The Business Magazine of Canada’s Trucking Industry Canadian Mail Sales Product Agreement #40063170. Return postage guaranteed. NEWCOM Business Media Inc., 451 Attwell Dr., Toronto, ON M9W 5C4. Registration No. 10788 2012 2012 March 2013 www.todaystrucking.com 60 OPPOSITE PAGE CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING + OWNER/OPERATORS & DRIVERS WANTED Doug Harrison IT’S ABOUT LEADERSHIP: MEET THE NEW BOSS AT DAY & ROSS, PG. 38 Top 100 A Special Issue Our annual tally of Canada’s biggest for-hire carriers, PG. 28 April11-13 , 2013 Place Bonaventure, Montreal, QC, Canada CANADA’S Top 100 A Special Issue Our annual tally of Canada’s biggest for-hire carriers, PG. 28 CANADA’S
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The Business Magazine of Canada’s Trucking Industry
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March 2013 www.todaystrucking.com
60OPPOSITE PAGE
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
+OWNER/OPERATORS &
DRIVERS WANTED
Doug Harrison
IT’S ABOUT LEADERSHIP:MEET THE NEW BOSS AT DAY & ROSS, PG. 38
Top 100A Special IssueOur annual tally of Canada’sbiggest for-hire carriers, PG. 28
When we re-engineered the Detroit™ DD15® engine, it set a new standard for fuel economy and performance. But our quest for greater ef ciency didn’t stop there. Today, we’re proud to expand our product line into transmissions, axles, and Virtual Technician, all of which can be serviced at hundreds of locations across North America. So if your business demands it all, visit DEMANDDETROIT.COM.
As the first driver for a Canadian fleet to be named aCaptain on America’s squad of elite operators, DaleWilliams’ passion for trucking safety is born of bothlove and loss. — BY NICKISHA RASHID
28 COVERTOP 100
Presenting our annual survey of Canada’s biggest for-hire carriers; plus why you should keep an eye on these players.
— BY TODAY’S TRUCKING STAFF
38 PROFILE DAWN OF A NEW DAY&ROSS
Meet Doug Harrison, newly tapped overseer of theMcCain family’s venerable fleet. Harrison’s weaving anew-style leadership into a tightly wound outfit. What does that say for trucking in this country?
— BY JASON RHYNO
42 COMPLIANCEPRACTICES MAKE PERFECT
You know the regulations. But do you have your own rules for obeying them?
— BY TOM BRAY
March 2013VOLUME 27, NO. 3
NAVISTAR HEADS OFF-ROAD: As promised,International Trucks are ramping up theirconstruction site presence.
ON THE ROAD?Use your smartphone to scan this code. GET THE FREE APP AT HTTP://GETTAG.MOBI
THE CURVES MAKE IT EFFICIENT.THE EDGE MAKES IT OURS.Western Star is known for building good-looking trucks. But with the Fuel Effi ciency (FE) package on a 4900SB, we’re also known for being the company that combined classic styling with aerodynamics, lightweight options and up to 530 horsepower under the hood to create the fi rst fuel effi cient truck that is all Western Star. FIND OUT MORE AT WESTERNSTAR.COM
letterseditorto the
The Business Magazine of Canada’s Trucking Industry
Lawyer Melanie Vipond
SLEEP APNEA: “Remember this figure: $6.4 million,” PG. 24
CIRCULATION INFORMATIONP.O. Box 370, Station B, Toronto, ON M9W 5L3
416/614-2200 • 416/614-8861 (fax)
Today’s Trucking is published monthly by NEWCOM BUSINESS MEDIA INC., 451 Attwell Dr., Toronto, ON M9W 5C4. It is produced expressly for ownersand/or operators of one or more straight trucks or tractor-trailers with grossweights of at least 19,500 pounds, and for truck/trailer dealers and heavy-dutyparts distributors. Subscriptions are free to those who meet the criteria. For others: single-copy price: $5 plus applicable taxes; one-year subscription: $40plus applicable taxes; one-year subscription in U.S.: $60 US; one-year subscription foreign: $90 US. Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of the publisher. The advertiser agrees to protect the publisher against legal action based upon libelous or inaccurate statements, unauthorized use of photographs, or other material in connection with advertisements placed in Today’s Trucking. The publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising which in his opinion is misleading, scatological, or in poor taste. Postmaster:Address changes to Today’s Trucking, 451 Attwell Dr., Toronto, ON M9W 5C4.Postage paid Canadian Publications Mail Sales Agreement No.40063170.ISSN No. 0837-1512. Printed in Canada.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Governmentof Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of theDepartment of Canadian Heritage.
The Business Magazine of Canada’s Trucking Industry
Kenneth R. Wilson Award Winner
Canadian Business Press
Member
NEWCOM BUSINESS MEDIA INC.451 Attwell Dr., Toronto, ON M9W 5C4
416/614-2200 • 416/614-8861 (fax)
MARCH 2013 7
REPORT CARD TIME
36 TODAY’S TRUCKING
Interconnected
panels featuring
the school’scolours gives
the new Truck
& Coach building
a familiar yet
strangely unique
look. The hangar-
style facility has
four bays, full
classrooms and
diagnostics areas.
In September, 2012, Bramalea Secondary School in Brampton, ON., launched Canada’s
first-ever secondary-school TRUCK & COACH PROGRAM, designed to introduce students to
the world of trucking and logistics. Housed in a specially constructed airplane-hangar-sized
workspace attached to the main school, the Truck & Coach Program offers courses in fields
such as diesel maintenance, telematics, parts-handling and operations. Courses are
available at each grade level and if a student completes the four-year program she or he
will know enough about trucking to be immediately employable at an entry-level position.
TODAY’S TRUCKING dispatched writer OCTAVIAN LACATUSU to meet with the program’s
chief engineer and Bramalea Secondary’s Vice Principal Dr. Peter Gibson, PhD.
Lacatusu returned with this report.
To whom it may concern:
Subject: HistoryComments: Gibson is a former driver and small-fleet owner. Not only is he an academic, he’s a lifelongmuscle-car buff, and his office décor has a decidedly internal-combustion theme. That background, combined with his academic credentials, makes him the perfect champion for the program. Goals/Next Steps: No work required here. Would that other high-school programs have similarly qualified teachers!
Subject: BusinessComments: Peter has brought in almost 40 outside supporters, including the Ontario Trucking Association(OTA) and Peterbilt, which supplies a new rig for the students to work on every three months. Goals/Next Steps: Peter must keep the door open to more employers, professionals and suppliers so the program remains au courant and students are kept aware of employment opportunities.
Subject: GeographyComments: Peter strategically located the facility alongside one of North America’s busiest trucking corridors. Distance could be an issue for those wishing to join the program but live too far away.Goals/Next Steps: Demonstrate the program’s efficacy so schools in other jurisdictions can copy it.
Subject: ScienceComments: Peter has proven his ability to secure multiple types of engines, technologies and systems forthe Truck & Coach Program, providing students with an up-to-date understanding of the tractor-trailer andits purposes. Students are all outfitted with laptops to make the fleet maintenance experience even morereal-worldy.Goals/Next Steps: The more support and participants, the better prepared the students will be.
Subject: MarketingComments: As with the rest of the industry at large, more needs to be done to attract women to the program. Goals/Next Steps: On Peter’s to-do list: Find and hire female instructors in the Truck & Coach program.
Subject: CivicsComments: By introducing the Truck & Coach program in a school in which an astonishing 35 languagesare spoken, Peter can be commended for having a program that reflects the true demographics of the trucking industry and making it accessible to as many as possible.Goals/Next Steps: Peter will work on bridging the cultural gaps that continue to unnecessarily plague the Canadian trucking industry. At the same time, programs like this should help improve the public image of trucking.
Subject: Social Studies Comments: Availability of trade programs such as automotive shop and welding in secondary schools hasrapidly declined in the past few years; this has presented Peter and the program with several challenges. Goals/Next Steps: Peter must work to have future high-school graduates “pre-certified” so they get preferential treatment at post-secondary and apprenticeship programs.
Subject: MathematicsComments: Peter expressed ample enthusiasm for helping equate the number of students interested in trucking with the number of job openings. Goals/Next Steps: Peter and his colleagues must grow the program with the aim of putting a dent in the looming technician and driver shortages.
JANUARY 2013 37
Truck & Coach instructor Eugene Odoardidemonstrates the versatility of one of theshop’s manually operated engine stands,allowing students to study different sidesof an engine by tilting or rotating it.
Various components of air compressors and other pneumaticsystems are displayed on this interactive board in order for studentsto understand how they function.
Modern diesel engines of everyclass and capacity add to the general décor of the shop, givingstudents a “real-deal” environment.
Name: Peter Gibson
Grade: Vice Principal
Major: Truck & Coach Program
The Problem with FlakesHad black ice from T.O. to Milton again. Numerous spinouts observed.
Again the people in charge of dispatching plows and salters have done their job of
screwing thousands of drivers.
Let’s see if they can figure this out.
Let’s say you know that the roads are warm and wet but the temperature is dropping
and snow is coming, driven by high winds. And let’s say you still have a bit of time
before rush hour on the busiest highway system in the world. Do you:
1) Mobilize your forces and have a preemptive assault of salt on the roadways?
Or:
2) Finish the sports section, then calculate the best time to retire
in order to maximize retirement benefits, do your daily Sudoku,
check your emails from your buddies, search for best prices for your
Vegas trip, get another free coffee and complain about the quality,
attend the “inclusiveness and diversity” workshop (free brunch
included), grab a magazine and take a 35-minute washroom break,
and then take your doctor’s note to the HR department to claim
your six months’ stress leave?
— John O’Callaghan, Toronto, ON
Passed with Flying ColorsI just want to let you know how much I enjoyed your report on Bramalea Secondary
School’s Truck and Coach Program. (“Report Card Time,” by Octavian Lacatusu, January,
2013.) That was a great format for this story and I look forward to reading more about it
in the future.
— Andrea Harris, Challenger Motor Freight, Cambridge, ON
Email:[email protected] or Send a Letter toNewcom BusinessMedia, 451 AttwellDr., Toronto, ONM9W 5C4
MARCH 2013 9
Sometimes I manage to strike a chord with the things I write
in this space, and that was the case last June. My subject
was mental health, and this is how I began:
“The point I’ll try to make is that we must understand mental
health better because about 20 percent of us will experience a
mental disorder during our lifetime. It’s all around us. And we
must deal with that reality better than we do. In our families, in
our companies, in our society at large, we cannot continue to
sweep it under the rug.”
I didn’t know what to expect in terms of your response, not
least because I wrote briefly about my own family’s experience—
with their permission—and my youngest daughter’s multiple sui-
cide attempts (she’s doing well now). Was I getting too personal?
Did this have any place in a trucking magazine?
I’d written previously that “over-worked, under-paid, and hyper-
regulated drivers” might well find themselves with mental health
issues, guessing that depression could be “utterly rampant, espe-
cially amongst the driving crowd.” I further guessed that “almost
nobody knows how to recognize the signs of trouble.”
Well, I was right. And rarely have I had a bigger response to
an editorial. I couldn’t possibly publish any of the more serious
e-mailed notes I received, because all of them revealed even more
about other lives than I had about my own. Very private stuff.
I heard from a trucking mother suffering the anguish of losing
a kid by suicide. I had one heart-rending e-mail from a driver who
described his symptoms and asked if I thought he needed help.
They and many, many others thanked me for raising the general
issue of mental health publicly. Everyone urged me to stick with
the subject.
I promised I would but the opportunity didn’t arise again until
now, prompted by a message from a driver I’ve known for some
time. Seems he suffers quite severely from something called
Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. He told me about his afflic-
tion in some detail and wondered if maybe I should write about it
here, thinking it might be common—and commonly misunder-
stood—in the tough-man world of trucking. So I looked into it.
And as he suggested, I’d bet my next pay cheque that SAD is
hardly known at all, though I think it’s universally recognized. If
that seems like a contradiction... well, it is. SAD, you see, can start
as what we normally dismiss as the simple winter blues.
I get them, you get them, pretty much everyone in Canada
does. For most of us, a sunny day that speaks of spring will lift our
spirits. Two or three such days in a row and we’re ready to fight
again. But it seems not everyone can break out of it quite so easily.
For some folks, things are much darker than that.
Of course I went to the Internet to bone up on SAD and found
a useful video at the website of a place I know all too well, the
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, CAMH for
short (www.camh.ca, search for ‘SAD’).
In that video Dr. Robert
Levitan, the hospital’s senior sci-
entist and research head in the
Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Program, explains SAD in its
various forms, everything from
clinical depression to the simple
winter blues. He says that two to
five percent of Canadians suffer
from severe clinical depression
that appears as the days get
shorter and we slide into winter.
Another ten to 15 percent show a milder but still serious depres-
sion, and a further 25 to 35 percent of us just have those blues.
