportation

Delta

604-940-9511

www.aheer.com

Northern Industrial Carriers

Edmonton

780-465-0341

www.nictrucking.com

Arnold Bros. Transport

Winnipeg

800-665-8085

www.arnoldbros.com

Landtran Systems

Edmonton

780-468-6970

www.landtran.com

(formerly DCT Chambers Trucking)

Thomson Group (formerly Thomson Terminals)

(NR) = not ranked in 2018

TODAY’S TRUCKING

1050

1466

176

236

1014

400

1426

289

1128

198

290

1417

382

916

463

1333

1200

480

1626

1305

395

875

500

1276

145

1100

140

350

1245

401

834

161

500

1237

367

800

450

1167

325

800

250

225

900

373

675

208

• •

• • • • • • • • •

1125

• • • • • • • • • •

275

1125

•

259

1048

•

780

475

988

237

742

300

979

• •

157

810

400

970

•

210

700

250

910

•

200

700

450

904

227

592

320

832

160

595

255

830

230

570

380

800

150

650

250

800

712

147

765

250

500

450

750

640

400

748

• • • • • • • • •

100

145

500

289

300

745

217

495

388

718

250

450

550

610

700

600

685

•

600

675

•

110

545

130

215

655

•

200

400

100

335

640

•

• • •

• •

• • •

• • • • • • •

•

Ta nk er W ar eh ou sin g

1080

De di ca te d Ex pe di te d In te rm od al Te m p. Co nt Bu ro lk l

Ow ne r-o pe ra Em to rs pl oy ee s Ra nk in g To ta l

360

LT L

Tr ai le rs

St ra ig ht Tr uc Tr ks ac to rs

THE TOP 1OO

•

• • • • • •

• •

•

• •

•

• •

• • •

•

• •

•

• • • • • •

•

• •

• • • • • • • • •

•

• •

•

• • • •

•

• •

•

• • •

• •

• • •

•

• • •

•

• •

• = Yes Blank = No

•

• MAY 2019

Cu st om er Li ne

Drummondville

800-567-1470

www.bourret.ca

Wolverine Freight System

Windsor

519-966-8970

www.wolverinefreight.ca

Eassons Transport

Kentville

902-679-1153

www.eassons.com

Fluke Transport

Hamilton

905-578-0677

www.fluke.ca

Transport TYT

Drummondville

819-474-4884

www.groupetyt.com

Harman Group of Companies

Caledon

905-840-4300

www.harmangroup.ca

VA Inc.

Boucherville

450-641 0082

www.vatransport.com

Travelers Transportation Services

Brampton

800-265-8789

www.travelers.ca

Transport Hervé Lemieux

Saint-Laurent

514-337-2203

www.transportlemieux.com

TVM Logistics

Cottam

519-839-4889

www.tvmltd.ca

Transport Gilmyr

Montmagny

800-895-7053

www.gilmyr.com

TEAMS Transport

Winnipeg

800-748-3267

www.teamstransport.com

TransPro Freight Systems

Milton

888-543-5555

www.transprofreight.com

Tandet Dedicated Logistics Group

Oakville

905-827-4200

www.tandet.com

Total Logistics Trucking

Vaudreuil

888-827-8521

www.totallogistics.com

VTL Express

100

Lévis

418-835-3222

www.vtlexpress.com

Canada Building Materials

Toronto

800-268-6148

www.canadabuildingmaterials.com

Musket Transport Ltd

Mississauga

905-823-7800

www.musket.ca

World Wide Carriers

Bolton

416-213-1334

www.worldwide-carriers.com

Mackie Moving Systems

Oshawa

905-728-2400

www.mackiegroup.com

Western Canada Express

Concord

800-387-3702

www.westerncanadaexpress.com

Earl Paddock Transportation

Stoney Creek

888-723-3625

www.paddocktransport.com

Vitesse Trucking Services

Lachine

866-446-5252

www.vitessetransport.com

BLM Group

Kitchener

519-748-9880

www.blm.com

Groupe Transport Bernieres

Québec

800-463-6722

www.bernieres.ca

Gosselin Express

Thetford Mines

800-463-3138

www.gosselinexpress.com

Transport Jocelyn Bourdeau

Saint-Chrysostome

888-826-1129

www.tjbi.ca

Fleetway Transport

Brantford

800-265-1128

www.fleetwaytransport.com

Transport Bessette et Boudreau

Val-Joli, QC

450-796-2919

www.b-b.ca

Express Mondor

Lanoraie

877-586-6662

www.expressmondor.net

Transport Matte

Donnacona

418-285-0777

www.transportmatte.com

Transport Sylvester & Forget

Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka

450-377-2535

www.tsyf.com

T & T Group (formerly Q-Line)

Saskatoon

306-934-3383

www.t-tgroup.com

Kim-Tam Canada

100

Woodstock

800-267-2683

www.kimtamtrucking.com

(NR) = not ranked in 2018

TODAY’S TRUCKING

W eb sit e

Pr ov in ce

20 18

Groupe Bourret

He ad

Fleet

Ra nk

Off ice

THE TOP 1OO

500

630

110

505

180

615

248

366

510

614

120

475

150

607

150

450

275

600

250

350

100

150

600

125

475

350

600

160

430

180

591

244

306

406

586

147

435

135

582

135

409

328

546

174

360

120

537

109

315

117

533

142

345

115

170

496

420

110

200

484

120

350

160

471

450

466

275

185

300

463

110

336

300

446

110

250

550

415

400

289

180

414

300

115

395

286

160

385

125

255

200

380

115

260

235

375

300

370

110

260

162

370

269

116

366

110

240

220

352

264

154

347

130

204

155

334

220

100

300

110

185

145

295

• • • • • • • • • • • •

220

125

281

•

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

•

• • • • • •

• • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • •

• •

•

• •

• • • • • •

•

• • •

•

• •

• • • •

•

• •

•

• • • • • • •

• • • • • • • •

• • • • •

• • • •

• •

• • • • • • • •

• • • •

•

• • •

•

• • •

•

• •

•

Ta nk er W ar eh ou sin g

436

De di ca te d Ex pe di te d In te rm od al Te m p. Co nt Bu ro lk l

Ow ne r-o pe ra Em to rs pl oy ee s Ra nk in g To ta l

183

LT L

Tr ai le rs

St ra ig ht Tr uc Tr ks ac to rs

THE TOP 1OO

•

• •

• = Yes Blank = No

MAY 2019

NEW LOCATIONS

NOW 3 PARTS & SERVICE LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU BETTER! BOUCHERVILLE: 514 527 8031 DORVAL: 514 780 1988 ETOBICOKE: 800 956 2622

