TORONTO, (Dec. 27, 2004) — 60 plus years is how long the old hours-of-service rules stood in the U.S. That came to an end on Jan. 4 when the new HOS regime, increasing the maximum driving time from 10 to 11 hours, took effect. The initial month was especially troublesome for some Canadian carriers, as drivers were slapped with citations because of enforcement officials misinterpreting the U.S. rules as they apply to Canadian operations.

5,000 CN Rail technicians, clerical staff, and intermodal yard workers, held a month-long strike in February. While the railway insisted in the early weeks that operations were still at near normal, many large shippers disagreed and incorporating their own contingency plans: use more trucks.

20 per cent stake is what Manac president and COO Charles Dutil attained when Canam Manac’s semitrailer production unit was sold in April. The division was sold to Dutil, Le Fonds de Solidarite FTQ, and the Bourgie family and Les Partenaires de Montreal, which acquired the remaining 80 per cent. The giant Canadian steel company operated by the Dutil family dumped its trailer unit to concentrate on its construction products business.

$2 million in unpaid freight bills is what propelled outspoken veteran trucker Claude Robert from rallying a group of carriers against steelmaker Ivaco, which has been operating under bankruptcy protection from creditors. In what the OTA called a “precedent-setting” event, Robert and a handful of other carriers withdrew services from Ivaco in a desperate move to recoup what they said are millions owed. In an odd decision the next day, an Ontario Superior Court forced the carriers to continue hauling for the company.

6 months is exactly how long the Federal Motor Carrier’s Safety Administration long-awaited HOS rules lasted until a U.S. Court of Appeals threw them out in July. The court sided with the lobby group Public Citizen’s argument that the regulations failed to consider the impact on the health of drivers. The court instructed the FMCSA to fix the rules, creating uncertainty as to which set of rules would be used. However in October, the U.S. Congress legislated a stopgap, temporary bill that extended the new rules for a year. In the meantime, the FMCSA has already issued a proposal to include electronic on-board recorders for its revised rule.

2,000 is the number of trucks and trailers Canadian trucking giant TransForce added to its fleet of 7,500 when it acquired Markham, Ont.-based truckload and container specialist Highland Transport from Calgary’s TriWest Capital Partners in September. TransForce president Alain Bedard said Highland would fill TransForce’s truckload void in Ontario.

18-hour working window is what the Canadian Council of Ministers responsible for Transportation was asked to consider as part of the upcoming Canadian HOS rules. In September, the council directed the CCMTA to review the possibility of extending the “working window” from 16 to 18 hours a day — a proposal championed by the Canadian Trucking Alliance.

That plan seems to have since sunk, as vocal opposition from trade unions, the media, and independent truckers has forced the CTA to back-off its pursuit of the 18-hour idea. While an official announcement has not been made, Today’s Trucking has reported that the proposal is now all but dead.