I also found cogent explanations at the Mayo Clinic’s website
where I learned that SAD can also start in spring and summer,
though more often in fall and winter. Symptoms include: depres-
sion, hopelessness, anxiety, loss of energy, a heavy, leaden feeling in
the arms or legs, social withdrawal, oversleeping, loss of interest
in activities you once enjoyed, appetite changes, weight gain, and
difficulty concentrating.
SAD is diagnosed more often in women than in men—by a
ratio of four to one—but men are more likely to have severe
symptoms. If not treated, SAD can get worse and lead to suicidal
thoughts or behavior, work problems, and substance abuse.
If you’re a manager or supervisor, I’d urge you to do a little
learning yourself and keep an eye out for these signs, especially
amongst your driving staff. Who already have a lot on their
shoulders. Call it preventive maintenance. TT
Editorial
Driving The Blues AwayHow to know when a bad mood’s more than just a mood, and what to do about it.
By Rolf Lockwood
Rolf Lockwood is vice-president, editorial, at Newcom Business Media.You can reach him at 416-614-5825 or [email protected].
I’d bet my next paycheque that SAD ishardly known at all,though I think it’s universally recognized.If that seems like a con-tradiction... well, it is.
10 TODAY’S TRUCKING
DISPATMonthly Surveys, pg.18
Adding Equipment in 2013 Between the Lines, pg.15
7, 560,000 Reasons Why One Axle Matters
Grady (Pete) Carpenter started
trucking with his wife in 1983,
and it wasn’t long before they
expanded. His company, Pac Trucking, is
now contracted to FedEx Ground, and
he owns roughly 21 trucks, the majority
of them Volvos purchased from Nacarato
Volvo Trucks in Lavergne, Tennessee.
That’s where he is now, walking
around the dealer’s recently expanded
facility, shaking hands and talking shop
with technicians. You can tell he’s been a
customer for a long time by the way the
guys in the shop joke with him.
Earlier, however, he was sitting in a
meeting with other Nacarato customers,
members of the trade media press and
representatives from Volvo’s head office,
including the company’s new president
of North American Sales and Marketing,
Göran Nyberg. And when Volvo asked
their customers to share their “chal-
lenges and expectations,” and to be hon-
est about them, the local trucking com-
pany owners didn’t hold back.
What followed was a healthy exchange
between the OEM, the dealer and the
customers. What became apparent was
that everyone has their struggles when
it comes to new equipment, new tech-
nology—the OEM, the dealer, and the
customers, much of it unforeseen.
What makes the difference is the level of
customer service.
“Expectations? Get my truck fixed,”
Carpenter said bluntly, after acknowl-
edging that he predominantly buys
Volvo. “Information is more important
New engine technology has brought with it a host ofproblems—problems that take time and money to fix.
Yet what doesn’t take time or money is thoughtfulcustomer service. And you shouldn’t have to ask for it.
COMPLAINING ISHALF THE BATTLE
B Y J A S O N R H Y N O
NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY
SQUEEZING IN THE CUSTOMERS: Volvo askedtruckers to air their concerns, and air they did.
LogBook 2013, pg.14Trucking Events To Pencil In
MARCH 2013 11
CHESSleeping with Giants, pg.18
Muir’s Cartage Forced to AdaptHeard on the Street, pg.21
A TransForce to be Dealt WithFuel For Thought, pg.22
April 2-6Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SCRA) Annual ConferenceThe Westin Kierland, Scottsdale, AZ Website: www.scranet.org/
15Club Des Professionels du Transport Quebec Annual meetingWebsite: www.cptq.ca
21-24National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council (NASSTRAC)Shippers Conference & Transportation ExpoRosen Shingle Creek Hotel, Orlando, FLWebsite: www.nasstrac.org
April 11-13, 2013Place Bonaventure
Montreal, QC, Canada
www.expocam.ca1-877-682-7469 x.247
The Meeting Placefor Canada’s
Trucking Industry
23-26National Fleet Management Association NAFA Institute and ExpoAtlantic City, NJWebsite: www.nafainstitute.org
26-27Alberta Motor Transport AssociationAnnual ConferenceBanff Springs Hotel, BanffWebsite: www.amta.ca
May 2-4Association du Camionnage du QuebecManoir Richelieu, La Malbaie, QCWebsite: www.carrefour-acq.org
6-8Transportation Maintenance andTechnology ConferenceKingbridge Conference Centre & Institute,King City, ONWebsite: www.cfmsonline.com
May 30 - June 1Great West Truck ShowSands Expo & Convention Center, Las VegasWebsite: www.greatwesttruckshow.com
June 1-4Heavy Duty Distributors CouncilAnnual ConferenceMarkham, ONWebsite: www.hddc.ca
7-8Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association Truck ShowMoncton Coliseum Complex, Moncton, NBWebsite: www.apta.ca
DISPATCHES
MARCH 2013 15
Aside from it being a milestone for the company itself, what does it matter that Meritor recently celebrated its 10 millionth trailer axle coming off the production line?
I ask the question not to take away from the achievement—and it is an achievement—but rather out of journalistic habit: how is this good for our readers? How does this improve their day, help them make money orsave money? Basically, what does it matter?
Via an invite from the company, I—along with a handful of other trade media press—flew down toLexington, KY, to attend Meritor’s 10-millionth-axle presentation. The event was held at their Frankfort, KY plantwhere local politicians, Meritor customers and the axle facility’s staff were on-hand. After the speeches were done,
the workers went back to work and the rest of the visitors were treatedto a plant tour.
During the tour, being guided through roughly 22 manufacturingprocesses and watching staff do whatever their particular stationrequired them to do, I realized that what was truly special about the 10 millionth trailer axle wasn’t its number; it was the amount of peopleneeded to manufacture one, single axle.
Over dinner later that evening, I asked Brent Fisher, site manager forthe Frankfort facility, how many people handle one axle, from start tofinish. Not a special axle—just your simple, regular Meritor trailer axle.Thirty-six people, rough count, Fisher said.
Let’s do some fun, probably not very accurate math. (Note I’ll besticking with U.S. numbers because the plant is located in the U.S.—although this particular facility services Canada, too.)
The average number of persons per household in Frankfort in 2011was 2.10. Let’s say each of the 36 workers who touch that axle supportsa household.
So 36 multiplied by 2.10 equals 75.6 people. So, one axle helps feedand house 75.6 people.
Now, for the sake of argument, let’s say there are 100,000 components on your tractor-trailer and it takes 75.6 people to manufacture each one of those components: 100,000 X 75.6 = 7,560,000. (If you’ve counted andI’m way off, let me know, but 100 grand is easy to multiply.)
By that math, one tractor-trailer is worth 7,560,000 people. Clearly, I’m taking some large mathematical allowances to illustrate my point (rest assured I don’t apply this
logic, if it can be called that, to stories that actually need legitimate number crunching). Every component on your truck or trailer has a handful of people—somewhere, in some part of the world—
working on it. That one person has a house, a couple of children to feed maybe, and likes to spend money on boththe big things and the small, but important stuff: college tuition, vacations, NHL tickets, a big fat steak for a summer BBQ with friends. Maybe a nice bottle of Kentucky bourbon to take back to Canada—*cough.
That’s why the 10 millionth trailer axle to come out of that plant is important, why Meritor’s attention to manufacturing processes, to how it runs its business in a fiscally and socially intelligent manner is important.
People and their families. Work. A living. Things that help other people build and maintain a living. Our businesses extend beyond what they provide. So does the work of each individual in those businesses.
That’s a lot of responsibility. But maybe that’s something we should realize more. And maybe that’s somethingwe should celebrate when we successfully do it 10 million times.
7,560,000 Reasons Why One Axle Matters— By Jason Rhyno
16 TODAY’S TRUCKING
STATISTICS
This Month in Surveys:Adding Equipment in 2013If your profits are declining and your fleet isaging, maybe it’s time to consider reinvestingor looking for the exit door.
Still hesitant on refreshing your fleet?
According to Transport Capital Partners’
(TCP) Fourth Quarter 2012 Business
Expectations Survey, you’re not alone.
Results from the survey showed that
carriers will be “very conservative” in
replacing equipment over the next
12 months.
There was, however, an increase in
carriers planning to acquire between
11 and 25 percent of their tractor fleets
(that’s in line with a four-year trade
cycle, TCP noted), 60 percent of smaller
carriers and 45 percent of larger carriers
said they were going to replace no more
than 10 percent of their tractor fleets.
“In essence,” said TCP, “smaller carriers
will be relying on older equipment, which
has higher maintenance costs and is more
prone to poor CSA road inspections.”
A small majority of the larger carriers
(51 percent) reported getting enough
returns to justify reinvesting in equip-
ment, compared with 40 percent of
smaller carriers.
“Well-managed carriers with adequate
profit margins will continue to grow and
gain market share,” advised Steven
Dutro, TCP Partner. “Carriers with
declining profits and aging fleets should
consider if, and when, they should rein-
vest in their business, or if the time has
come for an exit.”
OPERATIONS
Sleeping with GiantsMuir’s Cartage was inextricably linked toHome Depot, their biggest customer. Butwhen the hardware giant decided to turnover in its slumber, the carrier was forced toadapt and make some hard decisions.
It’s no secret that the 20-year relationship
between Ontario-based Muir’s Cartage
and Home Depot has been mutually ben-
eficial. But when the hardware retailer
changed from a vendor pre-paid model
to a vendor-collect program five years
ago, Muir’s was forced to adapt.
“Muir’s had been so inextricably
linked to one customer for so long that
its impact on the company was signifi-
cant,” Executive Vice-President Ted
Brown told Today’s Trucking after Muir’s
announced it was laying off 33 company
drivers in early January. (Muir’s is a
division of the much-larger Calyx Group,
with almost 2,000 employees across
North America.)
Muir’s, Brown said, “is faced with the
need to change the way it does business,
the way we deploy our fleets and people,
and diversify the customer base so that
we’re a good supplier to not just Home
Depot, but others.”
TT
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What’s
Tweetin’? Our Favorite Tweets from the
Tweeterverse
spotthetrucker:
A bloke fromAustralia told mehe came to Canadato experiencetrucking the wayits seen on TV. He’svery disappointed.No BJ, no Bear.
tank_yanker: @Todaystrucking may want closeyour exterior air vents… saltdust isn’t the healthiest thing tobe breathing.
SteveRock66:@Todaystrucking I say, no need toget your best china out ‘cos of myBritish accent. You do make a jollygood cuppa though, thanks oldboy. (He stopped by the office tosay hi. We made him a cup of tea,and apparently, it was good byBritish standards.)
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Recent maintenance performed on my truck has mefuming—borderline irate.
My truck is a 2013 Peterbilt 587. It’s my home, I live init. The house that my family lives in I tend to visit on a weekly basis. My time at myfamily house is usually 48 hours per week, while the time spent in my truck is the restof my life. It’s abnormally clean inside, for a vehicle; however it’s not just a vehicle. It’smy home and it has everything in it: a fridge, a microwave, Internet, phone, and bed.Like my house, the floor in my truckhas a carpet and a throw rug. I don’twear shoes or boots in my house,and I don’t wear shoes or boots inmy home (truck) either.
It’s more than an average vehiclenot only because of all of the abovereasons, but because it’s value isexponentially higher than mostvehicles. For what a professionaltruck driver pays for his truck at the dealer, in Canada he can purchase the following:
■ 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo ■ 2011 Bentley Continental■ 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo ■ 2009 Aston Martin DBS■ 2012 Porsche Panamera TurboI promise, if you returned one of the vehicles listed above to its owner the way
some people have returned my 2013 Peterbilt to me, it would be your last day working at any particular high end dealer or repair shop.
FOLLOW US todaystrucking@
Low-Rolling Tires Good for Canadian Winters: StudyAccording to a study conducted by the National Research Council
on behalf of Transport Canada, low-rolling-resistance tires offer a
similar level of snow traction performance as conventional tires,
provide better fuel economy and reduce emissions.
The study, titled Packed Snow Performance of Low Rolling
Resistance Class 8 Heavy Truck Tires, examined several brands
of tires to assess their performance in
packed snow winter conditions. (Tires
used were chosen from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s
SmartWay Program’s approved list,
Transport Canada noted.)
The need for the study came out of public consultations on
Canada’s proposed Heavy-duty Vehicle and Engine Greenhouse
Gas Emission Regulations, which are “expected to come into
force for 2014 model years and beyond,” Transport Canada said.
There were concerns that low-rolling resistance tires would
reduce traction performance in Canadian winter conditions,
particularly when equipped on class 8 long-haul heavy trucks.
