BRAMPTON, Ont. – Frank Connors, president of Brampton, Ont.-based York Transportation Group, has been appointed the new chairman of the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA).

The mid-sized, LTL carrier’s rise to the chairmanship of Canada’s largest provincial trucking association has occurred relatively overnight. Connors’ company is one of the many fleets that only joined OTA for the first time following deregulation.

“My partner, Peter Newall and I started York Transportation 24 years ago and we were always aware of OTA, but had not joined. But, I was impressed with how OTA transformed itself after deregulation,” says Connors.

“It became relevant to all carriers, regardless of size, and it demonstrated a new vitality.”

He explains that his experience is quite reflective of many other relatively new members, as well.

Within a year of becoming a member, Connors was elected to the OTA board and a couple of years later he was appointed to the OTA Executive Committee, where he most recently held the post of secretary-treasurer.

Communication will be a key to Connors’ term as chairman.

He says he wants to find better ways to communicate with all members, and says he is looking to the Internet as one of the key ways to accomplish this goal.

“If all the members only knew the amount of information available to them from the OTA, it would blow them away,” says Connors.

“In addition, we want to make it easier for carriers to communicate with the association, to provide feedback on all issues.”

Connors is also a great believer in education and training, particularly in sales and marketing.

He intends to continue pushing for regular briefings of carrier sales staff on current issues affecting the industry.

“If we can better arm our salespeople with information on such things as fuel costs, driver shortages and the like, then perhaps overall we can accomplish better pricing from the shippers,” he concludes. n