800 956 2622 833 626 2248 800 361 7900 877 626 2622

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COMPANY INDEX A Aheer Transportation Andy Transport Apex Motor Express APPS Transport Group Armour Transport Arnold Bros. Transport Arrow Transportation Systems AYR Motor Express B B&R Eckel’s Transport Big Freight Systems Bison Transport BLM Group C Canada Building Materials Canada Cartage Canadian National Transportation Caravan Logistics Caron Transportation Systems CAT/ Canadian American Trans. CCT Canada Challenger Motor Freight Chambers Transportation Group Charger Logistics Consolidated FastFrate Cooney Group of Companies D Day & Ross E Earl Paddock Transportation Eassons Transport Erb Group of Companies Express Mondor F Falcon Motor Express Fleetway Transport Fluke Transport G Gosselin Express Groupe Bourret Groupe Boutin Groupe Guilbault Groupe Morneau Groupe Nadeau Groupe Robert Groupe Transport Bernieres Groupe Transport St-Michel H Harman Group of Companies Highlight Motor Group Hyndman Transport I International Truckload Services K Kim-Tam Canada Kriska Transportation Group KTL Transport L Landtran Systems

THE TOP 1OO 63 (77) 44 (52) 60 (nr) 59 (98) 10 (11) 65 (83) 25 (35) 48 (57) 37 (32) 55 (96) 6 (5) 90 (nr) 83 (nr) 5 (10) 3 (2) 43 (45) 39 (59) 16 (29) 34 (nr) 9 (9) 47 (53) 11 (nr) 23 (27) 51 (54) 4 (4) 88 (nr) 69 (66) 24 (24) 96 (nr) 58 (70) 94 (nr) 70 (nr) 92 (nr) 67 (nr) 61 (55) 31 (38) 36 (39) 57 (76) 12 (7) 91 (nr) 49 (46) 72 (84) 41 (65) 20 (16) 27 (26) 100 (61) 18 (19) 42 (47) 66 (62)

M M-O Freightworks Mackie Moving Systems Manitoulin Transport Mullen Group Musket Transport Ltd N Northern Industrial Carriers P Paul’s Hauling Penner International Purolator R Rosedale Group Rosenau Transport S Schneider National Carriers Canadian Division SGT 2000 Siemens Transportation Group Simard Transport Sokil Transportation Group Speedy Transport Group T T & T Group (Formerly Q-Line) Tandet Dedicated Logistics Group TEAMS Transport TFI International Thomson Group Titanium Transportation Group Total Logistics Trucking Trans West Transport Bessette et Boudreau Transport Bourassa Transport Gilmyr Transport Hervé Lemieux Transport JC Germain Transport Jocelyn Bourdeau Transport Matte Transport Sylvester & Forget Transport TYT TransPro Freight Systems TransX Group of Companies Travelers Transportation Services Trimac TVM Logistics U UPS Canada V VA Inc. VersaCold Logistics Services Verspeeten Cartage Vitesse Trucking Services VTL Express W Warren Gibson Westcan Bulk Transport Western Canada Express Wolverine Freight System World Wide Carriers X XTL Transport

15 (18) 86 (nr) 14 (12) 2 (3) 84 (88) 64 (80) 53 (67) 45 (49) 22 (22) 19 (20) 33 (25) 46 (43) 28 (30) 26 (23) 32 (44) 54 (60) 29 (51)

LUBRICANTS

Discover Total Heavy-Duty Rubia Optima Range

99 (56) 80 (nr) 78 (99) 1 (1) 50 (68) 21 (28) 81 (nr) 62 (75) 95 (nr) 52 (71) 77 (97) 75 (87) 56 (63) 93 (nr) 97 (nr) 98 (nr) 71 (92) 79 (94) 7 (6) 74 (79) 8 (8) 76 (74) 13 (13) 73 (69) 40 (40) 38 (33) 89 (nr) 82 (100) 35 (nr) 17 (15) 87 (42) 68 (86) 85 (nr) 30 (37)

(NR) = not ranked in 2018. (#) = 2018 ranking

total-canada.ca

Companies have been ranked based on a total of vehicle counts, including straight trucks, tractors, and trailers, as reported to Today’s Trucking editorial teams. Vehicles and employees based in the United States can be included if they are administered from a Canadian head office. Top 100 data is compiled from fleet representatives by telephone or email. The statistics are not independently verified. Selected fleets have been excluded from the list if they ask to be omitted, or do not respond to repeated requests for data. Do you think your company should be on future Top 100 lists – or were they missed on this one? Email editor John G. Smith at johng@newcom.ca, or call 416-614-5812. MAY 2019

Load Matching

Uber Snub?

Uber Freight bypasses Canada in its expansion plans By John Tenpenny Uber Freight is coming. To Europe. Since launching in the U.S. two years ago, the digital freight matching service has secured more than 30,000 trucking companies and owner-operators as users. And trucking has quickly become a darling of the tech industry as a whole. Millions are being invested by those looking to digitize trucking-related transactions from payment processes to load tracking. When these factors combined with a recent hiring binge in Uber Freight’s executive suite, many people began to predict the load-matching service had international aspirations. The predictions were right. It just turns out that the aspirations involved borders outside North America. Carriers and drivers in the Netherlands will now be able to book and move the first loads outside the U.S., and from there the plan is to expand access to other parts of Europe in the near future, said Lior Ron, head of Uber Freight. “The European truckload market is a $400 billion marketplace and is the third-largest in the world after China and the United States, yet it still takes dispatchers and drivers multiple hours – sometimes even days – of administrative work to book a single load,” he said in a blog post announcing Uber Freight’s plans. He also pointed out that many of Uber Freight’s existing shipper partners have vast operations in the European Union (E.U.), making it a natural next step for the company. Additionally, the E.U. shares many of the same pain points that U.S. drivers face. “For example, the European trucking market is experiencing a severe shortage of drivers, and of the time drivers are on the road, 21% of total kilometers traveled are empty. Inefficiency of this scale

TODAY’S TRUCKING

(Uber Freight photo)

results in shippers struggling to find available drivers to move their goods.” Small- to medium-sized carriers in the E.U. make up more than 85% of the total carrier pool, and just like in other international freight markets, they can struggle to connect with larger shippers. “When you combine these shortcomings in the market, the price of goods goes up. A more efficient and transparent freight marketplace is something Uber Freight can bring to the table that will pay dividends to all, as well as reduce wasted miles and fuel,” wrote Ron. While the explanations make sense, the obvious question is why not Canada? Is there something different or unique to the Canadian digital freight matching market that is giving Uber Freight pause? For Karen Campbell Jones, director – marketing at TransCore Link Logistics, the reasons behind Uber Freight’s decision make sense.