The study’s results, as well as other test results from the
ecoTechnology for Vehicles program, will help shape Canada’s
proposed emission regulations for heavy-duty vehicles and
Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
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DISPATCHESTRENDING The Best from TodaysTrucking.com
— IN THE —
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FROM THE BLOGS
MARCH 2013 17
18 TODAY’S TRUCKING
The decision to drop the company
drivers was one of many changes over the
last five years, Brown said. As an example,
he pointed to the company’s 205 Doney
Crescent facility in Concord, ON. It used
to be Muir’s cross-dock but now it’s occu-
pied by Home Depot.
“We have considerably
less emphasis on our cross-
dock activity as a result—we
still have some element of
that for smaller customers,”
he said.
But now, Brown said,
they’re focusing on “dedicated contract
carriage and transportation fleet provi-
sions for Home Depot, Best Buy,
Loblaws, Winners and some others that
we work with in the retail sector.”
They’re also diversifying within retail
and outside retail, he added. No more
dependance on one giant customer.
“So with all of that, you just simply
can’t deploy the same model you had for
20 years, and part of that is cost, and
part of that is flexibility that’s required in
servicing those customers.”
“It came to a point where we looked at
the driving groups we had, and the com-
pany guys made up less than 30 percent
of the overall group at our
address in Concord, and
less than 20 percent in
our Ontario fleet all
together.”
The evolution of the
business, he said, “was
happening outside of that
group to begin with.”
Brown said that an alternative course
could have involved incremental layoffs,
over a longer period of time.
“We simply thought it was fairer for
these guys to take the action in one ini-
tiative. We would provide them with the
opportunity to apply through some of
our agency providers or at least one
major in-house provider.
“It was more prudent than death by a
thousand cuts; it was better to do some-
thing that was definitive once and carry
the model forward.”
“This was the most significant deci-
sion that I had to prepare for and carry
out, I can’t think of anything prior that
was this significant—especially with so
many people, good people involved.
“We didn’t do this on a whim and we
didn’t take this lightly. At the same time,
we wouldn’t have proceeded with it if we
didn’t think it was the right thing for us.
“If nothing else, it is just positioning
us to be a player now in areas where we
haven’t been in past—and that can be
different verticals or different geographi-
cal locations, and that’s our full intent as
we march along here in the new year.”
Of the 33 affected drivers, Brown said
that over half have re-applied through an
agency called Interlink Services, “and
[they] are now being deployed on a num-
ber of our routes as we speak.” TT
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MARCH 2013 19
HEARD ON THE STREETBull’s Eye? Meet ArrowArrow Truck Sales’ Toronto location has been named runner-up for Arrow’s 2012
Founder’s Award for Most Improved Branch. The branch manager is Vikas Gupta, one
of the top truck sales reps in North America.
Jacobson Hodoh, salesman at the Toronto location, also won runner-up for
Arrow’s Retail Salesperson Of The Year and was a 2012 President’s Club award winner.
Commented Gupta “For our branch, and one of our own employees to receive national
recognition such as this—especially among 16 Arrow Truck Sales locations throughout
the U.S. and Canada—is truly gratifying.”
Driver Dennis shows Cabinet Minister A Thing or Two About TruckingTrimac driver and Road Knight Dennis Hokanson was tapped by the AlbertaMotor Transport Association (AMTA) to tour Cowtown in a state-of-the-art KW
pulling a pair of super-b’s while that province’s Minister of Transportation Ric McIverrode shotgun.
The event, orchestrated by the AMTA, provided the cabinet minister with a driver’s
eye view of the industry as well as a lesson in how to share the road safely with trucks.
The trip began at Trimac’s Learning Centre and continued about an hour along
Calgary’s busiest roadways.
A statement from the AMTA men-
tioned that the ride-along also provid-
ed Minister McIver with a “guided tour
of a modern tractor-trailer which
features the latest safety devices and
environmental technology.” The KW
was outfitted with satellite-tracking
gear, anti-rollover devices and a vari-
ety of eco-enhancing technologies.
GREASE THE GRAPEVINEDON’T FORGET! If you have news you think the rest of the truckingindustry should hear about, send it along to [email protected].
A TransForce to be Dealt WithThe biggest for-hire carrier in the land
keeps growing. Most recently, Montreal-
based TransForce announced that not
only has it assumed Texas-based
Velocity Express, TransForce has also
purchased about 10 percent of another
huge Canadian public company, Vitran.
The Texas deal will add about $160
million to TransForce’s annual revenue.
Velocity has a network of more than
80 locations across the U.S. and Western
Canada and employs 2,600 people,
some staff and some contractors. The
company provides customized, same-
day regional deliveries.
In January, TransForce announced it
has indirectly acquired ownership of and
control over 1,763,478 shares of VitranCorporation Inc. That represents,
according to a statement from the
TransForce, about 10.75 percent of the
issued and outstanding common Vitran
shares. The shares went for about $5.18
apiece and were in fact acquired by
TFI Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of TransForce.
Happy Trailers to You!East Manufacturing CorporationMidwest Regional Sales Manager JerryShepherd has retired after 54 years of
service to the trucking industry, the last 24
with East. He will be succeeded in this
position by Mark Fletcher, who joined the
company in March, 2011. Shepherd started
his career with Fruehauf Trailers in 1962.
READY, AIM: Assembled for the awards ceremony in Toronto were Arrow TruckSales President Steve Clough, Prizewinner Jacobson Hodoh, Branch ManagerVikas Gupta and Arrow’s Director of Sales Eastern Region Jim Stevenson.
Ric McIver
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22 TODAY’S TRUCKING
FUEL FOR THOUGHT
Bob’s Crude OutlookIf inflation comes, demand picks up, and customers start refusing to play the fuel surcharge game, are you prepared?
— By Bob Tebbutt
Ten years ago, diesel wholesale prices
were under 50 cents per gallon. In 2008,
they rose sharply to over $2.00 then fell
just as sharply to under $1.20 before
rising steadily to their present level of
above $3.
Clearly, prices, because of inflation
and demand improvements, are going to
continue to rise steadily for years to
come. We are not going back to buying
bread and milk for a nickel, especially
now when inflation is set to rise because
of all of the money being poured into the
market to bail out banks.
Of course, there is plenty of crude
available in North America but it is land-
locked at least until outlets to the rest of
the world are developed, which will keep
somewhat of a lid on prices.
Eventually world prices, currently at
a $20 premium to the U.S. price and a
$50 premium to Canadian prices, will
come together.
While surcharges will still be available
for your protection against rising prices,
are your customers starting to command
protection against rising fuel costs?
What if prices reach $4 or $5 per
gallon? What are you going to do?
Gasoline prices are going to move in a
similar pattern to diesel but could lose
some ground as gasoline demand will be
restrained by environmental concerns—
concerns that already have made large
inroads into automobile usage. That
should continue to affect, to a greater
degree, consumption, especially in
North America.
Question is, will the North American
car buyer switch to diesel engines, fur-
ther deteriorating demand for gasoline,
but also increasing demand for diesel?
Again, what are you going to do if
gasoline prices rise through $5 or $6?
How about natural gas (NG) engines?
We have dropped from almost $16 in
2005 to under $3 because of expansion of
shale drilling advancements that have
turned the U.S. from a shortage of NG to
a glut that suffers from a lack of ability to
sell LNG to Japan, with prices currently
five times the North American price.
Long-term, exports will be made to take
advantage of higher world prices. At the
present time, forward prices for natural
gas are trading at a premium of 26 percent
for 2014 and over 30 percent for 2015.
The market is stating that NG will
benefit from expected exports.
Are you contemplating buying natural
gas driven tractors with prices of that
fuel being so much of an advantage to
present diesel prices?
If prices rise to over $10, will that
make your natural-gas driven tractors
less competitive to diesel driven units?
There are ways to stabilize fuel costs
and to take advantage of prices that are
lower than today’s prices. Are you inves-
tigating those ways? There are lots of
questions, to be sure, but you have to
ask, are you prepared if inflation comes
(it will), demand picks up (it will) and
customers start refusing to play the sur-
charge game? (They are and they will.)
This is the first of Bob Tebbutt’s regularcolumn on fuel andfuel management:Tebbutt has been a topbroker in the commodity trading business for over
three decades. He has appeared on BNN, CBC,and has written articles and had his ownradio show on CKO the all news radio stationin Canada. He is currently writing a book onhis experiences and the intricacies in thecommodity markets. He is now a partner inArmour Asset Risk Management.
TT
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Our Man On The A-TeamDriver As the first driver for a Canadian fleet to be named aCaptain on America’s squad of elite operators, Dale Williams’passion for trucking safety is born of both love and loss.By Nickisha Rashid
A CANADIAN FIRST: American TruckingAssociations’ Bill Graves with elite TrimacDriver Williams and ATA First Vice ChairmanPhillip Byrd.
Street Smarts
MARCH 2013 25
half his life. He’s been with Calgary-based
Trimac since 1986, first as an owner-oper-
ator and later as a company driver. He
credits his longevity at Trimac to the com-
pany’s flexibility in meeting the needs of
individual drivers. So far, Williams has
clocked approximately 3.5 million miles.
He proudly holds two million-mile safe
driving awards.
“There is no doubt that Dale has the
experience, commitment and knowledge to
represent Trimac and all professional driv-
ers in this celebrated position,” says Tom
Connard, president and chief operating offi-
cer. Williams will be “an inspiration to
everyone he has the opportunity to address
in the coming year,” Connard added.
Williams is honoured that Trimac—as
big as they are —would choose him to rep-
resent the company.
“I think it’s awesome!” he responds
when I tell him that Trimac is the first
Canadian company with a driver on
America’s Road Team, “It’s important for
Canada to be represented because high-
way safety is important everywhere.”
For a Canadian fleet driver, Williams
sure speaks with a rich, delicious
Louisiana drawl. His ‘tawkin’ and ‘fixin’
and ‘y’alls’ make you want a tall glass of
sugary sweet tea.
In 2001, Williams became a driver
instructor. He’s since earned several driv-
er-training certificates. His main focus
with new drivers is always safety first.
“Training and knowledge to make the
right decision on the road could save a
life,” Williams says.
Very soon after meeting Williams, you
realize he’s anything but a know-it-all. He
takes the time to listen and learn from fel-
low drivers.
He’s passionate about teaching: “We
need a younger generation to want to come
in and have enthusiasm for this industry.”
The more I talk to him, the more I think 10
minutes with Williams over a truck-stop
double-double would sure do the trick.
When he’s not behind the wheel, he’s at
home being your all-around good guy.
He met Debra, his wife of 19 years at the
Truck Stops of America in Alabama,
where she worked to put herself through
nursing school.
“She’s blonde headed and she lights up
my world,” he says.
Together they have three kids and three
grandchildren.
The Williams are very involved in volun-
teer work with their church, Victorious Life
Church in Moundville, AL. Together they’ve
done several missions to Mexico and Haiti.
Grateful for the life the trucking indus-
try has given him, Williams says he is
especially excited about being a Captain
because it’s his chance to give back. In the
next two years he’ll cross the continent
meeting with the public in the hopes that
sharing his experiences—both tragedies
and triumphs—could help save a life.
Says Williams: “I believe we can have
safer highways in the Canadian provinces
and across the U.S. It happens one con-
versation at a time, one phone call, one
interview, one one-on-one with a person,
whatever it takes.” TT
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MARCH 2013 27
Morning breaks on a
cool crisp Monday
in the Canadian
Prairies. I kiss and hug my
wife and kids and get ready
to leave.
Pulling my hat down over
my eyes, my boots scrunch on
the snow-packed driveway as
I stride out to my truck. Time
for another trip. Time for more
days of dodging four wheelers.
When discussing road con-
ditions, or driving abilities, if
I’ve heard this phrase once,
I’ve heard it countless times.
“It’s not me I’m worried
about...it’s those d@#* four
wheelers that scare me. I can
handle my truck but you
never know what they’ll do!”
Aren’t you really saying
“I’m a good driver, but if I’m
in an accident it’s not my
fault”? or “Not my problem”?
I’ve been there. I under-
stand that sentiment.
Shouldn’t you expect the
unexpected from amateurs?
Who’s the pro?
What have you done to
help educate them?
I’ve written before that I
work hard at being proactive,
rather than reactive (“The Art
of Offensive Driving,” Today’s
Trucking, October 2012).
Expecting the unexpected is
one more aspect to being a
professional.
Aggressive behavior behind
the wheel and in conversa-
tions is neither positive rein-
forcement nor productive.
Years ago I used to take
some young boys to a rural
outdoor hockey rink. A few
times an ex-NHL’er would
show up and play shinny
with us. The way he did that
made an impression on me.
He didn’t show off. He helped
us become better and
showed us respect. He was a
pro. We were nowhere near
his level (even though we
thought he was old), but we
never felt mocked or laughed
at for our inabilities.
A couple of drivers who cut
their teeth on the two-lane
donkey trails that passed for
national highways in the ’50’s
and ’60’s taught me to respect
all drivers in this same way.
This attitude is the way to
help our public image and
safety for all, and sadly, it’s
not too common today.
