Canada’s private carrier community to meet in June

by Bruce Richards

The Private Motor Truck Council (PMTC) of Canada has prepared an informative agenda for its June 2008 conference and everyone in the trucking community should have this event marked on their calendar.

The dates are June 19-20, and we are returning to Queen’s Landing in the heart of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. This beautiful hotel is reminiscent of a southern mansion and has easy access to many of the area’s attractions. This annual conference has become the single best opportunity for those involved with private trucking to join their peers and industry suppliers in a relaxing forum where they can participate in educational and instructive seminars on current issues. The seminars cover a wide range of topics and this review should convince any fleet manager of the value of spending some time with other fleet operators and industry suppliers. The agenda includes seminars topics such as:

Trucks and Terrorism: How criminals and terrorists can infiltrate your fleet, and how you can protect against them;

Human Resources: Trucking’s Most Important Asset; A review of H. R. projects and new tools available from the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council;

Keeping it Green:A panel of industry professionals discuss creative steps they have taken to reduce their company’s impact on the environment;

Outlook on Trucking: James Menzies, executive editor of Truck News/Truck West will provide insightful views on the state of trucking in Canada and some thoughts on the future;

2010 – We’re Doing It Again: With a new round of emissions restrictions scheduled for 2010, now is the time to learn about the technolgy options that will be available. Presenters will discuss lessons learned from the 2007 experience and explain how they plan to comply with the 2010 regulations.

Let me preview a little of what you can expect to learn during the conference:

Criminals and terrorists can infiltrate even the best-run fleets and use them for their own purposes. Following 9/11, the US and Canada joined forces to develop this seminar to teach fleets and enforcement personnel tactics for reducing the risk – the seminar will deliver practical and valuable advice for safeguarding your fleet.

The Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council is the leader in developing tools for managing people in the trucking community. CTHRC will review its most current projects including Career Awareness, Closing the GAP, and the Guide to Human Resources: Practical Tips and Tools for the Trucking Industry. As a bonus, the guide will be availabe at a special PMTC conference price.

There are many ways to reduce the impact your fleet has on the environment and the companies on our panel have each taken creative approaches to the issue. The environment is first on everyone’s list these days, and the panel will share ideas on how you can help to keep it green.

It’s always interesting to look back on events that have impacted the trucking community and to speculate a little on the future. James Menzies, executive editor of Truck News will do just that as he addresses our breakfast seminar.

Remember the concerns with fuel emissions regulations in 2007? Well, we are going to go through it again in 2010.This seminar will explain the technologies available to meet the new regulations, and discuss lessons learned in 2007.

And of course we’ll mix in a little social time at the Chairman’s Reception and Dinner evening, where we will experience an evening of great food and entertainment featuring a trio of stand-up comics with fabulous reviews.

A highlight of the conference is the Annual Awards Luncheon. This is the event at which we celebrate the best that trucking has to offer. The Private Fleet Safety Awards, sponsored by Zurich recognize some of the safest private fleets in Canada. We continue celebrating excellence with the induction of professionals into the Hall of Fame for Professional Drivers, sponsored by CPC Logistics. The Hall of Fame resides on the PMTC Web site (www.pmtc.ca) where you can see the names of those enshrined.

And of course the Vehicle Graphics Design Awards, sponsored by 3M Canada are always a crowd favourite. You’ll enjoy seeing the creative designs that carriers (private and for-hire) use to promote their products or services. It’s a colourful presentation of extremely effective marketing tools.

Conference registration information is available on our Web site or by calling the office at 905-827-0587. Register now and please, say hello when you’re there.

– The Private Motor Truck Council is the only national association dedicated to the private trucking community. Your comments or questions can be addressed to trucks@pmtc.ca.


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*