“Although entrepreneurship ranks well in Canada, I think in general, the world perceives Canada as slower to adopt new technology than Europe or our neighbors to the south.” She adds that Europe’s population density is much higher, and competition is more robust than in Canada, “helping to drive adoption of new technology much more quickly.” If and when Uber Freight comes calling on Canadian shippers and carriers, Campbell Jones believes they may have their work cut out for them, making adoption in the Great White North slower than in the U.S. or European markets. “Shippers are used to dealing with freight brokers for spot freight, and dealing with trusted carriers is important,” she says of the Canadian marketplace. “Shippers may see it as risky to automatically assign high-valued goods to an unknown party.” Another layer of complexity that Uber Freight would need to address is cross-border shipping, something they don’t have to deal with in the E.U. “Who’s going to handle the Customs clearance?” asks Campbell Jones. One factor driving the growth of digital freight matching services is rising last-mile delivery costs, and that requires the providers of traditional transportation management systems (TMS) to play catch-up, according to Chris Cunnane, senior analyst in the supply chain and logistics team at ARC Advisory Group. “The digital freight matching market, or the Uberization of freight as some like to call it, is not a new concept. There has been investment money pouring in for a few years, and a plethora of companies trying to make their name,” he says. “Until recently, I was reluctant to think that the market would take off. But, with the current capacity restraints, most of the big TMS suppliers are creating partnerships for digital freight matching within their systems. This leads me to believe that the market is hitting critical mass and can thrive.” The jury is still out on Uber Freight’s European foray. For now, however, a move into Canada doesn’t appear to be high on the agenda. TT

Environment

Freeze Frame

Climate change is reshaping Canada’s approach to ice roads

That future has involved establishing new routes as well, shifting roads off frozen lakes and onto land. Manitoba has already rerouted about 400 km of ice roads in this way. Another option has involved developing mat roads that are placed over land. The process involves laying various types of wood mats on top of peat moss, which

essentially creates a year-round access route. The wood sustains the frozen soil underneath and distributes weights, said Colten Doll, a field engineer with D. Blizzard Integrated Services. Mat roads can sustain loads exceeding over 100 tons per vehicle, while floating versions can be designed to hold payloads up to 250,000 lb. TT

Canada’s environmental path looks bleak against a backdrop of global warming. A new report released by Environment and Climate Change Canada says the country is warming twice as fast as the global average, while northern reaches of Canada are warming at three times the global rate. “Everything is going to get a lot warmer,” said Danny Blair, a University of Manitoba professor, during a recent conference focusing on northern transportation. “The higher we go up that curve, it changes everything – including transportation.” Those who build and maintain the ice roads needed to truck loads into the far north are already feeling the effects. “Today the needs [of winter roads] have changed significantly,” said Tim

Digital Tire Monitoring IIncreasing i U Uptime, ti Decreasing D i Costs C t Smyrski, the winter road manager for Manitoba Infrastructure, which constructs about 2,300 km of ice roads every year. The all-important seasonal links are being maintained for now. This winter, teams even shipped about 1,000 extra loads over ice roads as of the beginning of March. But it all requires some new thinking and a close connection with the carriers who want to access the routes. “We interact with the trucking industry quite a bit over the course of the winter,” said Smyrski. Before a road opens there are discussions about rules and safety issues, and plans for the future.

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MAY 2019

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Women in Trucking

‘Do you value the women?’

Rona Ambrose has some direct advice for carriers who want to recruit and retain more women in trucking.

4 ways trucking industry can recruit, retain more women By Sonia Straface Women are largely underrepresented in the ranks of Canada’s trucking industry, and account for just 3% of truck drivers overall. Rona Ambrose believes that solutions to the issue could be more straightforward than some people think. Speaking to a largely female crowd at Trucking HR Canada’s recent Women with Drive event, the former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, business leader, and champion for women’s rights drew plenty of applause for her related advice to industry employers.

Establish a mentorship program

The number one tried and true recruitment strategy for drawing more women into any industry – and keeping them there – is through mentorship programs, Ambrose said. “I spend a lot of time recruiting women and getting them into public office,” she said. “When I suggest to them that they should run for office, they always counter with, ‘Oh well, before that I want to get my masters, then I want to be a CEO.’ And when I say the same thing to their male counterparts, the men say, ‘Yup. You’re right.’ There’s such a disconnect there. But that’s where you as leaders need to jump in and say to those women, ‘Hey, you’re good enough and we want to train you and support you and promote you.’” The bonus is that the strategy is free, Ambrose added. “It’s just an effort to find another woman or man to help guide these newcomers. So I encourage you to continue to focus on that.”

Listen to the women on your team

“It’s hard to speak up as a woman in a male-dominated setting,” Ambrose said, referring to the way some women hesitate to speak up in a boardroom. “Most people have that voice of self doubt telling them not to speak up, and they only do [it] after rehearsing it for 10 minutes in their head beforehand.” But when women do speak up, Ambrose said it is important for leaders in the industry to listen to them and their ideas, the same way they would listen to their male counterparts. “For the leaders in this room, if you don’t have women speaking up in your meetings, draw them out,” she said. “That’s your responsibility. If you want more women in your industry to feel like they belong, call them out and say, ‘So, Sally, what do you think?’ And I know it’s more work for you, but you should be telling the women in your office that you want to know what she has to say and that you value her voice.”

Rethink who conducts your job interviews

Industry employers should take a close look at who they have hiring female job candidates, Ambrose told the Women with Drive audience. “Research shows that, when an interviewer asks if the interviewee has any questions, a woman is more likely to ask more questions to a female interviewer than a male interviewer,” she said. “Frankly, some women are more comfortable asking another woman certain questions that they won’t ask a man.”

In trucking, for example, a potential female driver could be more comfortable asking a female interviewer about policies regarding safe rest stops and clean washrooms. “Those couple of answers might make a difference,” she said. “At the end of the day, women don’t want to be treated differently, but we do have different realities that most men don’t deal with.”

Ask women if they’re interested in the job

Remember that some women already in the workplace could be intrigued by internal job postings, Ambrose stressed. “When women apply for a promotion, do you as leaders think of them the same way you think of the men in the office?” she asked. “Very often male leaders especially will wonder why no women applied for a certain position. And it’s because they are sending unconscious signals that women aren’t welcome. They’ll think or say, ‘Mary is fantastic, but I know her husband has a busy career and she just had a second child, so there’s no way she’d be interested in the job.’ Here’s a thought, ask Mary what she wants.” It’s an unconscious bias she sees in many workplaces, where leaders don’t think twice about a man’s struggles at home. “It’s something we all need to think about more,” she said. “Do you think about men and women the same way? And do you value the women the same way you value the men in your office?” TT MAY 2019

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In Gear

49 Shock Waves 57 Electric Chassis 58 Product Watch

EQUIPMENT NEWS, REVIEWS, AND MAINTENANCE TIPS

There are no prescribed wet traction standards for commercial vehicle tires, but tire makers are more than aware of customer concerns.