While we are pounding
the pavement and grinding
out the miles, this must be
our approach. Treat the
four wheelers with respect
and help them become
better drivers.
I also use every opportunity
to represent my profession off
the highway. There are many
young kids out there with a
picture of a truck on a collec-
tor card or of my LCV that
I’ve given to them with a
smile. There are countless
drivers who have a better
appreciation for what we go
through by listening to my
stories about real life on the
roads and what causes
problems for a trucker.
Keep yourself and your
rig clean. Smile and wave
(all your fingers...) at others
passing you. Be helpful
whenever you can. Stop the
tailgating, running others
off the road and passing on
hills where you are just in
the way. Stay on the road
yourself! In conversations
be positive whether in person
or on social media.
Since many jurisdictions
don’t have Road Knights, here
are some’s additional tips
away from the highway for
when you’re off the highway:.
Volunteer to give presen-
tations at driver-education
classes.
Participate in parades.
Especially fundraising types
like Special Olympics. If
you’re an executive, pay the
drivers’ entrance fee and
washing costs.
Be visible in your
community. It takes relatively
little money to sponsor an
event, raffle items or activity
at your local annual commu-
nity, church or charity event.
When career day comes
up at your high school ask
if you can represent the
trucking industry.
Call your provincial or
municipal trucking associa-
tion. They need members,
your cash and your ideas.
Teach those around you to
become better drivers.
When I strap on my
truck, I’m not out here
dodging four wheelers, but
rather working with them.
They’re like my brothers
and sisters who don’t
always understand the
rigors of trucking.
Do what works for you.
When you have the attitude
to be helpful, most days will
roll by more easily.
We are very visible out
here. Make sure it’s a vision
that others appreciate. TT
Guest Column
Who goes there? Friend or Four-wheeler? drivers A few ways to make nice with the folks who look at you funny from down below.By David Henry
David Henry is an LCV owner-
operator for Penner International
and has been driving for over
25 years.
28 TODAY’S TRUCKING
About 90 days before we completed ranking Canada’sTop 100 for-hire carriers, the company that pro-
duces this magazine, Newcom Business Media Inc,
published a brand new comprehensive and very user-friendly
study of the Canadian medium and heavy-duty truck market.
Subtitled “Opportunities North of the 49th Parallel,” the study
offers any user an ocean-to-ocean perspective on this all important
industry; and it goes much deeper and broader than this, the annu-
al survey of the country’s 100 biggest for-hire carriers. (Contact the
editors at Today’s Trucking if you’d like to learn more about the study.)
What the market analysis shows is that if you look at the trend-
ing on the charts that appear on the following pages; i.e., fleet
sizes are on the increase; the percentage of owner-operators is
generally remaining the same and payrolls are increasing overall,
you should be gratified to know that the same waves are pro-
pelling the smaller fleets, which of course make up the majority
of Canada’s trucking business.
Big players like Trimac, TransForce and Mullen continue their
acquisitive trails, particularly in western Canada, while inefficient
operations continue to evaporate because increased competition
makes it increasingly difficult for inept operators to stay on the
roads. As the recently published market analysis states, “today,
success demands efficiency like never before.”
Technology continues to impose new standards of perform-
ance. As Top 100 perennial Day & Ross’s new COO Doug Harrison
says in his interview with Jason Rhyno, which begins on page 38,
“Whatever past history has been is not what future history will be.”
Many years ago, a Carleton University Journalism Professor was
speaking to a class that included a student who would later be the
editor of this magazine. “Journalism,” the professor said, “is infor-
mation packaged to help readers adapt to their ever-changing
environment.” Which is exactly what we at Today’s Trucking will
do between now and the time we publish the 2014 Top 100. TT
THE COMPILATION OF THE TOP 100 DATA IS ONGOING. All year, Jason Rhyno, Rolf Lockwood, Steve Bouchard, Martin Smith,
Li Li, Frank Scatozza, Lillian Kantor and Peter Carter monitor the for-hire trucking field in anticipation of assembling the next list.
But the fact is, most of the counting is done by the people at the carriers; we’re merely compilers. To them we offer a sincere
“thank you.” You’re under no obligation to help yet you very graciously do and that makes us proud to be the journal of record for the
industry you work in. Thank you and we hope you have a very prosperous year. — P.C.
WHY WE COUNT ON YOU!
Large Carriers
All others 31.1%
Payments to owner-operators 22.9%
Repairs & maintenance 7.0%
Salaries, wages, benefits 25.1%
Fuel 14.0%
Small Carriers
All others 30.6%
Payments to owner-operators 5.3%Repairs & maintenance 12.6%
Salaries, wages, benefits 22.4%
Fuel 29.3%
Top 100CANADA’S
Our annual snapshot ofCanada’s biggest fleets. Why it pays to know how the big guys are doing.
Expenses, For-Hire Carriers, 2010An example of how small fleets can imprint on the large ones.
Small = less than $1.3 million revenue Large = more than $1.3 million revenue
Source: Statistics Canada
— BY PETER CARTER
3
MARCH 2013 29
3012Rank (2012) Company Name, City, Province Total Trucks Tractors Trailers O/O’s Employees
HOW WE DID IT 1. Companies are ranked based on total vehicle counts, including power units and trailers, as reported in January, 2013. Only trucks of class 6 or above
are enumerated unless otherwise noted. Vehicles and employees based in the United States are included provided they are administered from a Canadian head office.
2. Most of the statistics were entered into the Today’s Trucking data base by representatives of the companies themselves. The remaining companies and additions were gathered by Today’s Trucking editors via phone, email or fax. While we strive to present accurate figures, the statistics have not been independently verified.
3. Several large fleets do not respond to our requests for information. These include Irving Transportation Services (comprising Midland Transport, Sunbury Transport and RST Industries based in New Brunswick). As well, the Canadian operation of Federal Express is not on the list.
4. If you have any enquiries or if you think your company should be on next year’s list, please contact Peter Carter at 416-614-5828 or [email protected]
Rank (2012) Company Name, City, Province Total Trucks Tractors Trailers O/O’s Employees
GRAND TOTAL 175,037 7,768 41,039 126,230 21,810 96,573
FOOTNOTES: * Estimates. The company was on last year’s Top 100 list, but their numbers were not updated in time for this year’s deadline. na = information not available. nr = not previously ranked.
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33012CANADA’S TOP 100
MARCH 2013 35
Company Directory
AAllied Systems Canada 31 (28) 1535APPS Transport Group 92 (88) 382Armour Transportation Systems 10 (10) 4050Arnold Bros. Transport Ltd. 67 (62) 688Arrow Transportation Systems Inc. 60 (58) 820AYR Motor Express Inc. 62 (61) 800BB&R Eckel’s Transport 36 (38) 1417Bison Transport Inc. 9 (8) 4784BLM Group 77 (71) 520Bruce R. Smith Limited 44 (49) 1035CC.A.T./Canadian American Trans. 26 (26) 1700Calyx Transportation Group Inc. 65 (32) 748Canada Cartage System L.P. 7 (9) 5201Caravan Logistics Inc. 49 (63) 990Caron Transportation Systems 48 (na) 995Cascades Logistique et Transport 63 (na) 780Celadon Canada 38 (39) 1300Challenger Motor Freight Inc. 8 (7) 5010Chester Cartage 98 (93) 315Con-way Freight - Canada 85 (82) 438Consolidated FastFrate 94 (41) 365Contrans Group Inc. 15 (15) 2664Cooney Group 45 (45) 1025DDay & Ross Transportation Group 4 (4) 6060DCT Chambers Trucking 46 (44) 1016Doug Coleman Trucking Ltd. 75 (80) 556EEmpire Transportation 87 (84) 434Erb Group of Companies 22 (na) 1952FFluke Transport 82 (74) 470GGibson Energy ULC 16 (17) 2608Gibson Transport 27 (27) 1630Gosselin Express 97 (91) 318Groupe Boutin 51 (52) 953Groupe Goyette 86 (83) 435Groupe Guilbault 29 (31) 1583Groupe Jules Savard 76 (72) 540Groupe Robert 5 (6) 6033HH&R Transport Limited 19 (19) 2278HBC Logistics 59 (40) 827Hyndman Transport 66 (64) 691IInternational Truckload Services 35 (34) 1433JJay’s Group of Companies 80 (na) 490KKriska Transportation 34 (30) 1467LLes services logistiques Trans West Inc. 68 (77) 640MM-O Freightworks 21 (25) 1970Mackie Moving Systems 73 (69) 580Manitoulin Transport Group, 12 (14) 3128McKevitt Trucking 70 (66) 628Meyers Transportation Services 58 (57) 843
Mullen Group Ltd. 2 (2) 11,653Musket Melburne 54 (53) 885Muskoka Transport 74 (75) 569NNormandin Transit Inc. 42 (43) 1202Northern Industrial Carriers 37 (35) 1365PPaul’s Hauling Group 55 (56) 876Penner International 53 (55) 902ProNorth Transportation 83 (78) 461Purolator 23 (22) 1886RRosedale Group 25 (23) 1825Rosenau Transport 30 (37) 1539SSamuel Son and Company Ltd. 88 (85) 410Schneider National Carriers Canadian Division 28 (24) 1600SGT 2000 24 (21) 1838Shadow Lines Transportation Group 50 (50) 979Siemens Transportation Group 17 (16) 2465Simard Transport Ltd. 33 (36) 1494SLH Transport 11 (11) 3679Sokil Transportation Group 56 (54) 865Sylvester & Forget Transport 99 (94) 312System 55 Transport 71 (67) 614TTeam-Transport Services Ltd. 57 (48) 859Thomson Terminals 61 (59) 818Total Logistics Trucking 81 (89) 490Transfreight, Inc. 18 (18) 2313TransForce Inc. 1 (1) 16,640Transport Bernières 90 (86) 395Transport Bessette et Bourdreau Inc. 96 (90) 335Transport Bourassa Inc. 72 (68) 610Transport Bourret Inc. 84 (81) 452Transport Gilmyr Inc. 95 (92) 342Transport Herve Lemieux 79 (76) 510Transport LFL 93 (79) 373Transport Matte Limited 100 (95) 288Transport Morneau 40 (47) 1210Transport St-Michel 89 (na) 400Transport TYT 91 (87) 390TransX Ltd. 6 (5) 5961Travelers Transportation Services 52 (51) 950Trimac Transportation Services LP 14 (12) 2784UUPS Canada 13 (13) 2992VV.A. Inc. 47 (46) 1015Vedder Transportation Group 41 (42) 1204Verspeeten Cartage 64 (60) 759Vitran Corporation Inc. 3 (3) 11,294WWestern Canada Express 39 (70) 1271Williams Moving & Storage 78 (73) 516Wolverine Freight System 69 (65) 629XXTL Transport Inc. 20 (20) 2050YYanke Group of Companies 43 (33) 1113YRC Reimer 32 (29) 1530
Company Name Rank (’12) Total Units Company Name Rank (’12) Total Units
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38 TODAY’S TRUCKING
R oads thick with snow and
slush, squalls everywhere in
Toronto today. A green Camry
makes a left turn too fast,
sliding sideways along Derry Rd., then
struggles to reposition itself in the right
direction. Turn into the skid… not that…
nevermind. Good thing I left early.
I’m en route to meet Doug Harrison, the
newly minted COO of Day & Ross
Transportation Group, and I arrive in
good time.
Harrison is running late, however. Not
by much, ten minutes maybe by the time
he walks into the lobby of McCain’s
Sameday Worldwide offices, where I’ve
been waiting, flipping through a very-
worn book about the history of McCain
Foods, which owns Day & Ross. It’s the
only thing to read in the lobby. And it’s a
big, hefty book. The potato bag of books.
As I flip through it, I get a sense of just
how large a company McCain’s is, never
mind the size of Day & Ross.
Since Maritimers Elbert Day and
Walter Ross began hauling potatoes from
New Brunswick to Quebec 60 years ago,
D&Y has been on a growth trajectory.
Today, it boasts approximately 2,000
employees in terminals across Canada,
3,500 owner operators, 3,300 company
owned trucks and trailers. There’s Day &
Ross General Freight, Sameday Worldwide
(courier, express and air cargo globally),
Day & Ross Dedicated Logistics (3PL), and
Day & Ross Supply Chain Solutions (4PL).
Hefty book, hefty company, hefty job;
Harrison could be an hour late and it
would be understandable.
When he enters the lobby, black coat
and toque covered in snow, he apologizes
before leading me up a flight of stairs to a
bustling grid of people in cubicles, then
down a hallway to a quiet corner office.
We sit at a boardroom table and it should
feel awkward two people sitting at a large
table, but it doesn’t. Harrison is friendly
and engaging, his smile is sincere, his eye
contact isn’t overly intense. He sits leaning
in, hands on the table, shoulders square
towards you, slightly relaxed.
