TORONTO, Ont. – Markel Insurance Company will address profitability and cargo handling during two Let’s Talk tours in 2008.

The popular seminar series addresses industry best practices and trends to help trucking companies take their businesses to the next level. The interactive seminars feature live interviews conducted by industry journalists with key industry leaders. They are aimed at small-to midsized truck fleet owners and managers.

Kicking off 2008 will be the Let’s Talk about Driving a more Profitable Trucking Business 2. It begins in May and expands on last year’s well-attended seminar series on profitability. The series will delve deeper into the business of trucking, organizers say, providing more valuable information on how to maximize profits in a soft market.

Next up will be Let’s Talk about Cargo Handling: How to Protect your Loads, your Customers, and Yourself. This series, slated for September and October, will address cargo theft, carrier liability and load securement issues, according to organizers. More information about both series is available by calling 888-MARKEL-1.

The series on profitability will be held in May in Montreal, London, Edmonton and Toronto. The cargo handling seminars will be held in September and October in each of those cities.

All seminars run from 9 a. m. til 3 p. m. and include lunch. The cost to attend is $249, or $149 for Markel policy holders. For more information, visit www.markel.ca/Public/InformationSolutions/LetsTalk/.