Getting Traction on Emissions Will a push toward lower tire rolling resistance compromise safety? By Jim Park Funny thing about traction, it’s hard to tell how much you need, but it’s easy to tell when you don’t have enough. That’s one of my favorite quotes from Bridgestone’s former director of engineering for commercial tires, Guy Walenga. He’s retired now, and we sure miss his colorful observations about truck tires. Tire traction is a galvanizing topic. Drivers fret about traction all the time. They get pretty excited even if they just perceive that a certain tread type doesn’t look grippy enough. But true to Walenga’s point, traction or lack of it is probably more of a worry than a real threat. It’s true that a rib drive tire may not have the grip in snow or mud that an open-shoulder drive tire has, but will the next round of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission cuts and their demands for tires with lower rolling resistance cause traction problems or compromise braking performance?

This issue came up last summer when I spent a couple of days on a test track with Meritor putting various combinations of drum- and disc-brake-equipped tractors and trailers through their paces in some stopping distance tests. It was a warm, sunny summer day, and the concrete pavement was hot and dry. With all the combinations we tested, we consistently stopped from 95 km/h in a shorter distance than the Reduced Stopping Distance (RSD) braking requirements demanded. We had trailer brakes, too, and the trailers used in the configurations for RSD tests do not. Some of the stops we made were within 200 feet. That’s 50 feet less than the RSD requirements call for, so we were well under the wire. We did have some ABS activity on the steer axle (of drum- and disc-equipped trucks), which suggests those tires broke traction under the hard braking. That’s

easy to understand when you have 100 psi or more actuating the brakes. But the ABS did its job and the trucks stopped perfectly straight. But for the 2021 round of GHG reductions, tire makers will need to lower the rolling resistance even further than they do with the tires we’re now using. “The brakes will continue to produce the same amount of torque as they do now, and they do not care what kind of tire is making contact with the pavement,” says Mark Ugo, senior test engineer for brakes at Meritor. “If the tire breaks traction, ABS will step in. That’s what it’s designed to do.” Bendix is keeping an eye on this, but doesn’t expect any significant issues to arise. “It depends on tire construction, rubber compounds and things of that nature, but there could be some minor impact on traction,” says Keith McComsey, director of marketing and customer solutions for wheel ends at Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake. “With air disc brakes, Bendix exceeds the [Reduced Stopping Distance] requirements by 20%, so we’re down in the 200-foot range. We are about 10% under on the drum side. The OEMs want that margin because they know there’s configuration differences in the vehicle that impact braking as well, whether it’s tire combinations or wheel base combinations.” The tire manufacturers have several options for reducing rolling resistance without necessarily compromising traction, including changes to the rubber compounding, tire shape, tread pattern, tire construction, and weight. “The key to developing a successful product is coming up with the right combination of all these factors to get what the consumer needs,” says Phillip Mosier, manager of commercial tire development for Cooper Tire. “When developing low-rolling-resistance tires, MAY 2019

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In Gear we must take into account the regulatory requirements and consumer’s needs to come up with a successful product. So the proper balance of rolling resistance, treadwear, and traction must be maintained. It is possible to meet the rolling resistance requirements of GHG [Phase 2 standards] and the stopping distance requirements from the Reduced Stopping Distance mandate with low rolling resistance tires.” Tire manufacturers work to optimize what’s known as the “performance triangle” of rolling resistance, traction, and distance to removal. In the past, when one performance benefit like low rolling resistance was optimized, the remaining benefits of the performance triangle sometimes took a back seat. Goodyear says that dynamic is much less prevalent these days. “We are constantly developing technologies and designs to minimize tire performance trade-offs so fleets can enjoy optimal, all-around tire performance,” says Goodyear’s commercial technology director, Mahesh Kavaturu. “That said, as fuel efficiency regulations tighten, the need for new truck tires and even retreads that offer lower levels of rolling resistance will continue to grow, which is why we are investing even more resources to develop tires that help reduce fuel consumption, while at the same time helping to ensure that our products provide the traction that fleets also require.” The major tire companies are all concerned with traction to a certain degree, and many of the changes required to meet rolling resistance through compounding have already been made, one tire expert who preferred not to be quoted told us. “Moving that bar even lower to where it’s going with GHG 2, you’ll see changes in tire construction and changes in the rubber compounds used within the casing – not necessarily in the compounds that hit the road,” he says. “The easy fruit, per se, was the tread compounding.” He says the work that’s underway right now at the tire makers is more about maintaining wet traction while pushing rolling resistance lower. Wet traction is not part of the reduced stopping distance requirements.

“That rule had nothing to do with cold, wet, grip,” he says, “which is when it’s raining, when it’s cold outside, and you slam on your brakes. That’s when you see trucks sliding all over the place. That’s what the tire companies are concerned about, not dry road traction and stopping distance.” There is actually no standard now

that speaks to traction in terms of a measurable degree of pavement adhesion when cornering. There is language in FMVSS 136 rules (Electronic Stability Control Systems for Heavy Vehicles) that speaks to vehicle handling in various maneuvers including cornering on various pavement surfaces with various tires, but there is no standard for determining

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In Gear

Are you employing Best Practices in Driver Recruitment?

Winter driving poses its own problems, and GHG Phase 2 tires will still need to perform in snow.

how much “traction” is required in a given situation. “But with regard to reduced stopping distance, no, I don’t think the low-rolling-resistance tire requirement called for by GHG 2 is necessarily going to affect dry stopping distances,” our shy expert says. Obviously, the tire makers are not going to share detailed plans for meeting GHG Phase 2 at this point, but traction will be front and center, including wet traction. “The GHG 2 push for increasingly lower tire rolling resistance is certainly a challenge to tire designers, especially while balancing the other performances like wear and traction that are important to customers,” says Sharon Cowart, business-tobusiness product marketing director at Michelin North America. “Tire designers continue to strive to break those performance compromises through rubber formulation and tread design.” One possible offshoot of the push for lower rolling resistance might be more application-specific tires, with traction considerations designed for the service the tire will see. “While keeping the performance triangle in mind, it’s also important to consider the question, ‘What is this tire being asked to do?’” says Kavaturu. “A mixed-service tire that has been designed to roll across severe terrain might not be the best choice for a longhaul truck, and a longhaul tire that has been engineered for low rolling resistance is probably not the ideal choice for a truck that primarily travels off road, across debris-strewn surfaces. Some tires are better-suited to certain applications than others.” Goodyear plans to release two application-specific tires toward the end of 2019, the Fuel Max RTD and the Ultra Max RTD. Goodyear says the Fuel Max RTD balances traction with fuel efficiency, achieved through inclusion of a new low rolling resistance tread compound, and long miles to removal, while the Ultra Grip RTD is designed for regional trucks that run in severe weather conditions and is engineered for exceptional severe-weather traction. The debate over traction in fuel efficient tires isn’t new. GHG 2 will push tire makers to comply while at the same time maintaining the traction and tire wear attributes fleets demand. They have risen to the challenge in the past. Our bet is they will do it again. TT

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U TH ET YO

In Gear truck will use about 2.3 kWh per mile, Bliem told fleet managers at the recent annual meeting of the Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC). “That means we’re going to get one day of work out of a month’s worth of household energy consumption.” It also means the related chargers will have little in common with their automotive counterparts. A Nissan Leaf can be charged overnight using a typical 120-volt outlet. Household garages featuring 240 volt/80-amp outlets do the work in half the time. Automotivegrade CCS DC fast-chargers can bring a 100 kWh battery up to an 80% charge in less than 20 minutes, delivering around 1,000 volts and 500 amps and drawing 250-500 kW of power. Proposed commercial vehicle chargers will need to deliver 1,500 volts and 3,000 amps to charge 500 kWh batteries in 20-30 minutes and require 4.5 megawatts of power, said Brent O’Daniel, a project manager with the charging experts at Black and Veatch. “This,” he said, “is going to present some significant challenges.”

