I enjoy nothing better then laying back on the weekend and reading the paper.

Saturday’s edition can be a challenge – depending on my Friday night activities – but I usually manage to get through it.

Like many of you, sports gets priority, followed closely by business, national and finally regional news. There’s a lot to read and I’ve been known to take the better part of the day absorbing its contents.

Read a little, sleep a little, sleep a little more. A perfect weekend on the couch.

The Sunday Aug. 8 edition of the Toronto Star was no different.

The Jays lost (so what’s new?) crime was on it’s way up, the weather was going to be lousy. It was shaping up to be one of those days, until I hit the front page of the business section. To my surprise, I was staring at an article written by Kevin McGran entitled ” Trucking hits a bump.”

At first, I thought it was another negative industry article, but as I read the article I quickly realized it was just what the doctor ordered.

For us involved in the industry, he really wasn’t telling us anything new.

He explained the business of being a driver or owner/operator, the income one might expect and the future of this career path. Our editors have been addressing these issues for years but what I really liked was the fact that the message was finally being sent out to the masses.

We need new blood if we hope to at least contain the driver shortage. If I was unemployed and was looking for a career path I wouldn’t hesitate to at least look into the opportunities.

One article in the Star isn’t going to turn things around but it’s a start.

As an industry we need to stop talking about the problem and start doing something about it. The training schools (the good ones anyway) all claim business is booming.

If that’s the case (and I do believe it is) we’re not even prepared to handle a significant increase in students even if it does happen.

The article goes on to explain that a first year driver or owner/operator can earn some pretty good coin. Anywhere from $40 to $60K a year for a first year driver and upwards of $120K for an owner/operator.

Hmmm, maybe a little optimistic but who knows, if they put the time in stranger things have happened.

– Rob Wilkins is the publisher of Truck News and he can be reached at (416) 510-5123.