If you want to get a sense of a company,
examine its leadership and you’ll get a
sense of how they approach their business,
their decisions, the type of culture it has,
where it wants to go, what the values are.
Everything from how they dress—jeans
and a tucked-in plaid shirt or a solid color
dark suit, like the one Harrison is wearing.
If something unexpected happens, throw-
ing their rhythm off—like a shaving knick
that suddenly starts bleeding profusely in
mid-conversation, how do they handle
themselves? Five minutes in, that happens.
It’s his chin. Nothing serious. But
Harrison notices the scratch, excuses him-
self for a moment, takes the necessary
measure with a Kleenex, and doesn’t break
stride. A small thing maybe but a less deci-
sive person might have tried to hide the
slip. Or lose his train of thought.
Leadership sets the culture and work
ethic—or it’s supposed to, anyway. Leaders
must be more than their title. When you
leave their presence, you want to feel good
about yourself, inspired to do a better job
because they made you feel that you can.
Over the course of the meeting, I ask
Harrison about typical transportation
By Jason Rhyno
D-I-Y PROJECT FOR D&Y BOSS: Harrison challengeshimself: “How can we evolve this to a high-growthorganization in a relatively low-growth industry?”
issues: drivers, recruitment, technology,
dealing with customers, etcetera, etcetera.
He’s polished and well-spoken. Harrison
talks in questions. He answers a question,
but then brings you into his thinking by
asking another. They’re not directed at
you but rather at himself. He uses the
word “think” a lot, too; I think, when I
think of…
Through all of it, he stresses the impor-
tance of “people” and “team building”
and “giving people opportunity” and
“straight talk.” It’s almost too much—
they’re buzzwords, I think. And the last
question I’ll ask him is about those words.
I’ll tell him they sound like “buzzwords,”
that they’re thrown around a lot. How do
I know he means all that wonderful stuff
he says about people and team building?
Before he answers the question, he’ll take
the longest pause of the interview, and
look down into his hands.
Google “Doug Harrison Day & Ross”
and you’ll find his LinkedIn profile: Chief
Operating Officer (COO) Day & Ross
Transportation Group, September 2012 –
Present (6 months); President, General
Freight Day & Ross Transportation Group,
October 2011 – Present (1 year 5 months);
President Calyx Transportation Group Inc.
September 2008 – September 2011 (3 years
1 month); President Acklands-Grainger
Inc. 1999 – 2007 (8 years); Vice President
and Managing Director, Canada and
Europe, Ryder Integrated Logistics 1986 –
1999 (13 years).
Then there is the multitude of boards
he has sat on: Material Management and
Distribution, a well-known trade publica-
tion; Horizon Utilities Corporation;
Mohawk College and the Conference
Board of Canada, to name a few.
He’s also a sought-after speaker at
industry events.
It’s an impressive CV already, but what
makes the difference is when you get to his
education, however it’s not what and where
he studied, it’s when: in 1996, at age 37, he
decided to do his MBA at Heriot-Watt
University and in 2007, at age 47, he started
studying for his Certified Management
Accountant (CMA) designation.
“What I’ve learned is the world is
changing so quickly that if you don’t con-
tinue to educate yourself regardless of
where you’re at, the world passes you by,”
he explains. He says he looks at his 18-
year-old daughter and his 20-year-old son
and thinks about how the world has
changed in their lifetime. “I think as an
executive, if you don’t continue to chal-
lenge yourself, you can easily be left
behind. I did my CITT program, I did my
MBA, I did my CMA and I think all of
those things expose you to different
thoughts and information. The reality is if
you’re not learning everyday in your job, if
you think you’ve mastered everything, the
world is probably passing you by. You
need to continue to evolve as a leader.”
All those boards he sits on? He consid-
ers them “downtime.” He learns things on
those boards that he brings back to the
transportation industry. “I’ve had a few
different points in my career where I’ve
worked at an organization that has
undertaken large change—a real look at
who the organization is and the strategy.
I think you can become so inwardly look-
ing at your industry, that it can be hard to
break through and think ‘what is the next
big service offering or what is the next
game changer in an industry?’ By spend-
ing time in other industries, I’ve come to
appreciate that business is generally
business and in reality, all businesses are
generally the same—the challenges are
the same.”
Challenges. That’s another word that
comes up often, and he lights-up slightly
when he says it.
“I love challenges. I love challenging
environments that give me a real goal
MARCH 2013 39
Leadership/Profile
Day&RossDawn of a New
Meet Doug Harrison, newly tapped overseer of theMcCain family’s venerable fleet. Harrison’s weavinga new-style leadership into a tightly wound outfit.What does that say for trucking in this country?
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42 TODAY’S TRUCKING
To operate safely, a carrier cannot simply declare that “safe-
ty and compliance is everyone’s responsibility” and believe
that everyone will “do the right thing.” Carriers need to
have safety management controls in place that actively
move the company toward compliance and safety.
The safety regulations (in both Canada and the United States),
while laying down the rules, do not go into detail about how to
operate safely. The regulations do not spell out what policies, pro-
cedures, and practices will result in a company operating compli-
antly and safely. They only state what a company must do and
cannot do.
Best practices fill the void between what is required and how to
comply and operate safely. They are intended to provide compa-
nies with plans and ideas that will minimize risk, increase com-
pliance, and lead to safer operations.
A key point here is that best practices are used in addition to
being compliant with the safety regulations. The regulations are
the starting point when it comes to a carrier’s safety program.
Best practices are what move the carrier further down the road
toward operating safely and compliantly.
In this article we are going to look at various areas of a carrier’s
operation and discuss the best practices for the area. Any of the
areas discussed in which you are not up to the “best practices”
level is a “gap.” These gaps can be seen as risks. The more gaps you
see between what you are doing and the best practices used in the
industry, the more at risk you are.
Fleet safety policies and proceduresBest practices in this area include the company having policies
that are designated as “safety policies.” The policies are in writing,
kept current, circulated, trained on, and followed, and all supervi-
sory personnel (including dispatchers) know them.
The safety policies should cover all aspects of the operation:
drivers, dispatchers, customer service, maintenance, and upper
management. They should also cover critical topics such as
defensive driving, hours-of-service compliance, maintenance and
safety inspections, and driver qualification.
Finally, there should be progressive disciplinary measures
such as coach and correct, warn, suspend, and terminate that are
used in cases of noncompliance with the safety policies.
You know the regulations. But do youhave your own rules for obeying them?
PracticesPerfectMake
By Tom Bray
MARCH 2013 43
Recruiting and hiringBest practices in this area generally involve having written stan-
dards for applicant screening that cover driving records, accident
history, and employment history (including gaps in employment).
This is an area in which, clearly, the more “history” you are willing
to accept, the more risk you are assuming.
If the driver meets your standards on paper, a complete
employment background check should be done to verify the pre-
vious five years (at a minimum). All applicants should receive a
standard interview.
Finally, there should be written procedures for the applicant
screening process covering the standards, the process, and the
people involved. By the way, the process should involve at least
two individuals.
Driver policies and handbookDrivers should be given a handbook that contains necessary reg-
ulatory compliance information, company policies, and guidance
on common non-compliance and non-policy issues. There also
should be an update mechanism to keep the manual current.
Operational policies and proceduresFirst and foremost, best practices dictate that the company have
a firm “no compliance = no dispatch” policy that applies to hours-
of-service, driver qualification, and vehicle issues. If a driver is not
qualified, does not have hours, or there is a vehicle problem, oper-
ations staff should not dispatch the driver! To make this work,
operations personnel need to be trained on hours of service,
driver qualification, and vehicle issues.
Another key to making this work is to have a disciplinary
system for supervisors who do not follow safety policies.
Orientation and trainingThis area has several best practices. No driver should be allowed
to operate company equipment until the completion of orienta-
tion and company “certification” of the driver. Orientation
should include defensive driving training, training on the gen-
eral safety regulations, company policies and practices, hours-of-
service compliance, vehicle inspection, and cargo securement (at
the minimum).
A realistic road test should be conducted either during the
screening process or during orientation. To be realistic, the test
should include operating in
the on- and off-road envi-
ronments the driver will be
operating in, and have fail-
ing criteria. Drivers not
passing are either released
or placed into an on-the-job
training program.
If they are placed in an
on-the-job training program,
“getting out” of the training should be based on minimum time
spent in training and on performance-based standards.
If the driver will be operating in the United States, remember
that a negative drug test result must be received before the driver
enters the United States.
The company also should be conducting regularly scheduled,
mandatory, on-going training “safety meetings” for all drivers.
Topics such as defensive driving, company policies, and problem
areas in terms of compliance and safety should be covered during
the ongoing training.
Driver retention and recognitionBad behavior staying unchecked will continue and grow, and
good behavior unrewarded may end. Therefore, best practices in
this area involve recognizing drivers for each year of employment
and for each year of safe driving. To have a united driver retention
effort, the company should consider training all personnel that
have supervisory responsibilities over drivers.
One good retention strategy is to conduct exit interviews on
all drivers that leave. The exit interview information should then
be compiled, tracked, and acted on.
Accident investigation and follow upBest practices in this area involve investigating and acting on all
accidents. All accidents should be investigated and root cause and
causal factors assigned. During the investigation, preventability
should be decided. Drivers that are involved in preventable acci-
dents should then be retrained. A database of all accidents should
be maintained and tracked in order to attempt to locate trends,
Compliance
Carriers need to havesafety managementcontrols in place thatactively move thecompany toward compliance and safety.
Compliance
MARCH 2013 45
and systemic fixes should be put in place
when a trend is spotted.
Finally, disciplinary measures must be
in place for the non-reporting of accidents,
repeat accidents, and accidents that can be
attributed to driver negligence or a viola-
tion of company policy.
Hours-of-service policies and proceduresBest practices in this area involve finding
and fixing problems quickly. To start
with, all logs submitted should be audit-
ed for over-hours violations and form-
and-manner. At least 10 percent of the
logs and supporting documents should
be audited for falsification (the more the
better!). Finally, any driver found to have
a problem in the area of hours of service
is quickly counseled and disciplined
(if necessary).
Maintenance policies and practicesBest practices in this area include making
sure that drivers are trained on pretrip,
post-trip, and enroute inspections, and
that drivers know the procedures for
requesting repairs.
Also, the maintenance department
should have a written maintenance sched-
ule that is followed by drivers and opera-
tions. The maintenance department
should also have maintenance records
that show a systematic method of inspect-
ing, maintaining, lubricating, and repair-
ing all equipment.
Finally in this area, all maintenance
personnel can, by virtue of documented
in-house training, outside training and/or
certification (SAE, OEM, etc.), or experi-
ence, be considered “qualified.”
Disciplinary policiesFinally, the company should have detail -
ed, progressive disciplinary policies in the
following key areas:
■ Accidents
■ Hours of service
■ Treatment of coworkers and/or customers
■ Unauthorized use of equipment
■ Illegal or unsafe activities
Any area in which you could not hon-
estly say you have policies, procedures, or
practices in place that meet or exceed
what we discussed is where you have gaps.
These gaps can be seen either as risks you
are willing to live with or as areas where
you need to make an improvement. Which
way you look at it is your decision. TT
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Thomas Bray is Senior Editor – Transportation Management for J.J. Keller &Associates, Inc. Bray came to J.J. Keller with 20 years of experience in themotor carrier industry, from over-the-road driver, trainer, and claims managerto lead instructor and safety director. During his tenure in the industry hewas responsible for DOT compliance, policy development, driver humanresources, driver training, and accident prevention. Contact him at [email protected] and check out www.kelleronline.com
46 TODAY’S TRUCKING
T his engine could be the one that
lights the fire, so to speak, under
natural gas as a viable alternative
fuel for heavy trucks. Its diesel counter-
part, the Cummins ISX12, has already
earned a reputation as a good performing,
durable, medium-displacement engine.
Since the ISX12 and the ISX12 G share
many common components, there’s no
reason to believe the natural gas version
won’t be widely accepted as well.
Just to clarify, the ISX12 diesel is made
by Cummins, and features high-pressure
common rail injection, a variable geome-
try turbocharger, and all of the currently
accepted emissions technology, such as
EGR, a diesel particulate filter and an SCR
aftertreatment system.
The ISX12 G is produced by Cummins
Westport Inc. (CWI)—the joint venture
between Cummins and Westport Inno -
vations. It features the same engine archi-
tecture as its diesel cousin, minus the
common rail fuel system, minus the
VGT, and minus much of the emissions
system. It has, instead, a wastegated turbo,
a spark ignition system, stoichiometric
cooled exhaust gas recirculation (SEGR), a
three-way catalyst (TWC) aftertreatment
system, spark ignition and a throttling
mechanism that mixes intake air, recircu-
lated exhaust gas and gaseous natural gas
fuel prior to combustion.