Heavy lifting

Shock Waves Buying one electric truck is easy. The real work comes with several. By John G. Smith NFI International’s drayage fleet seems to be a great fit for battery-electric vehicles. Its Class 8 trucks run the same predictable routes time and again, traveling just 174 km to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. Adding one or two such trucks would be relatively easy, says Bill Bliem, senior vice-president of fleet services. A required 90 kW charger can be installed within weeks, and California offers some of North America’s richest financial incentives to offset price premiums

for the vehicles themselves. But NFI plans to introduce 15 battery-electric trucks by the end of the year – and that will be another matter entirely. Decisions to electrify more than a handful of the units demand some big thinking to address the challenges of big chargers, big cables, and big investments for the related infrastructure. While an average household consumes about 909 kWh of electricity per month, a Class 8 electric

The charging cords alone will be thick and unwieldy and can only be so long before they lose their charging capabilities, said Mike Hasinec, vice-president of maintenance at Penske Truck Leasing. Tethered connections will support some of the weight, but there will still be some heavy lifting to do. To compound matters, the trucking industry has yet to decide on a standard for chargers or even decide where receptacles should be mounted on the trucks themselves. The lack of a common charging standard has already led to challenges with electrified light-duty vehicles, which might draw their power from SAE1772, CCS Combo, CHAdeMO, or Tesla DC chargers. “It can be quite the hassle to find the right plug adapter and kilowatt rating,” O’Daniel said. A group known as the CharIN task force – representing more than 70 manufacturers, component suppliers, utility companies, and other related businesses – has worked for more than MAY 2019

In Gear a year on standards to govern how heavy vehicle charging systems should be designed, built, operated, and maintained. It’s expected to unveil a winning design this June. Even when those standards are set, charging infrastructure will require significant investments, assuming that local utility providers are able to deliver

the required power to a preferred site. Bliem said NFI expects to pay about $100,000 for a DC charger. That doesn’t begin to account for the fees linked to engineering, trenching, conduit, panels, and the transformers to align with local utility requirements. Managing electricity costs can be challenging, too. Unlike diesel, the price

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of this energy source can vary by the time of day as well as geographic area. Special software, which comes with a monthly fee of its own, might be needed to manage the energy flows and avoid demand-related charges. Then there is the need to feed details about a truck’s state of charge and consumed electricity into back-office systems. “We also have to look at our backup power solutions. What are we going to do if we don’t have enough electricity?” Bliem asked. His fleet expects it would need a 300-hp generator to meet such power demands. Other options being explored include solar panels and storage walls that could repurpose used electric vehicle batteries. The fleet’s landlord still needs to be sold on the idea of the solar option. Said Bliem: “We don’t want to make a million-dollar investment in a site that we lease.” Finding a home for the chargers is no small matter, either, and not just because the areas prone to flooding will need to be excluded. “There’s a lot of real estate involved,” Bliem said, referring to the way most fleets park tractors in front of trailers. Delivering the charging infrastructure to all those locations will likely be impractical, meaning that battery-drained trucks will have to bobtail to their charging stations. “The vehicle is going to be there a while. It’s not like your fuel island, where 15-20 minutes later you have throughput,” Hasinec added. And with charging ports mounted at different spots, fleets will need to consider whether trucks are going to back up or pull into position. Penske facilities usually have fullservice fuel islands in place, but he doesn’t expect pull-through charging lanes anytime in the near future. “When it comes to public stations, I think there’s a lot of work to do when it comes to megawatt chargers.” O’Daniel listed other charging station considerations including cord lengths, traffic patterns, equipment clearance requirements, and a landlord’s plans for future expansion. “It’s best to ensure there are no easement restrictions

In Gear from your landlord or local utilities,” he stressed, referring to right-of-way restrictions. In the midst of it all, Bliem continues to monitor efforts to develop wireless charging systems, which are already proven to work with some buses. Who knows where that work will lead?

Maintaining electric trucks Bliem is also wary about promises of drastically reduced maintenance costs, even though electric trucks will feature fewer components than their diesel-powered counterparts. “Nobody knows,” he said. “That’s an assumption yet to be proven out.” Penske’s Hasinec leaves no question that maintaining such equipment will require different tools and thinking inside a shop. Any hand tools need to be insulated, he said as an example. Multimeters used on electric vehicles also need to be rated up to 1,000 volts – well beyond the range of those used in a diesel shop. Then there are the special tools need to deenergize the vehicle before work begins, and a 240-volt charger to apply power when needed. “When it comes to electric vehicles, safety is a must,” Hasinec said, referring to the importance of providing each technician with personal protective equipment (PPE). Even that will require some special oversight. Class 0 or higher gloves need to be recertified semiannually, and arc shields are only rated for exposure to a single flash. Techs with internal medical equipment such as pacemakers will need to be assigned to other tasks. Setting aside a designated area for the work will help to keep everyone safe, and not simply because of the potential electrical exposure. “These vehicles are very, very quiet, so they may actually be in the ready-to-run situation and you may not even know it,” Hasinec said. Everyone working in and around the shop will need to be trained about basic do’s and don’ts. Technicians who work on the vehicles themselves will need electrical know-how and an unwavering focus on the lockout and tagout proce-

dures to be followed before work begins. The high-voltage training will wait, though. In the early days, OEMs will be asked to service the electric motors and batteries, he said. The underlying planning will involve a fleet’s risk management team, working with a local fire department to develop protocols for things like battery ther-

mal events, and asking tow providers to demonstrate how they would move such a truck without damaging the all-important electric motors. As for knowing how to conduct the repairs? Each new truck will come with a new set of fault codes, and some of the service literature hasn’t even been developed, Hasinec said. TT

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In Gear

Hauling Data The trailer in your mirror has a story to tell – and a way to tell it By John G. Smith The same trailers that haul freight are increasingly expected to deliver data in the course of their journeys. The information is not limited to tracked locations, either. Several systems have emerged to monitor individual components, reducing the threat of roadside breakdowns or helping to ensure compliance. Fleet managers have access to technologies that can report on interior and exterior temperatures, door positions, tire pressures, ABS events, hub temperatures, cargo volumes and lights. “Smart technology is beginning to redefine the capabilities of the trailer,” says Paul Menig of Business Accelerants. “Smart trailers are becoming mobile treasure troves of data.” The capabilities are even leading trailer suppliers to look at their equipment in different ways. Today, discussions about spec’s tend to focus on mechanical systems like axles, bearings, doors, brakes, and electrical wiring, said Mark Ehrlich, Wabash National’s general manager – vans, during a panel discussion hosted by the Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC). In the days

or years to come he expects a greater focus on devices, gateways, networks, analytics and security. It’s why he says trailer manufacturers need to think of themselves as integrators, much in the way that companies like Dell integrate different components to make a computer. But that will demand different skills. “My engineer that does the wheel end assembly is not going to be doing my smart trailer integration.”

