Groupe Robert
Here Comes the Sun: Does solar have a role as an alternative fuel?
TORONTO, Ont. -- In some corners of North America, the idea of adding solar power to a truck or trailer is a no-brainer. You'd be forgiven for thinking that none of those corners are in Canada. That's mostly true, but it doesn't necessarily mean that solar has no place here. Just that you must be careful in assessing manufacturer claims about what their solar gizmo can actually do. Almost all of Canada gets an average of 4.2 hours of solar sunlight a day. Two areas -- a small stretch of the southern prairies and a little ribbon of central B.C. -- crank that number up to 4.5 hours. Compare that to as many six hours in Arizona, New Mexico, and a patch of southeast California. Doesn't sound like much of a difference, but it's a big deal. A 300-watt solar setup that can help to run a tractor's electric APU in that part of the U.S. would probably have to be a 600- or 800-watt setup for a rig running, say, a Toronto-Montreal-Halifax route. It also means that manufacturer claims can be rather idealistic if calculations were based on experience in warm and sunny parts of our world. There's no subterfuge involved here, but “your mileage may vary,” as they say.
Heavy-hauling heavy hitters join forces
QUEBEC, QC – QSL, Groupe Robert (Watson and Sycamore), and Express Mondor are joining forces to create Mondor-Watson – one of Eastern Canada’s largest heavy-hauling and oversized marine and land transportation consortiums. QSL will hold the majority of the shares, while Mondor’s team will be responsible for daily operations. Groupe Robert, meanwhile, will offer its expertise in transportation and logistics as well as establishing synergies with the rest of its network. QSL has a stevedoring network spanning Eastern Canada to the heart of North America, offering logistics services for ships, trucks, and railcars. Groupe Robert has 3,500 employees delivering logistics, distribution, and transportation services. Express Mondor has 170 employees focusing on specialized and oversized ground transport in Canada and the U.S.
India Called, I Answered
Bucket-list item ticked: I finally got to India. In fact I've just returned from spending two weeks in that astonishing country, where I couldn't keep up with anything that was going on here in the world of trucking, so this edition of my report will borrow heavily from work my colleagues have been doing in the last while.