All that to say the ISX12 and the ISX12
G are not two of the same engines burning
EQUIPMENT NEWS, REVIEWS, AND MAINTENANCE TIPS
In GearIn GearINSIDE:53 Auto-Theft Immune Systems57 Truck mechanics of the world60 Lockwood’s Products
Less Sparkle, Same Punchtest drive A brief test drive of Cummins Westport’s ISX12 Greveals it has all the oomph of its diesel cousin, with some slightly different performance characteristics. By Jim Park
It’s hard to resist the urge to comparethe ISX12 diesel to its natural gas cousin,but they are different engines. Period.
In Gear
MARCH 2013 47
different fuel. The performance curves
and ratings indicate they are similar in
that regard, but there are performance
and handling differences.
We had a chance to drive the ISX12 G
last summer at the Paccar Technical
Center in Mt. Vernon, Wash. The truck is
one of a handful of Kenworth/CWI field
test units currently in beta testing. That’s
important to remember as operating
parameters are constantly being tweaked
and tinkered with. Christopher Matheis, a
Cummins Westport Divisional Field
Service Engineer based in Denver told me
he couldn’t be 100 percent certain which
calibration was in the test truck I drove.
So, my observations may be inconsistent
with other experiences. There, that’s my
disclaimer and I’m sticking to it.
A New Old-fashioned ThrottleThe ISX G is different from the smaller, 8.9
ISL G engine used in medium-duty trucks
in that it has an engine brake and it can be
used with manual transmissions. Both of
these valued assets caused a few
headaches for engineers, but the results
are notable and customers will be forever
grateful for the extra effort I’m sure it took
to make them both work.
Getting right down to basics, these nat-
ural gas engines do not use fuel injection
like their diesel brethren. They are throt-
tled in a manner similar to a carbureted
gasoline engine, but still very differently.
The fuel, stored in pressurized tanks in
liquid or compressed form, is delivered to
a metering/mixing module at about 100
to 110 psi where fresh intake air, recircu-
lated exhaust gas and fuel in its gaseous
state are blended together. This module
sits physically on the engine in the same
place as the EGR mixer on a conventional
diesel—that is, at the far end of the
engine’s intake manifold.
“With the ISL-G were at a bit of a ‘dis-
advantage’ regarding fuel flow because the
fuel is injected into the incoming air
stream in the intake manifold, or intake
plenum, coming into the engine,” Matheis
explains. “It’s physically several feet away
from the cylinders, if you think about it
from a volume standpoint. Unlike diesel,
with today’s common rail engines, you can
stop or start fueling almost instanta-
neously. With a natural gas engine, there is
still a charge of fuel-laden air between
what we’ll call the throttle plate and the
cylinders. It takes a split second to burn
that fuel off until the driver feels the
engine respond to the throttle pedal.”
To slow the engine, the fuel supply is
cutoff at the metering module, but a
charge of air and fuel still has to make its
way through the intake manifold and into
the cylinder. That takes roughly half a sec-
ond—based on my driving experience
(and Matheis confirmed this).
This was noticeable when downshifting
with the manual transmission—but easily
corrected for. When revving the engine
prior to the downshift, there was a
moment’s hesitation (yes, about half a sec-
ond) before the engine responded to the
throttle pedal command to increase
engine speed. As I said, it’s an easy adjust-
ment for the driver when he or she knows
what to expect.
The same thing happens on an upshift,
but in reverse. The engine revs continue
climbing for a moment after releasing the
throttle pedal.
That’s why many natural gas engines
are mated to automatic (torque-converter
type) transmissions. The driver keeps the
throttle pedal depressed and the trans-
mission shifts under power, so the slight
lag in engine response is eliminated.
However, since automatic transmis-
sions haven’t found a place in the heavy-
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FACT #1 (of 6)
Engine: 11.9-liter ISX12 G (400 hp/1,450 lb-ft)Exhaust: Single back-of-cab w. horizontal catalystTransmission: Eaton 13-speedmanualFuel Capacity: Dual 40.5 gal DGE(diesel gallon equivalent)
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In Gear
MARCH 2013 49
duty on-highway market (Allison’s new 10-
speed TC-10 twin-countershaft automatic
could change all that), being able to use a
manual transmission with a natural gas
engine is a game changer.
The other welcome addition is the
engine brake, but it came for a few engi-
neering challenges as well. Since compres-
sion brakes need large volumes of air to
function, Matheis says they couldn’t sim-
ply close a throttle plate to cut the fuel/air
supply to the engine to decelerate.
“Unlike ‘conventional’ throttled
engines, we do not use the throttle to slow
the engine down. When you let off the
accelerator pedal, the throttle plate on the
ISX12 G engine actually opens. This allows
air to pass into the cylinder so the engine
brake will function,” he says. “If you closed
the throttle plate, there would be no air in
the cylinder to compress, and the engine
brake simply wouldn’t work.”
A Work in ProgressThe delay characteristics are due to the
hardware, i.e., the length of the intake
manifold pipe, or the distance the fuel/air
mixture has to travel from the throttle
plate to the combustion chamber. Matheis
says engineers are working to keep the lag
as short as possible.
“Engine calibrations can make a differ-
ence,” he explains. “We’ve recently made
some table changes to allow for better
shift quality. As you adjust the throttle
pedal position, the engine calculates that
and determines a torque value that it is
trying to achieve depending on rpm. So,
for example, the driver may have to push
the pedal down a little farther before the
engine responds so it will feel more like a
diesel.” In that regard, CWI has succeeded
handsomely. It pulls the way you’d expect
a diesel would, and the torque and horse-
power ratings are very similar. This one
boasted 400 horsepower and 1,450 lb-ft of
torque (compared to 425/1,650 in a
diesel), so it’s not noticeably lacking.
What is missing is the noise. The ISX12
G is exceptionally quiet, and that has a lot
to do with the way the fuel burns. The
compression ratio in the gas engine is
lower than a diesel, and the fuel is less
‘potent.’ That’s why they talk in terms of
diesel equivalent gallons of fuel. The bot-
tom line is the combustion event is less
violent, if you will, softer feeling—lacking
in sparkle, but certainly not in punch. It
feels and sounds more like a gasoline
engine than a diesel, but it’s got diesel
pulling power at cruise rpm.
A Few Miles LaterWe had the truck for a couple of hours of
track driving and then out on the high-
ways around the Technical Center. While
hills were in short supply, the basic
maneuvering, up and downshifting, decel-
erating, etc., gave me a pretty good feel of
what the engine would do. We had 75,000
lbs. in a dry van, so the engine was cer-
tainly earning its keep.
Once I had adjusted for the lag in
engine response to the throttle pedal, I
nailed every shift and found myself wind-
ing up and down through the gears like it
was a favorite old ride. The throttle pedal
response is very snappy in the first 5 or 10
percent of throttle position change, but
under load that goes away and it responds
much the same as a diesel.
The torque curves on the ISX12 G are
very similar to the diesel’s curve for the
400/1,450 rating. The real beef is between
Rather than a fuel pump and injectors, the fuel system has anintegrated fuel module/mixer that blends recirculated exhaustgas with the natural gas fuel and throttle-controlled intake air.
In Gear
1,200 and 1,400 rpm, but even down at
1,075 rpm there’s still about 1,425 lb-ft
underfoot. It’s very drivable.
I think if a driver were to get into a
truck with an ISX12 G, not knowing what
was under the hood, his or her very first
impression would be that it’s a smaller
engine than the ratings would suggest.
That’s because it’s quieter and softer feel-
ing—especially at low speed and low
rpm. However, once the driver got up to
cruise speed and started taking advan-
tage of the available torque, he or she
would be thinking the engine is punching
above its weight.
I walked away more than satisfied with
the ISX12 G, and slightly bemused by the
differences between the diesel and gas
versions—given all the hoops the engi-
neers are jumping through. They are try-
ing to make a natural gas engine work and
feel like a diesel. They are very close, and
the differences are inconsequential in
my opinion. TT
Trucks fueled by LNGhave methane leakdetectors onboard.
With all the hype surrounding natural gas, some of
the issues surrounding its use have been lost in the
rhetoric. There’s nothing bad here, just a few things
that need to be considered—mostly by the regulators—that
haven’t yet been addressed.
Claude Robert, one of the biggest proponents of natural gas
in Canada, and president of one of the first fleets to embrace the
fuel, says the weight of the fuel tanks has to be addressed.
“Compared to a similar truck running diesel only, the LNG-
fueled truck is roughly 2,200 pounds heavier,” he says.
The difference is not as pronounced with compressed natural
gas fuel, but that’s not inconsequential either. While manufactur-
ers are improving tank designs, Robert says fleets using natural
gas need an axle weight tolerance so payload won’t suffer.
“Our trucks scale 22,500 to 22,700 lbs. full of fuel without a
driver or his personal effects,” Robert says. “As a consequence, we
are scaling 12,200 lb on the steer (bobtail) and we positioned the
5th wheel to run at 13,200 lb, loaded, on the front, so we now
have to use heavier capacity tires.”
As well, and this is an engineering issue with regulatory
implications, because the LNG fuel tanks are longer than diesel
tanks, it’s impossible to build a truck with less than a 228-in.
wheelbase. Open it up long enough to hang an APU on the frame
and you’re pushing the 244-in. limit.
“The regulators need to address the Canadian wheelbase
restriction,” he says, adding, “but more importantly, stretching
the truck out that long widens the gap between the truck and
the trailer, and that hurts fuel economy.”
Natural gas is clearly a case of a technology getting ahead of
the laws. If the fuel is to gain wide acceptance, as many on the
environmental side of the lawmaking house would like, the
crowd sitting across the aisle that regulates weights and
dimensions are going to have to pull up their socks and get the
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In Gear
MARCH 2013 53
U nlike much other freight, it’s hard
to disguise cars. And because few
commodities appeal to a thief ’s
greed more than glittering shiny wheels,
keeping autos safe is an art in itself.
Today’s Trucking asked a few veteran
auto-haulers how they keep lip-smacking
jackals away from their specialized trucks
and their precious cargo.
“It’s not a matter of if you’re going to
get robbed, it’s a matter of when you’ll
get robbed,” says Wally Horodnyk, VP of
operations and security at Toronto-based
specialty hauler TFX Transport, adding
that vigilance is key when looking out for
the “left hook” in this business.
“It’s that left hook, the one you can’t see
coming, that gets you. Theft is that left
hook, because thieves don’t ever stop,
they’re always trying to find out a new
angle to everything,” Horodnyk says.
Complemented by a royal-blue coat of
paint, TFX’s enclosed trailers carry any
cars but TFX’s speciality is the carriage
trade: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce,
Bentley, among others.
The entire TFX fleet contains an undis-
closed number of monitoring devices
and other electronic wizardry that keeps
watch on virtually every part of the
tractor-trailer.
That includes anything from high-defi-
nition cameras, to fingerprint ID sensors,
sensors capturing real-time speed, idle
time, geo-fencing, pin-locks, as well as the
ability to lock up the tractor and trailers
online by clicking your mouse. “You want
to create as many little traps, because
thieves are generally single-minded, they
want it and they want it quick,” Horodnyk
said. “They don’t want to work for it, so
that’s what your security should reflect:
‘you want it, you work for it’.”
“You don’t want to get the call, ‘Wally,
where’s the truck?’ What you want to hear
is, ‘Wally, window’s broken but every-
thing’s still here.’”
Gerry Dowden, owner of St. John’s NL-
based East Can Transport Ltd., hauls cars
all over the Maritimes. His number-one
security device: A driver who doesn’t leave
the vehicle.
Because he carries back and forth
between Halifax and St. John’s, most of the
trip is aboard the ferry.
“They load the cars on the trailers and
they unload at the destination, so they’re
with the load 100 percent of the time,
except for when they’re on the ferry, and
the chances of somebody stealing a vehicle
off a carrier on the ferry is unlikely,” he said.
Though Dowden said he’s not too con-
cerned, his drivers are still tasked to employ
Auto-Theft Immune Systemssafety Carrying cars? Here are some old hands’ tips for keeping them safely aboard. By Octavian Lacatusu
CARRIAGE TRADE: TFX’S Horodnyk says he’salways on the lookout for “left hooks.”
DURON. Fight Soot. Save Money.
DURONTM-E – the leading soot-fi ghting formula in the industry. It seeks out soot particles and isolates them before they can join forces. And if they can’t cluster, your engine is defended from damage.
Today’s operating conditions can produce and retain more soot than ever before. But DURON-E, formulated with 99.9% pure base oils, is engineered to go above and beyond the call of duty.
It’s proven to handle up to 2x more soot* while maintaining its viscosity; protecting engines from wear, extending drain intervals, maintaining peak fuel economy, and reducing maintenance costsfor fl eets – even in the heaviest soot conditions.
That keeps costs down over the long haul and extends the life of your engines. Get the most from your fl eet. Learn more at fi ghtsoot.com
*Based on MACK T-11 Enhanced Soot Control Test results. DURON-E Synthetic 10W-40 performed 2.2x better than CJ-4 requirement, while maintaining viscosity level.