How will it communicate? One of the biggest emerging challenges is deciding how the underlying systems should share their data. “Everybody who has a bar of metal is trying to add a sensor to that bar,” said Wally Stegall, a director with Morey, a business that specializes in deploying technologies. Most of the tech comes in the form of one-off devices like tire pressure monitoring systems, door sensors, solar panels, and wireless temperature sensors. Individual suppliers like Great Dane, Phillips, Truck-Lite and Peterson are

coming forward with systems to pull the data together, but they’re each taking unique approaches. Then there’s the question of how all this data should be shared between tractors and trailers. “The vehicle OEMs are going to need more information about the trailer to improve safety,” Menig said. The data used to support today’s stability controls or ABS-related warnings are only the beginning. The data bridges between tractors and trailers could be hardwired or wireless, said Stegall. But there are limits. He’s unsure that regulators would warm to the idea of wireless braking signals. “How many wireless local area network devices are you going to have?” he added. Using a separate cell signal on each device wouldn’t be cost-effective, either. Some form of data bus will be needed. Transferring data between a tractor and trailer is no small task in the Internet of Things. Said Ehrlich: “With our industry we have a unique wrinkle ... sometimes the assets are physically connected to us and sometimes they’re not.”

Setting the standards There is plenty of standards-related work to complete along the way. Europe has developed standards to transmit the data involved in the command and control of brake-by-wire systems at 125 kbps per second. “They’re also maxing out their bandwidth,” Stegal said. He expects any North American standard, when it emerges, would need to double that. “We need to at least agree on a physical layer trunk within the trailer to take all the data in, share it,” he said. A data bus that is built on a recognized SAE J1939 application layer could help. Menig referred to another technical challenge in the form of poor electrical grounds at the back of double or triple trailer configurations. Then there’s the idea of sharing data with surrounding infrastructure like an inspection station. Will the tractor be expected to share such details, or the trailer alone? “I can see applications where they’re both going to have to be separately communicating,” he said. TT MAY 2019

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In Gear

Refreshing Idea Spicer electric chassis spec’d for urban applications like beverage haulers By John G. Smith In these early days of electrification it still seems unusual to roll ahead when a truck’s sounds have more in common with a golf cart than what we traditionally associate with commercial vehicles. And Spicer’s turnkey electric chassis offers an undeniably quiet ride. The only sound of note is a resounding bang … right when I clip a passenger-side mirror against a leaning speed limit sign. Yep, the sound of that mirror cover hitting sheet metal is just as clear as can be. (To any readers from Paccar Parts, the order for a replacement should be on its way any time now. Sorry Dana.) This story is not about clumsy driving, though. It’s about a Peterbilt 220 medium-duty beverage hauler outfitted with the aforementioned electric chassis. The truck features a central motor driveline configuration, anchored by a TM4 Sumo MD HV2600-6P high-torque/ low-speed reluctance-assisted permanent magnet motor and CO200 inverter. There’s 155 kW of continuous power available, with 265 kW for peak demands, while the electrical power from a 93 kWh battery is fed through a 650-volt system. It all leads to a top range of about 160 km and a top speed of 108 km/h – the kinds of ranges and speeds that urban beverage haulers might face. “We can add significantly more batteries if the customer wants more range out the vehicle. It’s really more about upfront costs and weights,” says Harry Trost, Dana’s senior manager of product planning – commercial vehicles. “We’ve got the power electronics. We’ve got the motors and pumps that run the power steering, that run the compressors,” he says, referring to the integration work. “We’re using the conventional driveshaft, conventional axle. This powertrain meets all the parameters that a customer would typically spec’, so this vehicle can start on a 23% grade. It

can maintain 20% gradeability at 20 mph [about 30 km/h].” The all-important information pertaining to the available range is shown through a tablet mounted in the cab, with a simple bar chart identifying the state of charge, and the projected range

Similar configurations have already been installed in about 12,000 units in China, primarily in transit applications, where they have accumulated more than 585 million kilometers of service. And there have been plenty of benefits realized along the way. The regenerative braking, which can be tuned to maximize the amount of charging to boost a truck’s range, has clearly made a difference in some existing vehicles. Some transit bus users that had replaced brakes every three to six months are now running up to three years before scheduling brake jobs, Trost says. While OEMs continue to debate the

Beverage haulers are expected to be among the early adopters of electric vehicles in urban applications. (Photos: John G. Smith)

shown underneath. Tap another screen and the energy consumption since the last charge is charted in five-minute intervals, complete with the time, distance, and average speeds traveled. A 10 kW charger can replenish depleted batteries in nine hours, while a 20 kW charger could do the work in half the time. A DC fast charger could do the job in a little under an hour, but that would decrease battery life, Trost says. It would be a mistake to dismiss this unit as nothing more than a prototype.

benefits of centrally mounted direct drive configurations versus electrified axles, Dana has options for both. The centrally mounted version in this truck is similar to the approach that has been adopted by the recently unveiled Lion 8 electric truck. But the company also supplies the eS9000r electric axle that Workhorse uses on its E-100 van. “When we look at market projections out through 2025, it’s going to be still split about 50/50 in North America and Europe between central drive solutions and eAxles,” Trost says. “In Asia-Pacific it’s going to be still biased toward the central-mount kind of approach … everybody has a different paradigm.” TT MAY 2019

PRODUCTWATCH WHATâ€™S NEW AND NEWS FROM SUPPLIERS

For more new product items, visit PRODUCT WATCH on the web at todaystrucking.com SEATS Volvo Trucksâ€™ new Parameter Plus

