REGINA, Sask. – Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation has created a Trucking Advisory Forum to get broad input from the public, shippers, business, carriers and industry on provincial trucking issues. The forum will address many issues including improved safety and the economic benefits of trucking in the province.

“The idea started about a year ago when we decided it would be good to develop a group of peers to evaluate the trucking industry,” says Greg Gilks, a department spokesperson.

“We decided upon a forum as we were conducting a review of existing programs and looked at a long list of who should participate.”

The purpose of the review is to ensure existing programs are meeting the needs of the public. The forum consists of individuals from groups most directly affected by trucking policies. Participants include the Saskatchewan Trucking Associa-tione and the Saskatchewan Safety Council, to name a few.

“This group will divide the issues into various categories and develop ideas for recommendations on trucking policy,” explains Gilks.

“It will deal with the public’s perception of the industry and safety issues.”

He added that the stakeholders agree that safety is one of the foremost issues within the industry, but it will not be easy to achieve a consensus. The committee is structured to discuss broad issues and to develop agreements on common concerns.

The inaugural meeting took place in Regina on Oct. 27 and it is anticipated that three more meetings will be held before the end of December.

A final report will be developed by May 31, which will be released to the public. n