Prepare to be Schooled

by John G Smith

A Class 1/A licence falls well short of proving that someone is ready to work as a truck driver. Ask any industry recruiter. Hang around a busy loading dock long enough, and you'll likely have the chance to pick up a few extra dollars from frustrated newbies, all eager to hand the keys to someone who can actually reverse into tight spaces. This is especially true for people who, with a minimal amount of training, managed to learn just enough to earn the licence itself.

• Transportation

Dealing with the escalating cost of cross-border transport

by Charles Sheppard

Despite efforts to harmonize laws and integrate processes, there remain costly barriers to cross-border freight movement. Carriers require a financial strategy to manage the ongoing and escalating costs.

• Transportation

Unsung heroes

by Ray Haight

I wonder sometimes how difficult it is for the person who is just about to make the leap into this industry to get a good start. When I…

• Transportation

Where are crude oil prices heading?

by Roger McKnight

Last week, this scribe lashed out at the speculative commune who gathered to talk about their month-end manipulation of crude prices. I also pondered, ever so pondifferously, on the…

• Transportation

OPEC meeting freeze-a-thon ends up a fizzle-flop

by Roger McKnight

The OPEC-o-pods and Putinoids certainly huffed and puffed and had the Wall Street speculators reacting in confused anticipation of the outcome of the freeze-a-thon that ended up being fizzle-flop. When…

• Health & Safety

Spring into fitness with this challenge

by Lou Smyrlis

With the return of longer days and warmer weather, it’s usually not long before thoughts turn to barbecues, beer and lazy days in the summer sun doing pretty much…

Runaway and Repeat

by John G Smith

I'm experiencing a new day and new job at Today's Trucking, but there is no escaping the sense of déjà vu. Yes, I still lean on my GPS to find the office, and I think it will be several months before I remember the phone number, but something feels oddly familiar. Too familiar.

• Transportation

Distractions? What distractions?

by Earl Galavan

Have you ever argued over the difference between hands free and hands on cell phone use? How about the difference between talking to a passenger and using a cell? There…

• Transportation

We need a clearer direction and explanation for the Liberal’s carbon tax policy

by Roger McKnight

Out of frustration, I find myself visualizing the current carbon kerfuffle in the personification of my favourite Peanuts character, Pig Pen. Pig Pen, of course, was always sketched by Charles…

Spring is in the air!

by Ray Haight

Now that spring is here I like many of you are looking forward to the warm weather and the turning of things from Grey to green. It is also a…

Time is US $9.26 at a roadside scale

by John G Smith

Time is money, and this is particularly true when you're stuck at a roadside scale. Even if everything is in running order, drivers still have to wait their turn before being waved on their way.

• Transportation

How to learn the basics of sales and freight transportation

by Dan Goodwill

Three years ago I posted a blog entitled ‘Tips for the New Transportation Sales Rep‘.  In that blog I consolidated a number of ideas generated in a LinkedIn Sales…

• Transportation

Leading your trucking company through tough times

by Dan Goodwill

These are tough times. In a recent issue (February 22, 2016) of the Journal of Commerce, the headline was “Is the US in a Freight Recession?” If a freight recession is…

Orlick’s term as CTA chair begins with search for chief

by John G Smith

Gene Orlick's tenure as chairman of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) can still reasonably be counted in days. The owner of Alberta-based Orlicks Inc. assumed the role just last week, during the alliance's spring board meeting in Arizona. But his mandate already includes one issue that will define the nation's largest trucking organization for years to come. Who will replace David Bradley?

Road Trip: Volvo’s Canadian dealers in Hagerstown

by John G Smith

Volvo's Canadian dealers are celebrating. Goran Nyberg, president of Volvo Trucks North America, noted that the company's retail share in Canada hit 16.3% in 2014, complete with 54% of the sleepers that have 10-13-litre engines. Employees responded to numbers like that with chants of "all time high". And today they represent the first wave of North American dealers to learn about several powertrain enhancements available to buyers in 2017.