TRUCKS

TELEMATICS

Volvo parameters set remotely

BlackBerry Radar H2 delivers the data

Volvo Trucksâ€™ new Parameter Plus subscription package expands on the companyâ€™s over-the-air (OTA) programming capabilities, allowing up to 50 parameter updates per year. Software updates for engines and transmissions can be completed in less than 20 minutes, and the parameter changes can be set in less than 10 minutes wherever a cellular connection is available. Both are a fraction of the 2.3 days of downtime traditionally associated with such work completed in a shop. Parameter changes could include things like a truckâ€™s top road speed, which might need to be lowered to enhance fuel economy against a backdrop of higher diesel prices. Other changes to an engine or transmission could support a new lane that includes different topographies, or a switch from dry bulk to liquid tankers. Volvo trucks can receive up to two parameter updates per year at no charge. www.volvotrucks.ca

BlackBerry has built on the capabilities of its Radar-M tracking device to develop Radar H2, enhancing connections with 4G LTE cellular networks and a wireless gateway that can connect to

TODAYâ€™S TRUCKING

cargo sensors, tire pressure monitoring systems, brake sensors, and weigh-inmotion devices. When mounted on a chassis, Radar H2 can also detect if a container is on or off. No additional wires or external sensors are needed. The power comes through a built-in lithium thionyl chloride battery, which the company says will triple the energy density of other power sources used in similar applications, and it will operate from -40 to 85 C. www.blackberry.com

Pinnacle seats build on Legacy Seats Incorporated is expanding on its Legacy Series of seats with the Pinnacle. The new seat includes an enhanced EVC Cushion Comfort System, D2 Foam, a fully reclining backrest, and the longest armrest in the industry, the company says. Other features include an eightposition extendable cushion, a rake that adjusts 13 degrees in either direction, and an air lumbar package including dual lumbars and side bolsters. The Click-N-Go EZ exit helps to make it easier to get in and out of the truck, while a swing-link isolator provides 2.25 inches of smooth isolation and nineinch towel bar slide tracks. www.seatsinc.com BATTERIES

uStart leverages Bluetooth links Ioxus has unveiled a new Bluetooth interface for its uStart intelligent power management system â€“ a device that incorporates ultracapacitors, microprocessors, and other smart power electronics. The connection makes it possible to remotely check battery voltage and uStart status, or use the systemâ€™s jumpstart capabilities, without needing to access the battery box. www.ioxus.com TRUCKS

Mitsubishi Fuso goes with gas Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America is building on its commitment to gasoline engines with the first gasoline-powered Class 5 cabover in the marketplace â€“ the Fuso FE 180 Gas. The 2020 Model Year truck comes with a GM 6.0 L V8 that delivers 297 hp

Product Watch

and 361 lb-ft of torque. That is coupled to a PTO-capable Allison 1000 Series transmission. Fuso is also including FuelSense 2.0, featuring the DynActive shifting that can boost fuel economy 2-6%. Payload estimates approach 11,885 lb. Other standard features include electro-coated frame rails, 40-US-gallon fuel tanks, and 19.5-inch tires rather than the 17.5-inch rubber used in other international markets. The cab interior includes an upgraded driver’s seat with more lumbar support, black fabric, and a shifter mounted on the dash rather than the floor. Red seatbelts, cruise control, and power windows are also included as standard features. The manufacturer launched its gasoline strategy in 2017, unveiling the FE140 and FE180 Class 3-5 trucks in 2018. The FE180 Gas will arrive in dealerships in the final quarter of this year. www.mitfuso.com TRUCKS

Add eight inches to International HX Fontaine Modification Company and Daycab Company can now add eight inches of interior space to the rear of International HX Series truck cabs. The HX Series has a short bumper to back of cab measurement, which makes it a fit for applications where length is an issue. But in other applications where greater lengths are possible, the extended cab offers more space for personal items or adjusting seats. The cab extension is designed to use many OE parts, maintain the existing cab and exhaust mounts, and use a minimal MAY 2019

Product Watch number of specially designed parts, the companies say. Daycab Company builds the extensions at its Tennessee manufacturing facility, while Fontaine then installs them at a modification center in Laredo, Texas. The latter location is near the plant where Navistar builds the HX Series. www.fontainemodification.com SHOP TOOLS

Wheel aligner gets two accessories

John Bean’s V6200 heavy-duty wheel aligner has been updated with a pair of accessories designed to support vehicles with additional axle configurations and expand coverage where a combined truck and trailer is longer than a standard bay. The three-piece aluminum V6200 Trailer Bar sits on a stand to create a stable setting for repeatable alignment readings. And an extra set of aluminum wheel clamps can be mounted to a wide range of wheels, supporting inside and outside clamping. www.johnbean.com

TELEMATICS

Truck-Lite improves Road Ready packaging Truck-Lite has unveiled an updated master control unit for its Road Ready trailer telematics system, creating new options for those who want to use the system on chassis, flatbeds and more. The new unit measures just 13.25 x 5.5 inches, with an optional solar panel measuring 8.25 x 14.25 inches. A combined solar panel and control unit measured 11.5 x 21.24 inches. Hard-wired versions can be connected to the blue line through a trailer’s nose box. The Road Ready system gives fleets the power to monitor third-party components from the likes of Stemco, Haldex, Air-Weigh, Hendrickson, Purkeys, and Stemco, delivering real-time information when issues emerge. Equipped trailers will even deliver the information when untethered, drawing on a battery to run up to 60 days without a charge. www.roadreadysystem.com TIRES

Cooper Pro Series gets longhaul steer

BRAKES

Bendix updates ADB22X disc Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake is improving its ADB22X air disc brake. A new adjustment mechanism has been designed to protect against vibrations, while improving the running clearance between the friction and rotor. The new disc brake also boasts longer pad life and reduces residual brake drag, extending service life. The brake has been coupled with Bendix’s longest-life friction, the BX276 air disc brake pad as well. It includes an extra two millimeters of thickness over its predecessor, the BX275. This gives it an 8% increase in wearable volume. The wear rate has been increased by up to 40%, Bendix adds. www.bendix.com

TODAY’S TRUCKING

Cooper Tires has added the LHS longhaul steer tire to its Pro Series product line. Features of the tire – bundled as Cooper’s ECO (Energy Conservation Optimization) technology – deliver ultra-low rolling resistance that exceeds SmartWay requirements by 15%, and meets U.S. EPA greenhouse gas limits for 2021. The LHS also features an 18/32-inch tread depth and a footprint that can be a full inch wider than some other steer tires on the market. The tread depth can be monitored simply by looking at Wear Squares found on the shoulder ribs. The set of 10 squares on each tire will gradually wear away, leaving an L shape when half the tread is

left, and displaying an exclamation point when it’s time to pull the tire for retreading. If the squares appear to differ, there is likely an alignment issue or some other cause of irregular wear to address. Initially available as a 295/75R22.5, other sizes will be available in June. www.ca.coopertire.com TIRES

