Regina unveils “Happy Place” for truckers

REGINA – –   Job seekers lined up out the door and down the block.

            Hundreds of them.

            So many that the organizers of the job fair toyed with asking the local radio station to tell listeners that there was no point showing up.

            And the attraction?

            About 300 positions opening up at the new Regina Global Transportation Hub (GTH) which is being assembled three klicks from downtown and which should be running full tilt by 2012.

            The first tenants – – CP’s new intermodal yard and Loblaw’s new distribution centre — should be open in 2011 but the principals foresee the GTH expanding rapidly.

            The GTH is a 2,000-acre, $550-million, one million-square-foot megaproject designed to help the province of Saskatchewan ease into its role as a focal point in the new Asia-Pacific gateway into the North American market.

            The CEO of the GTH, John Law, says that when the facility is up and running “there should be about 1,400 LCVs rolling out of there on a weekly basis.”  

            The main players in the project are CP Rail, Loblaw, the federal government, Province, the City of Regina and the adjacent municipality of Sherwood.

            The concept was conceived about three years ago and Law told todaystrucking.com that project is moving ahead of schedule.

            “We’re learning to move as fast as business,” Law, a former deputy minister of Transportation, said.

            “It started a few years ago when we looked at our province and realized we are the most trade-dependent province in the country; 70% of our products are exports.

            “The number of trucks coming in will be substantial,” Law said. “We want to make it as convenient for them as possible so we want to know what kind of services will make it a happy place to be for the trucking community.”
            The sponsor of the most recent job fair was Canadian Logistics Services, which looks after Loblaw’s Western Canada transportation needs.

            The company will need about 300 people now to work in the first phase of the project but will be looking for up to 400 more later in the year as the project grows.