John G. Smith is Newcom Media's vice-president - editorial, and the editorial director of its trucking publications -- including Today's Trucking, trucknews.com, and Transport Routier. The award-winning journalist has covered the trucking industry since 1995.
MISSISSAUGA, ON - Richard Ramdathsingh saw the accident unfold in front of his UPS package car last November. One motorist moved left when there was no place to go. There was the crunch of metal. The rollover came next. Now he's been recognized for his heroics.
LOUISVILLE, KY - Trail King is leveraging last May's acquisition of Dakota Trailer Manufacturing to unveil a new aluminum hopper within its AG product line - complete with a removable auger and Convey-All conveyor. And Canada's grain producers are seen as a leading market for it.
LOUISVILLE, KY -- Pirelli, a tire maker that many North Americans equate with Formula 1 or Superbike racing circuits, has announced plans to launch commercial tires in North America. "We're coming. We're testing," says Clif Armstrong, who has been named president of the company's newly formed TP Commercial Solutions. The products are to be manufactured in Brazil and available for Class 6-8 applications, with selected sizes available for Class 5 vehicles. One thing that sets this announcement apart from traditional rollouts, however, is the lack of tires. They are not yet available through a tire dealer near you. But 40 North American fleets are involved in testing 1,800 tires in on/off-road and linehaul applications. Armstrong himself spent time in Montreal working on some of the tests. The final results for steer and drive tires in the on/off-road segment are expected in 60 days, meaning production could begin by September. Tests of the 225 linehaul tires will take eight to 12 months. And Armstrong says there is no rush: "We're going to do this the right tire at the right time." The announcement still deserves to be taken seriously. Pirelli makes 5 million commercial tires per year for markets including Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, using production facilities established in Brazil, China, Egypt and Turkey. Armstrong is familiar with the North American market, having held senior roles with Continental Tire.
Gene Orlick's tenure as chairman of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) can still reasonably be counted in days. The owner of Alberta-based Orlicks Inc. assumed the role just last week, during the alliance's spring board meeting in Arizona. But his mandate already includes one issue that will define the nation's largest trucking organization for years to come. Who will replace David Bradley?
Volvo's Canadian dealers are celebrating. Goran Nyberg, president of Volvo Trucks North America, noted that the company's retail share in Canada hit 16.3% in 2014, complete with 54% of the sleepers that have 10-13-litre engines. Employees responded to numbers like that with chants of "all time high". And today they represent the first wave of North American dealers to learn about several powertrain enhancements available to buyers in 2017.
HAGERSTOWN, MD -Volvo Trucks North America has unveiled a series of powertrain enhancements today, highlighted by changes that will transform wasted heat into horsepower, bring the automated I-Shift and downspeeding to vocational haulers, and a cruise that memorizes terrain.
HAMILTON, ON -- A Brampton, Ontario truck driver who was involved in a collision that closed Ontario's Burlington Skyway for four days in 2014 has been acquitted of impaired driving charges. Sukhvinder Singh Rai registered almost triple the legal limit of alcohol that day - after his trailer's raised dump body slammed into the bridge structure -- but Judge Fred Campling ruled the test results were inadmissible because they were collected too long after the crash, local media report.
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