Trucks for Change

Updated: Charities hit Truck World for a good cause

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Maxine Shantz says all it took was one year of volunteering with the Special Olympics Convoy and she was hooked. The Home Hardware employee took on tasks with the GTA branch of the project six years ago and has been more involved every year since. Including spending a day in the charity’s Truck World booth recruiting drivers, selling raffle tickets to raise money for the cause, and raising awareness. Shantz says the booth at the biennial convention brings good exposure to the cause, forming a sense of community for drivers around the event and shines a light on the good things drivers do in a climate where they are often portrayed in the media as the bad guys after incidents on the road.

18 wheels is bringing Christmas to those in need

DIEPPE, NB - The Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association (APTA) and the Trucks for Change Network are loading up Christmas on to 18 wheels, and bringing it to those in need this year. The groups are organizing an industry-wide food collection drive from Nov. 27 to Dec. 11 to support food banks in communities across Atlantic Canada. The drive is being called the "18 Wheels of Christmas in Atlantic Canada." The groups say it was inspired by Rosenau Transport who originally developed the project several years ago to support food banks in Alberta.

Helpful Moves: Trucks come to the rescue in BC and beyond

British Columbia residents were still fleeing the path of wildfires in mid-July when Shane Reynolds took stock of the supplies on hand. "We're storing 5,000 cots, 5,000 blankets, and other material," said the operations manager at Landtran Logistics' facility in Prince George. "We'll be helping with local delivery of supplies when the Red Cross tells us what has to be done." Having grown up in B.C., then working around Fort McMurray, Alberta, Reynolds knows the devastation that wildfires can bring. With a job in trucking, he understands the challenge of moving relief supplies. He was even part of a team that set up distribution centers after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. in 2005. When disaster strikes, there are always goods to move and a need for trucks to move them.

B.C. truckers leap to help fire victims

PRINCE GEORGE, BC - Shane Reynolds, ops manager of Landtran Logistics' Prince George facility, is becoming an old hand at helping people in distress. He was working in the southern U.S. after Hurricane Katrina hit and was part of a team that salvaged and reclaimed warehouses and set up distribution centres for relief supplies. Also, growing up in B.C., and then working around Fort Mac gave him ample exposure to the ravages of forest fires. Now, he's putting all that experience to good use again as Landtran and other trucking folks do what they can for victims of the British Columbia forest fire disaster. Almost 200 burns have destroyed almost 80,000 hectares of central British Columbia already and as of Friday, experts were warning that strong winds predicted for the weekend will only make matters worse. Entire towns are have been evacuated.

Trucks for Change will do you good

TORONTO, ON -- My short-lived career as a competitive picker and packer could be in jeopardy. Newcom Business Media, the publisher of Today's Trucking, was the defending champion in the second-annual Trucks for Change food sorting challenge at Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank on November 16. Eight 10-member teams committed an hour to tear into pallets of donated food, check expiry dates, and load boxes for shipping. (What charitable work could be closer to the trucking industry than that?) And while new to the team, I've helped out at food banks before. In the lexicon of athletes everywhere, I was a ringer. The trash talk flowed with ease because, well, charity and all that.

Trucks for Change will do you good

TORONTO, ON -- My short-lived career as a competitive picker and packer could be in jeopardy. Newcom Business Media, the publisher of Today's Trucking, was the defending champion in the second-annual Trucks for Change food sorting challenge at Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank on November 16. Eight 10-member teams committed an hour to tear into pallets of donated food, check expiry dates, and load boxes for shipping. (What charitable work could be closer to the trucking industry than that?) And while new to the team, I've helped out at food banks before. In the lexicon of athletes everywhere, I was a ringer. The trash talk flowed with ease because, well, charity and all that.

Trending Topics