Canada-US safety ratings: Reciprocity cuts both ways

The dictionary definition of reciprocity is the relation or policy in commercial dealings between countries by which corresponding advantages or privileges are granted by each country to the citizens of the other. In plain English and in...

Reasons for optimism still exist

Collectively, we in this industry have an opportunity, and my hope is that we get to take full advantage of it. Human resource issues are top of the list when it comes to surveys of what fleet managers spend most of their time on. It’s...

All I want for Christmas is…a new highway?

What do you want for Christmas? A new truck? Pay raise? I want a new highway.

Reflect on these handy tips to improve your visibility

As important as the view through a windshield may be, the threats beside and behind a truck can hardly be ignored. About one-third of all the collisions reported to Northbridge Insurance involve situations like sideswiping a vehicle or backing...

TSQ: What do you think about random drug and alcohol testing for truckers?

MILTON, Ont. – Canadian truck drivers who cross the border into the US have been subject to random alcohol and drug testing since 1996. For US truck drivers, DoT-mandated random testing has been around since the late 1980s.

Have drug testing rules kept up with the times?

Random drug and alcohol testing has been a fact of life for Canadian truckers crossing the US border since 1996. But the initiative began much earlier in the US, as part of the strategy of former US president Ronald Reagan’s “War on...

Things aren’t always as we assume

On Oct. 14, the Toronto Star published a feature article exploring the Indo-Canadian trucking community’s ties to the drug trade.

To grow or not to grow

Can equipment – specifically the inability of some carriers to invest in new tractors – fuel trucking’s next consolidation phase?American Trucking Associations’ chief economist Bob Costello believes it could, and I agree...

Ambassador Bridge to go to all-electronic tolling

WINDSOR, Ont. – The Ambassador Bridge will be the first international crossing to install all-electronic tolling (AET) for trucks. The two gantries – both located on the US side – are now in place for incoming and outgoing...

Quebec’s Highway Ambassador program going strong

MONTREAL, Que. – Talking trucking to kiddies on the television with Annie Brocoli, discussing fatigue with Isabelle Marechal on 98.5 FM and manning a booth at the Salon national de l’education in Montreal are just three examples of...

Ontario may have to pry CBs from our cold, dead hands

The modern trucker has an array of communications technology at his or her fingertips. I’ve heard one estimate that half of long-distance drivers carry laptops, 80-90% have cell phones, and some even pack iPhones.

EOBRs are fine, but should be accompanied by hourly pay

It’s been a while, so I thought it was time for me to wade into the EOBR debate once again. As usual, I heard something that triggered my renewed interest in the subject. The thought provoking comment was that EOBRs ‘make the roads...

It’s time to wake up to obstructive sleep apnea compliance requirements

Driver wellness is an increasingly important issue. It is recognized as such in the report from the CTA Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Driver Shortage.

If it’s their last ride, let’s make it their best ride

As challenging as different categories of freight can be, you could say that livestock shipments are a different sort of animal.

Whatever your beliefs, membership in a like-minded group has its benefits

I don’t suppose for a moment that there are many people in the trucking community who could hazard an accurate guess as to how many years trucking associations in Canada have been serving their members.