Petro-Canada is a Suncor Energy businessTMTrademark of Suncor Energy Inc. Used under licence.
FIGHt ENGINE SLUGGISHNESS.ARM YOURSELF WITH DURON.
In Gear
MARCH 2013 55
standard procedures in order to keep them-
selves and the tractor-trailers safe.
“When we load the vehicles, we will lock
the doors on the vehicles, particularly
those vehicles on the bottom of the trailer,
because you wouldn’t be able to unload
the top deck of the trailer unless you
unload the bottom deck first,” he said.
Some risks remain, such as someone
using a pumping mechanism to power the
hydraulics and manoeuvre the ramps in
such a way that could get the load off, but
Dowden said that’s not something easy to
pull off either.
“It’s not impossible and it’s certainly a
risk, but I mean, we have pin locks, so if we
ever have to drop the trailer at any time,
we would lock the trailer. But that’s so rare,
I don’t think the boys ever used them,”
Dowden said. TT
THE ELECTRIC NAG
Picture this. You’re driving your truck. You
decide to go for a lane change, but then
suddenly, a voice comes out from your
dashboard and stops you cold.
It’s serene and restrained, the tone very seri-
ous. Perhaps a little 2001: A Space Odyssey-like.
A new device called the inthinc waySmart,
comes pretty darn close to sci-fi, as it can “coach”
the driver in real time when it detects unsafe
driving behavior.
Or, in other words, it’ll know something’s
wrong before you do.
Installed as a box beneath the driver seat,
waySmart plugs into the vehicle’s onboard com-
puter and “watches” the driver, checking speed
via both the vehicle’s sensors, as well as its own
sensors, in real time, monitoring vehicle motion
and aggressive driv-
ing behavior. Notably,
pumping the brake
too hard, accelerating
too fast, or making
sharp turns. The sys-
tem also alerts drivers
if they drift outside their lane, or if their cushion
of distance is too small.
Inthinc’s Communications Manager, Daniel
Ashby, stressed that waySmart technology does
not, in fact, have any control over the vehicle and
that it merely acts as a monitoring entity.
“When the driver is speeding down a street, a
voice prompt will tell them to slow down and let
them know they’re speeding. The driver then has
15 seconds to comply with that violation, other-
wise, it’s reported to inthinc’s online portal where
managers can see,” he said. “The idea isn’t so
much to punish the driver, but rather coach them
to become safer drivers, so we give them that
opportunity to slow down.”
WaySmart also acts as a GPS tracking device
that communicates via wi-fi, cellular, or satellite
signals that are directly sent to inthinc’s online
portal. There, fleet managers can track their
vehicles’ location and drivers’ performance.
Uniform giant Cintas reported that since their
fleets were equipped with waySmart technology,
speeding incidents were reduced by a staggering
85 percent.
“The verbal coaching feature has had a huge
impact, keeping our drivers safe on the road,”
said Josh Moore, Cintas project manager. The
waySmart can be installed on anything from a
Ford F150 pick-up, to a colossal mining hauler.
Canada and U.S. (800) 387-4800www.espar.com
The Definition of Fuel Savings
Are you an Espar fleet?
Espar Heaters: They Just Make Sense.
24•7
“ GOODYEAR FLEET HQ GETS OUR TRUCKS ROLLING IN 2 HOURS, 16 MINUTES!”STEVE GRAHAM – SCHNEIDER NATIONAL
From call time to roll time, Goodyear’s 24/7 emergency roadside service is dedicated to getting you back on the road in as little as two hours. And that’s just the beginning of how Goodyear® can help improve your fleet’s profitability. When you sign up at no cost for Goodyear’s Fleet HQ program, you also benefit from a national network of more than 2,200 dealers, tire tracking & reporting, national pricing program and more.
To learn more, call 1-866-Fleet-HQ or go to goodyeartrucktires.com.
Future TechQ&A Why you should meet Lindsey Girvin, a 25-year-old lead hand and role model for the truck mechanics of the world.By Peter Carter
DIRTY HANDS MAKE NICE WORK:Girvin’s been fixing vehicles sinceshe was 17 and Glenn Carlson saysher future is very bright indeed
THE NEW ALLISON TC10 TS TRACTOR TRANSMISSION
Testing has shown the Allison TC10 TS offers better fuel economy than a manual or auto-mated manual transmission in the target duty cycles. Regardless of driver experience or expertise, it automatically achieves the best fuel economy. The TC10 TS shifts at just the right points on the power curve with virtu-ally no loss of acceleration, right into cruise gear. And because it’s an Allison Automatic,
it doesn’t require regular clutch maintenance or replacement, like manuals and automated manuals do. This results in signifi cant savings in service and downtime over the life cycle of the truck. Make your next tractor less expensive to operate.
Ask your truck dealer about the new Allison TC10 TS.
In Gear
MARCH 2013 59
Two, grab a parts container for every job you do, no matter how
big or small, and make sure you put everything you remove from
the truck in the container right away. This way, you know exactly
where all of your parts are and small pieces are less likely to get
lost; And three, always start and end with a clean work area.
TT: Some people think the looming tech shortage is a bigger
problem than the driver shortage. Why aren’t more young people
interested in your trade?
LG: There are way too many Internet and desk jobs out there that
pay just as well. And the tech industry is very dirty and labor inten-
sive. It also requires a certain amount of strength and motivation.
If you’re female, it’s even more challenging to break into this
trade; you need a very thick skin. You have to know how good you
are and almost be slightly arrogant about it to be taken seriously.
I had some crazy experiences when I first tried to break into this
trade; I actually had a service manager laugh at me and throw my
resume in the garbage right in front of me. I learned quickly to let
it go and move on... and if you can’t do that you won’t make it. TT
FLIGHT SYSTEMS ELECTRONICS GROUP (FSEG), has just released aWhite Paper discussing reasons for failure and replacement optionsfor failed turbos.
To read the entire document copy and past this into your browser.
There are three major reasons for turbo failure: ■ LUBRICATION FAILURE: In a “Burst & Containment” document authored
by Honeywell, their Garrett Engineering group provides an operating
description of its smallest turbo product.
The article states that the turbocharger’s
impellers operate up to 200,000 rpm and the
exhaust gas temperature can reach a max of
1,800F causing the turbine housing to glow
red under certain driving conditions.
A lack of lubrication from degraded engine oil or insufficient delivery
from an obstructed oil line can cause increased friction and temperatures.
In extreme cases of poor lubrication and high operating temperatures,
moving components can become seized, locking up the turbocharger and
disabling operation of the vehicle.■ EXCESSIVE CONDENSATION: Seized or sticking vanes cause failures.
Rust formations on the vanes, created by excessive condensation build-up
when a vehicle is idle for extended periods of time, is the cause of failure.
Condensation can enter the tail pipe or an exhaust manifold gasket
leak. Regular on-the-road vehicle use will help burn condensation and
prevent rusting. ■ LACK OF MAINTENANCE: Catastrophic failure can occur when
engine oil changes become infrequent and fail to meet recommended
scheduling intervals.
At 100,000 miles, inspecting and cleaning the intercooler system and
removing any cause of FOD is highly recommended. After excessive miles,
turbochargers sometimes experience pressure loss caused by worn seals
(leakage) and/or worn impeller (leakage). Seals will easily damage under
extensive pressure cycles, especially sealing rings for rotating parts.
SHADETREE TURBO LORE
60 TODAY’S TRUCKING
NAVISTAR’S new boss Jack Allen
told us at Christmastime that he
would soon be revving his com-
pany’s off-road equipment, and at last
month’s World of Concrete trade show
in Vegas, he came good.
At the show, Navistar trotted out its
commitment to the construction seg-
ment with an array of updated severe
service truck offerings from International
Truck and a comprehensive line-up of
mixer products from Continental Mixers.
Updates for the International
WorkStar include adding SCR for 2013.
Navistar’s 13-liter engine with Cummins
SCR (selective catalytic reduction)
aftertreatment system will launch in
International ProStar highway tractors
in April and in WorkStars in May.
Other new features for the
WorkStar include:
■ New 96-in. break-away mirrors
that minimize cab and door damage that
result from low-speed collisions. They’re
narrower than the usual mirrors and can
be equipped with remote control, heating
or lighting.
■ Standard LED lighting for almost all
lights except headlamps.
Navistar hooked up with Continental
Mixers to showcase its lightweight
integrated mixer, which utilizes a
proprietary high-strength steel specifi-
cally formulated for concrete mixers.
This design delivers a nearly 2,000-lb
weight savings vs. comparably spec’d
steel mixers.
The lightweight mixer includes the
optional ZF gearbox which integrates the
hydraulic pump in the gearbox housing.
In addition, multiple barrel sizes are
available to meet customer requirements.
The new lightweight mixers are
available on both WorkStar and
PayStar chassis.
Continental Mixers also featured its
trailer mixer designed for 9.5-12 cubic
meter applications and can also utilize
Continental Mixer’s new lightweight
components. The mixer is integrated
with the WorkStar and features a low
center of gravity to prevent spillage
going over inclines and a hopper height
equal to conventional mixers. In addi-
tion, the trailer mixer touts Continental
Mixer’s high-performance load charging
and discharging as well as wireless con-
trols and Navistar’s integrated Diamond
Logic Builder for ease in body installa-
tions and upfitting.
www.continentalmixers.com
www.navistar.com
NEW FIFTH WHEELASSEMBLYFONTAINE PROMISES WEIGHT REDUCTION AND VERSATILITYFontaine Fifth Wheel introduces
the LWB lightweight slide bracket
assembly. This new assembly replaces
Fontaine’s ATB slide and will provide
additional weight savings without
sacrificing strength.
“We’ve designed the LWB to be lighter
than its predecessor without sacrificing
8WHAT’S NEW AND NEWS FROM SUPPLIERSPRODUCTWATCH
NAVISTAR STOKES UP
VOCATIONALSTEAMNEW TOUCHES FOR DUMP TRUCKS AND MIXERS SIGNALNAVISTAR’S COMMITMENT TO OFF-ROAD APPS.
nline Resources:For more new product items, visit
PRODUCT WATCHon the web at todaystrucking.com
MARCH 2013 61
1953 60 Years 2013
PC 101956
800-327-6868 jjkeller.com/101956
For more information or to order:
Reduce the risk of cargo securement violations, accidents and liability with J. J. Keller’s new Cargo Securement FLATBEDS training program.
This comprehensive program:
• Goes beyond the minimum requirements to include best practices
• Covers fl atbed rub rail issues, correct tiedown use, headerboards, and more
• Stresses the responsibility drivers have to protect their cargo and vehicles and the public
• Comes in multiple formats.
AD-19071
Also Available:Wide Variety of Cargo Securement Supplies
Train drivers to …Keep fl atbed loads in place and in compliance
Covers the 5 most common commodities!
TM
MACK TRUCKS is offering its 13-liter Mack MP8 engine in the
Mack TerraPro concrete pumper. The high-horsepower, high-
torque MP8 features three ratings and special performance calibrations unique
to the concrete pumping industry. Ratings of the MP8 range from 425 to 505 horsepower
and 1,760 ft.-lb. torque, offering maximum power for demanding concrete pumper applica-
tions. “The higher horsepower and torque available with the MP8 provide effective and
efficient operation of the concrete pump under the demanding and variable engine loading
conditions that are routinely encountered during operation,” said Curtis Dorwart, Mack
vocational product marketing manager. Mack says the TerraPro cabover offers superior
visibility and remarkable durability and is specifically designed to easily navigate tight
turns. Equipped with the Mack Maxitorque ES manual transmission, Mack C150/151 and
C202/203 axles and the MP8 engine with ClearTech SCR System, the TerraPro concrete
pumper has a completely integrated Mack Pedigree powertrain.
Mack has also launched the new Mack Twin Y Air Suspension,
the first suspension to utilize an innovative Y-shaped high-strength steel design. Offered
with proprietary Mack axles, the Twin Y Air Suspension, according to Mack, delivers
unmatched comfort, handling and fuel efficiency for highway customers desiring a smoother,
more stable ride. The Twin Y is up to 400 lb. lighter than other air suspensions.
Mack has also introduced its own proprietary axles on its
Mack mRIDE spring suspension, designed for vocational customers
demanding a durable, stable ride with greater articulation. Customer field tested for
more than three million miles and available on the Mack Pinnacle Axle-Back and Axle-
Forward models, the Twin Y features Mack S38 and S40 series axles with C125/126 and
C150/151 carriers.
The design of the Mack Twin Y air suspension includes two stamped high-strength steel
Y-shaped blades per wheel end. The Twin Y blades are joined to the axle with both upper
and lower axle seats, which greatly reduces suspension windup and significantly improves
tire traction and braking control.
The axle seats are clamped to the
axle housing by Huck U-bolts on both
sides and never need to be re-torqued.
