TORONTO, Ont. – Wendell Erb, president and CEO of Erb Transport, has been named chairman of the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) and begins a two-year term at the helm.

Erb, who succeeds One for Freight’s David Carruth in the role, has served for several years on the association’s board of directors.

In 2011, he took over Erb Transport from his father Vernon Erb, who launched the business with a single dump truck in 1959. Since then the business that specializes in refrigerated freight has grown to employ about 1,500 people.

And the new associated chairman says he will apply lessons learned from his father in the new role.

“I learned very early on in life and business that there is no real secret to success,” he said. “Take care of your people and they will take care of you and your customers.”

One of Erb’s main goals will be to guide OTA in steps to ensure a competitive playing field for compliant carriers, with a focus on truck and highway safety, tax law, and environmental rules, the association says in a release.

He’s been a vocal opponent of a practice known as “Driver Inc.”, which involves misclassifying employees as independent contractors in a bid to sidestep employer responsibilities and costs. 

“The time has come to end once and for all the idea that carriers can build a business model based on dangerous, unethical and illegal non-compliance to gain ill-gotten advantages on the majority of law-abiding carriers who play by the rules, pay their fair share and take safety, the environment seriously,” Erb said.

Other key files for the year to come include a pending mandate for electronic logging devices, as well as a driver shortage.

So, too, is he looking to engage the next generation of trucking industry leaders in the association.

“OTA is the voice of trucking in Ontario. It has a proud history of representing the diverse and varied interests of the industry over almost 100 years. In order for that continue, we must also listen to new and emerging voices and new ideas to ensure our vision is sustainable and we are always adaptable to whatever is in store for us down the road over the following 100 years,” he said.