While I’ve been enjoying the sunny summer weather at my home in the beautiful Kawarthas, I must admit to thinking ahead to the fall and the 2012 Surface Transportation Summit.

Why? To put it simply, because this is the most ambitious conference we have ever put together for transportation professionals and we can’t wait to share it with you this October 17^th at the Capitol Banquet Centre in Mississauga. As with past years, we have joined forces with Dan Goodwill and Associates and our sister publications Fleet Executive and Canadian Transportation & Logistics to pull the event together. What’s different this year is that we will be bringing both sides of the transportation equation together under the same roof.

 Transportation and logistics practices are becoming increasingly complex and an effective supply chain is becoming recognized as a competitive differentiator. At the same time there are lingering questions about capacity, pricing and service standards. By bringing shippers and carriers together in an educational setting we are looking to foster productive dialogue and networking.

In addition, the timing for the conference is different. In previous years we held our conferences in the spring. We have moved it to the fall to provide attendees with strong knowledge of trends and issues in transportation just as they become involved in the critical budget season. Of course, Carlos Gomes, senior economist at Scotiabank, will again kick off the conference with his insights on where the economy in general and transportation in particular are headed.  We will also be exclusively unveiling the results from our latest national annual Transportation Buying Trends and Equipment Buying Trends research at the event.

Great speakers make for a great conference and  I believe this is the strongest lineup of speakers we have ever put together.

This year’s Summit will feature a new track that will provide CEO perspectives on some of the major modes of surface transportation. Douglas J. Harrison, CEO, Day & Ross General Freight, will address the LTL freight market; Greg Hewitt, President, DHL (Canada) Ltd. will focus on where the courier business is going and Mark Seymour, CEO, Kriska, will provide his perspective on the truckload market.

This will be followed by a panel discussion on perhaps the most crucial issue for shippers and carriers – – – freight rate negotiations. Representatives from two of Canada’s largest shippers, Brian Springer, vice president, transportation, Loblaw Companies and Michael Tan, divisional vice president, supply chain & transportation, Hudson’s Bay Company will engage in a dialogue with representatives of two of Canada’s largest motor carriers, Dan Einwechter, CEO, Challenger Motor Freight and Wes Armour, president & CEO, Armour Transportation Systems.

The afternoon will feature parallel tracks focused on shipper and carrier issues. One track address how major corporate transformations have been driven by changes in transportation strategy. Mark Gallant, director, supply chain transportation for Home Depot, Jack Ampuja, president and CEO, Supply Chain Optimizers and Jim McKay, director, transportation, Wal-Mart Canada, will each address a major transportation initiative that they undertook to transform their companies or client operations.

Business Intelligence in Transportation has become a new “buzz word” over the past couple of years. Steve Morandi, analytics solutions leader, Deloitte Managed Services and Rick Tucker, senior vice president, Global Technologies, Lean Logistics will speak to how business Intelligence in transportation is helping improve the performance of transportation operations.

Human Resources are one of the key assets of any organization. Ron Mosey, principal, RM2 Associates and Marvin J. Huberman, certified civil litigator, barrister, mediator and arbitrator will lead a discussion on a broad range of important HR issues. Earlier in the day, Lee Palmer, president, Palmer Marketing and Dan Goodwill will also discuss social media and its effective use for brand building, customer retention and recruiting.

The final afternoon session focuses on safety. Rob Penner, vice president, operations, Bison Transport, the winner of a prestigious TCA safety award, will speak to best practices in safety management. Mark Murrell, president, Carriers Edge, will discuss the best practices in safety management employed by the Best Fleets to Drive For.  Jim Angel, product manager, safety and compliance apps, Peoplenet, will talk about next steps in CSA Compliance.

In addition to the excellent educational content, there will be opportunities throughout the day and at the end of the day to meet new carriers and shippers and to expand your personal network.

To find out more and to register, go to www.surfacetransportationsummit.com. And  also check the #Tsptnsummit hashtag on Twitter for important updates.