Bushings in the upper and lower
axle seats offer greater roll control and
deliver easier handling and a more
comfortable ride. Lighter weight and
non-torque reactive, the Twin Y
requires less maintenance and extends
tire and component life, significantly
improving customer ROI.
The Twin Y’s design means the load on the suspension is entirely on the air ride and not
on the pivot bushing.
The Mack mRIDE spring suspension uses spring leafs over four separate rubber block
packs to offer stability and articulation, while also allowing the needed clearance for larger
tires and brake components required in construction and vocational applications. The
mRIDE provides constant ground contact for all wheels over its articulation range, which in
turn maximizes traction on any jobsite. The parallel pinion angles of the Mack axles extend
the driveline joint life. Coupled with the greaseless mRIDE suspension, the offering boasts
easier maintenance. www.macktrucks.com
MACK NOTCHES UPVOCATIONALSMP8 now available in TerraPro; new suspension system introduced
Product Watch
“We now have 37 Volvos in our fleet and running them has substantially improved our uptime. That’s huge for us - if our trucks aren’t on the road they’re not making money for us.
Our dealer response has also been phenomenal - with two-hour diagnostic triage service and Volvo Link for fuel economy and service.
We have a mix of – 670’s and 730’s all D13 500hp. We chose Volvo engines because we are dealing with one vendor and can get things resolved quickly, and the D13 power, fuel efficiency and weight give us everything we want.
We will definitely continue to grow the Volvo side of our fleet.”
Darcy Hammond, President Muskoka Transport
Test drive Volvo advantages at your nearest Volvo dealer. Visit us at volvotruckscanada.com
WELDER OVERCOMESLIMITED POWER SUPPLY SNAP-ON’S NEW UNIT SUITS 110VA good number of shops have 110-V
wall outlets, limiting their choices when
selecting a welder with power and per-
formance. The new easy-to-maneuver
Snap-on MIG140 welder offers a
solution. Says Mike DeKeuster, category
manager for Snap-on: “The new Snap-on
MIG140 is ideal for repair shops, body
shops, as well as farm and metal fabrica-
tion shops. With a 60-percent duty cycle
at full load, this welder allows you to
weld thicker material for a longer period
of time.”
The MIG140:
■ Welds 1/4-in. material in a single pass
with 140A maximum output at 60-
percent duty cycle.
■ Features all-copper-wound trans-
former insulation and
bolted laminations to provide precise
voltage control and repeatable welds.
■ Has a capacitor bank and diode set that
delivers consistent voltage and industry-
leading smooth-arc characteristics.
www.snapon.com
www.monroeheavyduty.com
Replacing worn shocks may help prevent costly, abnormal wear to a new set of steer and/or drive tires. Protect your investment with the premier name in ride control. Monroe® Shock Absorbers.
$15,000 IN CASH AND PRIZESThat’s what’s up for grabs for the next Highway Star of the Year. The winner receives:
★ $10,000 in cash ★ An Espar Heater System ★ Road-ready, trucker-friendly laptop from OBAC
★ Special-edition leather Chevron jacket with winner’s name and Highway Star of the Year logo
★ Travel and accommodations for two to Montreal during ExpoCam 2013
We’re looking for one driver who embodies the term
professional. A driver with that certain outlook on
life and the industry that sets them apart from the
rest. A driver who gives to the community, oper-
ates with the highest regard for other road users,
and who generally sits tall in the saddle. In short,
we’re looking for a driver with STAR quality to be
the 2013 Highway Star of the Year
The Highway Star of the Year award is open to ALLdrivers — company drivers and owner-operators alike.
If you know someone worthy of such an
honour, please submit your nomination as soon
as you can. We’ll be presenting the award during
ExpoCam 2013 in Montreal, on Saturday
April 13, 2013. Forms are available on-line at www.todaystrucking.com/hsoy.
★ 2013 HIGHWAY STAR OF THE YEAR ★
Terry SmithHighland
Transport Miramichi, NB
René RobertClassy Transport Inc.
(contracted to SLH Transport) Calgary, AB
Reg DelahuntIndependence Transportation
Lanark, ON
Jean-François FoyTransport
J.C. Germain Neuville, QC
Dale HadlandInternational
Freight Systems (IFS) Beachville, ON
Cliff LammerenPraxai
Edmonton, AB
Stephen McGibbonMilltown Trucking, Oak Bay, NB
THE HIGHWAY STAR OF THE YEAR ★ HALL OF FAME ★
HIGHWAY STAR OF THE YEAR
2011
2008 2006 20042010
2012
2007
Bud RushArmstrong Moving/
United Van LinesOakbank, MB
2009
MARCH 2013 65
Product WatchNEW CORDLESS TOOL LINEINGERSOLL RAND PROMISES PNEUMATICPOWER WITH CORDLESS CONVENIENCEIngersoll Rand claims to be redefining
cordless tools with their latest line of
IQV20 series cordless tools and 20-volt
lithium-ion batteries. The IQV20 series
platform allows for all the tools in the
line to run longer between charges—
giving technicians the ability to complete
a full shift on a single charge. The first
Impactool of the series, the W7150, pro-
duces 1,100 ft-lb torque and 780 ft-lb
reverse torque, is 9.4-in. from tip to tail
and weighs 6.8 lb. Other new releases in
the line are the W5130 3/8-in. 20V
Mid-Torque Impactool and the L5110 LED
Task Light. Additional tools will be added
to the IQV20 Series portfolio in 2013.
www.ingersollrandproducts.com/iqv20
FLEET TECH TERMINAL SETELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS NEED CLEANING? FLEET TECHNICIAN OFFERS A LINE OF TOOLS FOR THE JOBThe HD Fleet Tech’s ElectricalTerminal Maintenance Set provides
tools necessary for cleaning and main-
taining the most common electrical
connectors and connections found in
today’s fleets. Applications include
seven round-pin trailer harnesses,
weather packs,
bullet connec-
tors, common
ABS sensor
and power con-
nectors, trailer
light plugs and
more.
A set includes: two sizes of flat
male and female terminal cleaners,
two gold 7-round-pin socket harness
cleaners, one black ABS sensor/power
connector cleaner, 10 super-hard round
diamond-coated micro files, trailer
light bullet connector cleaner and
DeoxIT contact chemical cleaner;
and it all comes packaged in a custom
leather-type holster.
www.ipatools.com
PHILLIPS LAUNCHES MINILED REPLACEMENTSLIGHTS DESIGNED TO UPGRADE OR REPLACE INCANDESCENT BULBSPhillips Automotive Lighting NorthAmerica is offering a new line of LED
miniatures that add flexibility and style
to a vehicle’s interior and exterior. The
replacement bulbs are based on high-
powered LEDs and offer significant
advantages when used as upgrades or
replacements for incandescent
miniature lamps.
My name is Tom Quinton and not many guys know cold weather driving like I do. I’ve been driving 34 years in severe weather conditions in Canada, where temperatures reach -40 degrees C. With the help of Mobil Delvac oils, I’ve never had any trouble starting my trucks, no matter how cold it has been.
Next time you change your oil, switch to Mobil Delvac. Find your nearest distributor at mobil.ca
MARCH 2013 67
Phillips X-tremeVision LED Interior
bulbs are designed as direct replace-
ments for a vehicle’s standard incandes-
cent miniatures. Philips says they deliver
high-power LED illumination and up to
5x more light output while consuming
substantially less energy.
They’re available in two light color
temperatures: 4,000 K and 6,000 K. The
4,000 K white light is much closer to day-
light than a traditional incandescent
interior bulb. The 6,000 K version takes it
up a notch and delivers the bright white
look of Xenon HID, yet consumes 13
times less energy.
www.phillipsind.com
PRESTONE ADDS DEF TO LINEUPANTIFREEZE AND COOLANTS JOINED BY DIESEL EXHAUST FLUIDPrestone has introduced a new
antifreeze/coolant product as well as their
very own Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF).
As part of its new line, dubbed
Prestone Command, the company is
offering its antifreeze/coolant products
in two formulations:
■ Extended Life provides 600,000-
mile/12,000-hour CAT EC-1 protection
for any diesel-powered heavy-duty
engine, the company said. The formula
protects aluminum and all other engine
metals against temperature extremes,
rust, corrosion, scale and water-pump
failure, and is compatible with any other
heavy-duty antifreeze/coolant. A predi-
luted 50/50 formulation is available for
convenient top-off applications.
■ Extended Service is SCA pre-charged,
Prestone said, and provides protection
from freezing, overheating, cavitation ero-
sion, corrosion, scale and foaming in any
heavy-duty engine with need-release filter
technology that is used in normal to
severe duty cycles and extreme tempera-
ture conditions.This formula is also avail-
able in a prediluted 50/50 antifreeze/
coolant formulation, and demineralized
water dilution for top-off applications.
www.prestonecommand.com
A Guaranteed GoodAdventure!Last month’s mystery location is no mystery to anyone interested who might want
to be at the center of the Canadian Trucking Universe next month. Montreal’s
Place Bonaventure will be, from April 11-13, home to the fabulous ExpoCam Truck Show. The show is produced by Newcom Business Media Inc., the same
company that produces this magazine. If you’re thinking about attending, contact
this month’s mystery joint is not quite on the Trans Canada, it strikes us as an
ideal place for our next editorial meeting. We’ll give a free Today’s Trucking Capto the first 10 people to i.d. the establishment. Think you know where it is?
Contact Jason Rhyno at:
YOU CAN’T GET THERE FROM HEREc/o Today’s Trucking Magazine
M y 20-year-old son Michel is ripped, fit, and agile. From
a standing position he can do a front flip in mid-air
and land on his feet.
We don’t look much alike, either.
That was made clear to me once during a little-league baseball
game. One of the moms asked me which player was my boy. I
pointed to Michel. She said, “Oh, he’s so good looking.” After
which the woman with her added, “He doesn’t look anything like
his dad.” (Thanks lady.)
Another dissimilarity? Michel can make
stuff out of nothing. We have a pair of
splendid Muskoka chairs on our front
porch that he built when he was 15. Two
years ago, he constructed a cool eight-foot
mahogany speedboat.
A third big difference between me and
Michel: He has the rare ability to work
productively for long periods of time
alone, without talking to anyone.
I’m not like that.
Indeed, between the time I started
writing this column 162 words ago and
right now, I’ve sent about eight emails to
my brother Tom, I got a coffee and talked
with my colleague Nickisha Rashid about
funny things people do, like learning to
say their names backwards.
In contrast, Michel and I once drove
from Toronto to Manitoulin Island and
the only time he talked was to ask if he
could change the radio station from
C&W to rock.
I envy Michel’s ability to keep himself
company.
In one way though, Michel and I are a
lot alike. We have a trait that I bet is shared by most of the guys
you work with. I should also mention it’s a trait I really don’t
like much.
We loathe asking for help.
Michel is so averse to seeking assistance, I’m pretty sure that
he would, if he could, perform his own dental work.
With guys like Michel and me, there’s something in our very
DNA that keeps us from asking other people for help, which is
just plain nuts.
I suppose asking for help is unmanly or something.
I remember a long time ago when I started a new job at one of
Canada’s other great magazines, Chatelaine. My third day in, one
of my colleagues, whose job description was the very same as
mine, entered my office looking for help with a story. I remember
thinking, “Wow, I hope she’s okay.”
I said “She.” All my colleagues at Chatelaine were “she’s” and
they were free and easy about asking for help. It took some
getting used to.
I don’t think any of the men I’ve
ever worked with have asked me for
help unless it was to do something
they didn’t want to do themselves. But
to let on that they couldn’t do a task
singlehandedly? Fat, rather morbidly
obese, chance.
This all came to mind when we were
compiling this month’s Top 100 list-
ing. Every time I contacted a company,
I opened with, “I need your help with
this project I’m working on.” And they
all obliged.
But on a day-to-day basis? It goes
against every platelet of red-Canadian
blood in my and Michel’s veins to seek
assistance.
Which is weird because I am certain
nobody has ever thought less of an
individual seeking help.
In fact, I consider it an honor to
be asked. When you ask for help,
you’re actually paying the askee a
huge compliment.
People feel good when they can help.
I also find that if the person I ask can’t
help directly, they’ll actually suggest at least two others who
can. I call it the three-for-one helpline theory. (This doesn’t apply
to institutions, just people, BTW.)
And get this. When people help you, as alarming as this
sounds, your life gets easier. There’s less work for you! Go figure.
Like my late father Tom used to say, “Too soon old, too
late smart.”
There. I just got help from my Dad. If only Michel would do
the same. TT
Rear View
Help, hired.The Beatles asked for assistance and became
gazillionaires. Why don’t the rest of us?
By Peter Carter
GETTING A LEG UP: Guys like Michel (picturedabove, giving his mother grey hairs) can do many things but asking for assistance isn’t theirstrong suit.
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