What were the Biggest Freight Transportation Stories of 2013? / What will be the Top Trends in 2014?

At the end of each year, I like to take stock of the major freight transportation stories of the past twelve months and look ahead to the major industry trends…

As professional drivers, our lives can change in an instant

Last month in this column I posed the question: Is this trucking lifestyle really for me? I know that it is and have come to understand that the daily grind, the amount of time on the job, and the repetition can drag a driver down from time to...

Reader responses show some of us need thicker skin

After writing this column for one-and-a-half years, I’ve noticed a trend developing in the responses that I receive.

Canadian company offers scale bypass system that uses existing infrastructure

EDMONTON, Alta. -- A Canadian tech company is making waves in the US, where its weigh station bypass system has the potential to save the trucking industry and enforcement agencies untold millions.

Autumn brings seemingly annual diesel crunch to west

EDMONTON, Alta. -- Diesel fuel was in shorter supply than normal across the west as September rolled over into October. And it looks as if the crunch may be an annual occurrence for diesel supplier Suncor and its Petro-Canada wing.

Longer term vision for truck weights and dimensions standards needed

A way back in February 1988, in a galaxy far, far away the Canadian Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation & Highway Safety of the day, jointly endorsed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve uniformity in regulations...

Lessons learned as an owner of a small fleet

I sometimes receive e-mails asking for advice on how to start a trucking company. That was covered in the first three Truck News columns I wrote, so we can’t rehash it again.

Fuel surcharges: Is there a better way?

Researching and writing about fuel prices and their impact on transportation costs since fuel prices initially started to spike back in the late 90s I’ve come to realize – despite what some fuel experts will tell you – the...

Safe and secure practices can protect fleets from cargo crime

The estimated cost of cargo crime is staggering. Across Canada, losses amount to as much as $5 billion a year, most of which disappears along the corridor between Windsor and Montreal. Thefts in the Greater Toronto Area alone are valued as high...

Young leaders chart their own course

An important part of our future has been forecasted. It has to do with aging and because it hasn’t been addressed in any significant manner, this part of our future remains bleak.

Snowball fight in the capitol

GATINEAU, Que. -- A dozen rigs blocked Ottawa’s Champlain Bridge this summer as part of a fight by the Greater Ottawa Trucking Association (GOTA) to restrict Quebec dump truck access to Ottawa snow removal work this winter.

Two shows coming together as one

QUEBEC CITY, Que. – Master Promotions, Canada’s largest independent trade and consumer event management company is hosting the Quebec Forestry & Construction Expo, co-locating with Salon CAM Quebec, Apr. 25-26, 2014 at the...

Women in Trucking CEO urges industry to redefine the road

Mississauga, Ont. – The leader of Women in Trucking expressed the need to redefine the road at a session during the Recruitment and Retention conference hosted by Over the Road.

Trucks don pink for Ontario convoy

WOODSTOCK, Ont. – On Oct. 5, more than 80 pinked-out trucks gathered at the TA Travel Centre in Woodstock, where they formed a convoy that would travel along Hwy. 401 in a head-turning display of solidarity against breast cancer.

Why the trucking industry’s current interest in natural gas isn’t just a fad

TORONTO, Ont. – The trucking industry has had its flirtations with natural gas in the past, so why will the present surge in interest be any different than previous experiences in the 80s and 90s, when the alternative fuel was examined...