Yokohama rolls out two new tires

Yokohama’s 712L drive tire and 114R UWB wide-base single tires are coming with low rolling resistance verified by SmartWay. The 712L longhaul drive tire comes in four sizes: 295/75R22.5, 11R22.5, 285/75R24.5 and 11R24.5. It offers improved wear resistance thanks to a stress control groove that helps stabilize the outer rib, combating irregular wear, the manufacturer says. The 712L will phase out 577 and 703 models. The 114R UWB will succeed the RY407 UWB and be launched later this year as a 445/50R22.5. www.truck.yokohama.ca REEFERS

Carrier Transicold unit for small, medium trucks Carrier Transicold’s new Supra S6 truck refrigeration unit is designed for small- to medium-sized trucks and has a processing speed that’s 20 times faster than the original, thanks to the new APX control technology. Other features include a dash-mounted control interface with a backlit LCD display that provides at-a-glance operating information. It all integrates with Carrier Transicold’s eSolutions telematics, enabling remote monitoring and control, geofencing, and automatic uploads of refrigeration settings and software updates. www.carrier.com

National Advertisers Alutrec www.alutrec.com CAT Scale www.catscale.com Chevron canada.deloperformance.com Continental www.continental-truck.com EberspĂ¤cher www.eberspaecher-na.com Freightliner Freightliner.com/new-cascadia Great Dane GreatDane.com Hendrickson MAXX22T www.MAXX22T.com Hendrickson TIREMAAX PRO www.TIREMAAX.com Huayi Tire Canada www.HuayiTireCanada.com

19 50 28 39 14 2-3 24 10 16 54

International Truck & Engine 44 www.InternationalTrucks.com ISAAC Instruments 15 www.isaac.ca Manac 36 www.manac.com Mann+Hummel Filtration (Wix Filters) 48 www.wixfilters.com Meritor 4 meritor.com/brakes Meritor 63 MeritorPartsXpress.com North American Commercial Vehicle Show 52-53 www.nacvshow.com Peterbilt back cover www.peterbilt.com Peterson Manufacturing 26 www.pmlights.com

PROLAM 40 www.prolamfloors.com Stoughton Trailers 8 StoughtonTrailers.com/PureBlue Surface Transportation Summit 46, 47 surfacetransportationsummit.com Toromont Cat 42 www.toromontcat.com Total Canada 18, 37 www.total-canada.ca Trailcon Leasing 45 www.trailcon.com Trimble 51 www.trimble.com TruckPro 59 www.truckpro.ca Utility Trailer 56 www.UtilityTrailer.com Volvo Trucks North America 6 www.volvotrucks.ca

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS A A&S Kinard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Adesh Deol Trucking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ARC Advisory Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Aulick Leasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 B Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake. . . . . . . . . . . 60 Bison Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 22, 60 BlackBerry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Buckler Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Business Accelerants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 C Canadian Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Carrier Transicold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Challenger Motor Freight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 CN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Cooper Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 D D Blizzard Integrated Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Daimler Trucks and Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Dana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 57 Day&Ross. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Daycab Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 F Fleetstop Trailers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Fontaine Modification Company . . . . . . . . . . 58 Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Freightliner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

G Great Dane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 GX Transportation Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 H HO Wolding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 I International Trucks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Ioxus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 J JE Fortin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 John Bean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 K Kriska Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 L Lift and Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Link Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Lion Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 M MacKinnon Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America. . . . . . . . . . 58 N NFI International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Nissan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 O One for Freight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 P Paccar Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 57 Penske Truck Leasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Peterbilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Peterson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

R RTL-Westcan Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 S Seats Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 ShirAul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 T Tesla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 TFI International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Titanium Transportation Group . . . . . . . . 21, 22 TM4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Top 100 Fleets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Torc Robotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Trans. Frt. McNamara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 TransCore Link Logistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Transport Dessaaults. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Trimac Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Truck-Lite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55, 60 U Uber Freight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 V Volvo Truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 W Wabash National. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 55 Wabco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 WardsAuto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Western Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Y Yokohama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Z Zavcor Trucking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ZF Friedrichshafen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

MAY 2019

Faces Ester Nemeth, the Truckload Carriers Association’s latest Driver of the Year, says driving truck is her dream job. The rest is just a perk. (Photo: Jason Benias)

stressful. It’s just me and the highway. I love seeing all the different places.” This year, at the 81st annual Truckload Carriers Association conference in Las Vegas, Nemeth was presented with her international honor – reserved for one company driver who enhances the trucking industry’s image. And Nemeth is the first female to be nominated for the award since 2005. A candidate’s safety record plays an understandable role in securing the recognition. Nemeth has accumulated more than 6 million accident-free kilometers in her career, and she was also the first female driver to hit 1.6 million accident-free kilometers at Bison. This veteran driver chalks up her flawless record to going back to basics. “I really just take it one mile at a time,” she says. “I’m constantly watching my surroundings. I tell my trainees that all the time – watch everything and expect the unexpected, like cars cutting you off and all that. And I always watch my speed, and never go faster than I need to. And if conditions are bad, I’m lucky at Bison to have the right to decide policy and park my truck.” It was a “surreal experience” to win the Nemeth has been driving trucks proaward this past March, too. fessionally since she earned her licence “I didn’t believe it when they said my in 1991, and has been driving with Bison name and that I had won,” she says. “To Transport since 1999. These days, she’s an this day, I still don’t believe it. All the in-cab instructor for the company, trainother nominees were all ing female recruits how to so wonderful, I didn’t drive a big rig. think I’d win. I got to In fact, Nemeth modknow all of them during estly says she learns more the conference and they from her trainees than she were all so much more could ever teach them in deserving than I was. So, return. Ester Nemeth when they said my name, “When I was first asked I couldn’t believe it. It was to be an instructor, I had to such a great surprise.” think about it,” she says. “I didn’t think I For Nemeth, who turns 52 this year, had anything to teach them. But it’s been retirement is still a long way away. She so rewarding and so inspiring for me.” hopes to continue her driving career at Her favorite part of the job is still the Bison right up until the time she decides driving itself. to hang up her keys for good. “The open road is no doubt my favorite There are many miles to go before that part of my job,” she says. “I feel at peace TT happens. when I’m driving. The routes I drive aren’t

Diesel in her Veins Bison’s Ester Nemeth named top truckload driver of the year By Sonia Straface The saying goes, if you choose a job that you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. And that rings true for Ester Nemeth – a lifelong truck driver who has been crowned the Truckload Carriers Association’s Company Driver of the Year. Nemeth says she has diesel in her veins and feels she was called to the vocation of trucking. Even when on vacation, the pull of the open highway is so strong that she’ll often take a long road trip just to pass the time. “I’ve always wanted to drive truck since I was a little kid,” she says. “Because I grew up in a small town and there was nothing to do, so I was always driving. And because it was a small town, we didn’t have a lot of trucks driving by. But as a kid, when I saw one, I was just left in awe. I would pump my arm to get the driver to honk the horn. I’ve wanted to drive since I can remember.”

TODAY’S TRUCKING

“I’ve wanted to drive since I can remember.”

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