play like the big boys

Let’s say you’re with a company that lacks broad market awareness despite having a great set of offerings, a track record of success and satisfied customers. Your existing customers are ready to act as references, but it's an uphill...

The end of the trucking tycoon?

I was in Indianapolis in early March, covering the Green Truck Summit, when I checked my voicemail and found a message from Steve Russell, chairman and founder of Indianapolis-based Celadon Trucking. He wanted to talk about the company’s...

Something to chew on

If there is one thing certain about our industry it’s that the people that are its lifeblood are not getting any younger. In fact, the average age in our industry is older than the national average. What should perhaps be of even greater...

Livestock haulers raise the bar for animal transport

TORONTO, Ont. – Fewer Canadians are growing up on farms and a smaller portion of the province’s truck drivers is coming from that background and with that skill set. As a result, a smaller pool of people experienced in handling...

The Fly-in/Fly-out hotel

FERMONT, Que. – The driver slows his rig to a crawl as the snowstorm builds on the North Shore of the Saint Lawrence River, on this last Friday of February. Three hours east of Quebec City on Hwy. 138 he finally calls it quits, maneuvers...

Ontario weigh stations being rebuilt, relocated

PORT HOPE, Ont. – The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario has finalized plans to close the westbound Hwy. 401 inspection station at Bowmanville and move it to the Zion Road area just west of Port Hope. The MTO has completed a...

The many benefits of taking pride in your profession

I started off the year questioning whether new technology being adopted by the trucking industry can have a positive effect on safety if it increases the amount of stress on a driver?

Newcomers to Canada need better training on our unique conditions

The driver shortage is on my mind again. I’ve spent a bit of time browsing through the trucking Internet forums and being from another land, I look for those that are specifically for British ex-pats.

From tax prep to tax plan

Is your tax return done? Will you file on time? Did you find that receipt? How much will you owe? Here’s a better question: Why do you put yourself through this every year?

An MTO senior moment?

Okay, maybe it’s because I became an official senior citizen a few weeks ago, but I really can’t let this Ontario senior drivers thing go. And judging from the calls and e-mails I’m swamped with daily, a lot of you share my...

We need to stop eating our young

They say the future is in our own hands. I can only offer qualified support for that philosophy because I believe the future of this industry is in the hands of two different groups, segregated by the demographics of age.

Never surrender

There is an old saying that goes: ‘To keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience.” Another is that “Persistence is the habit of victory.”

Sleepwalking can be dangerous

I recently had a patient come into my clinic complaining of wrist and shoulder pain. As it turns out, the patient fell out of his truck in the middle of the night when he was sleepwalking.

What to do if you’re first on the scene of an emergency

Growing up, I was always taught I could count on a truck driver for help in any emergency on the road. I certainly found this to be true a while ago.

Pre-trip inspections should include a driver’s state of mind

It’s no secret that trucking can be a stressful career. Just-in-time delivery schedules, hours-of-service regulations, bad weather and traffic jams often seem to conspire against those who work behind the wheel. To compound matters, the...