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New era
ELDs coming
Furry companions
BCTA’s new president/CEO talks with Truck West.
Canada announces ELD mandate by 2020.
Trucking network helps dogs get home.
FEBRUARY 2018 VOLUME 29, ISSUE 1
Reach us at our Western Canada news bureau Contact Derek Clouthier Derek@Newcom.ca or call 403-969-1506
WWW.TRUCKWEST.CA
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Bypass at the heart of the West New Regina bypass a game changer for trucking in and around the city By Eric Berard
Honoring his service Manitoba trucking pioneer Red Coleman has always had a love affair with trucking By Derek Clouthier WINNIPEG, MANITOBA Not everyone has an award named in their honor, but when your life tells a story like Red Coleman’s, people take notice. During its Annual Fall Awards Gala in November, the Manitoba Trucking Association (MTA) announced the Red Coleman Service to Industry award, renaming the distinction to shine a light on a man whose life has been all about trucking. Seaton “Red” Coleman said he fell in love with trucking while living and working on the family farm in Woodlands, Man. He wanted nothing more than to drive a truck, fix them, and haul freight, and at the time, was not interested in starting a business, just making a living as a truck driver. Everything changed in 1948 when he convinced his father to sell the family farm and purchase a small, four-truck operation in Steinbach, a tiny farming community about 65 kms southeast of Winnipeg. Steinbach didn’t have a railway line, and does not to this day, so everything that came in and out of town did so on a truck.
“Steinbach was a very prosperous community, so as time when on, it grew,” Coleman explained to Truck West, “and having the general freight operating authority for the town was beneficial.” As the town grew, so did Coleman’s trucking company, South East Transfer. In the early ’80s, Coleman applied for extra-provincial operating authorities to further service in the Steinbach area. From there, the business rolled like a freight truck down a Prairie highway. Red’s two sons, Gary and Earl Coleman, became his business partners in 1985, and the company took full advantage when deregulation came. Then, in 1991, came the merger with Big Freight Systems, the flat-deck operation of Reimer Express. Red said the merger changed his company from being a small, family-run operation to more of a corporation, which came with its own unique challenges. Changing the company name to the over 150-truck and 350-trailer operation it is known as today, the Colemans were 50/50 partners with Reimer from 1991 until they bought the company outright in 1997. Fast forward 16 years and Gary buys out his brother Earl from Big Freight Systems, and before Red knows it, the company is bigger than he ever could have imagined. Continued on page 17
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Red Coleman’s contribution to trucking gets recognized by the MTA with its newly-named Red Coleman Service to Industry award.
REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN Congestion on Victoria Avenue. Endless traffic lights and then a left turn on the Trans-Canada Highway. Even though it already had a ring road designed to mitigate traffic headaches, Saskatchewan’s capital was due for some infrastructure treatment and the result looks nothing like a facelift. The new Regina four-lane bypass promises to make the western Canadian city’s heart beat stronger than ever and the trucking industry will largely benefit from this rejuvenation. When it opens October 2019, the new highway will circle the city and connect its east and west, while being a means to bypass the city itself for truckers who simply need to go through Regina without stopping in it for a pick-up or delivery. The total infrastructure investment – the largest in the province’s history – is estimated at $1.88