Too often I hear that owner-operator-based fleets can’t effectively control their speed. I beg to differ.

The most critical way a driver can help a fleet limit risk is by controlling his road speed. It's not enough to make a general statement that your drivers must obey the posted spee

Truck World 2008: Special Video Report

Welcome Todaystrucking.com readers. Click on the video below to see our exclusive state-of-the-industry report from Truck World 2008 in Toronto-brought to you by: Canada’s official truck show-owned and…

A burning question: Are truck cabs required to be smoke-free environments?

A while back I had to deal with an owner-operator and a co-driver who were having problems making on-time arrivals. Their route was regularly scheduled, operating between two termi

Give your TDC a little TLC

The warm weather means it's time for truck-driving skills competitions-or TDCs, as I like to call them. Not just a day at the playground.

America the Dutiful: Drivers and the Border

A few years ago when I worked for a commercial carrier, I was about to hire a long-haul owner-operator when the time came to check his references. I had a list of two former employ

Driver Training: The Operator’s Apprentice

It might be a bit premature to call it a movement, but there's some interest percolating out there in establishing apprenticeship programs for new drivers. Simply, the shortage of

The Price of Complacency

My 10-year-old son and I were on a beach this summer and even though there were several hundred people around and a team of professional lifeguards on duty, a little boy drowned.

Safe Drivers or the Eve of Destruction

It's a brand new year and in my opinion we're on the verge of seeing some real improvements in commercial trucking highway safety, particularly in the States. The new hours-of-serv

Driver Hiring: Think Like a Thief

Now more than ever, a good driver-screening process is critical to your business' anti-theft efforts. The prevailing driver shortage is making fleets more vulnerable to bad hires,

All Wound Up: Driver Stress

Until recently, it never occurred to me that commercial truck driving had become such a high-stress profession. But recently, I attended a management seminar on the topic and m

Truck Speed: All Roads Lead to Rome

A few months ago, I was in a meeting where a fleet manager discussed vehicle speed, fuel economy, and equipment specs.

Driver Meetings: Days of the Roundtable

Over the years, I've attended many driver meetings and I've seen the good, the bad -- and the truly gruesome. A driver meeting can accomplish a great deal. Do it right and your

Strike: No Coasting in Lower Mainland

Who would have thought that when a group of independent container haulers at the Port of Vancouver slapped down the hasta la vista card during contract negotiations with their carrier companies, they would be putting in motion a game of chicken that would take nearly a month and a half to end?

Speed Limiting: The Fast and the Furious

Ontario truckers are divided over OTA's speed limiter proposal

PIPEDA always evolving

While it's applied to federally-regulated companies since 2001, only as of Jan. 1, this year -- when the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) stretched to cover most provincially regulated companies -- did the average Canadian worker begin paying attention to who knows what about him.