TORONTO, Ont. — The PMTC annual conference is slated for June 17 and 18 at the White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

This years’ conference will feature several special guests, including 2003 Juno Awards Best Album of the Year winner, guitarist Jack de Keyzer, performing at the Chairman’s Reception and Dinner Thursday night. De Keyzer has played with Ronnie Hawkins, Robert Gordon, Blue Rodeo, Bo Diddley, Etta James and Otis Rush.

Also on the menu is a facility tour of the John Deere Distribution Centre, in Grimsby on Thursday, June 17 afternoon.

From this facility, parts are distributed daily to stores throughout Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, using a mix of transportation modes. Controlled with state of the art inventory control and order-picking systems, the private fleet reports almost no turnover in its driver group.

Speakers at the conference will include: Roy Craigen, chair of the Canadian Trucking Human Resources
Council and Principal of Transcom, training consultants for the trucking industry; Dawn Stevely, Senior Enforcement Policy Advisor and Glenda Prudom, Team Leader, Carrier Safety Policy Office for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, with a review of the status of hours of service and trip inspections; Harry J. Haney, III, Associate Director, Transportation Operations, Kraft Foods Inc.; and a seminar on the Six Sigma improvement program’s benefits for fleet operations.

Last but not least, the conference will wind up Friday afternoon with the Annual PMTC Awards Luncheon, recognizing Canada’s safest private fleets with the PMTC-Zurich North America Canada Private Fleet Safety Awards, and the best in vehicle graphic design with the PTMC-3M Canada Vehicle Graphic Design Awards. The luncheon will also announce the new inductees to the PMTC-Cancom Tracking Hall of Fame for Professional Drivers.

World class White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa amenities include indoor racquetball / tennis / gym facility, meeting rooms and dining areas, and a full service spa area.

The resort offers immediate access to the Royal Niagara Golf Club, rated one of the best new courses in Ontario in 2001. The resort is also in the heart of Niagara’s wine country.

For more info contact the PMTC Office at 905-827-0587, e-mail info@pmtc.ca or visit www.pmtc.ca.