”I’ve asked you all to come here this morning so that you’ll know what we’re up against when the rules change next month,” Denis Medeiros told his owner-ops. “And I invited the rest of you to see what I’m up against.”

Those were the opening remarks at a drivers’ meeting held in December by Denis Medeiros, owner of Ayr, Ont.-based JBT Transport. I had been invited to the meeting to introduce his staff to the new American HOS rules. I was also asked to moderate a discussion on how owner-ops could do a better job of managing costs.

There were about 40 JBT people in the room, as well as a dozen primary customers and a handful of direct competitors. Drivers, customers, and competitors–all in the same room, talking about some pretty sensitive stuff: costs and rates, the impact of HOS, and the health of the industry.

Medeiros proceeded to tell his owner-ops that the industry had been screwing them long enough, and that it was time to set a new tone to the way we did business. He said the days of “smoke-and-mirror” pay packages were over.

“The problem is,” he continued, “I can’t afford to pay you what you should be paid.”

That was my cue. I began with an overview of the changes in the HOS rules, particularly the impact the 14-hour window of opportunity drivers would have. Knowing there’s about 30 per cent less capacity out there than drivers’ logs would have us believe, I tried explaining that the only way to make that situation obvious was to play by the rules and hope the competition would do the same.

That’s about as far as I got before things erupted.
Medeiros explains the reaction by telling me these owner-operators were angry and afraid for their future. It was a dramatic demonstration of how dissatisfied owner-ops are, and it was plain to everyone in the room that something has to change. The message wasn’t lost on the shippers in attendance, either.

Everything, Medeiros tells me, hangs in hope and trust that his friends and competitors will all do the right thing
and make the rules work to our advantage. But we don’t have much of a record for sticking together.

Even though he runs a small fleet, Medeiros says he feels like an owner-operator. He says the size of his fleet limits his effectiveness within provincial trucking associations, despite the vast number of fleets just like his in Canada. So Medeiros has launched an association for small fleets called the Kitchener-Waterloo Motor Carrier’s Alliance. With over a dozen members so far, Medeiros says the group has been meeting on a monthly basis to discuss industry issues and come up with some working solutions.

“We’re committed to finding ways to make the future of the truck transportation industry better. If we don’t, there won’t be a future,”
he says.

Among challenges the
KW Alliance hopes to address is the shortage of drivers
coming into the system and the concerns of existing
drivers and owner-ops.

“We need new training programs and better driver incentives,” Medeiros says. “We need an improved understanding of regulations and access to research and resources to help make the necessary changes.”

The essence of the KW Alliance is to gain advantages through co-operation that can’t be achieved through competition. The KW Alliance will welcome the participation of company operators, owner-operators, clients, and even third-party players, like the insurance industry.

“We need to work together,” says Medeiros. He’s open to ideas-you can reach him at denis.m@
jbttransport.com, or 519/622-3604.

Owner-operators aren’t happy, Medeiros observed that morning. They’re not focused. They’re worrying about the next mortgage or truck payment.

The KW Alliance may succeed in bringing a small group of carriers, shippers, and drivers together in an effort to improve the viability of all concerned, but the need to do better at the business of trucking is universal. Let’s hope this is just a first small step in that direction.