canadian trucking magazine may june edition
DESCRIPTION
Western Canadian trucking Magazine built for entertainment for the Over the Road driver.TRANSCRIPT
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Did you noticesomething different aboutthe front cover this month?
Instead of just May, it
is a May and June Edition.
This is the first time in 19 Edi-
tions I have combined and
about time. First the work
that goes into producing,
printing and delivering the
magazine each month is a
job in it’s self especially in
this economy where I am all
of those plus the sales guy.
The magazine has been
going out later and later each
month missing it’s 15th of the
month distribution date.
Combine all of this
with 2 Truck shows in June
the Fergus show on our
heals and two of my sons
having wedding socials and
getting married. You HERD
right both getting married this
year one month apart. Good
thing they both have great
heads on thier shoulders and
great better halfs that have it
so all I have to do is show
up.People always ask about
me having kids old enough to
get married and surprised to
find out that Robert is 32 this
year and Gordon is 30.
Smarter then thier dad mar-
ried at 18.Then the other
shoe drops when I tell them
that I have had 9 children, not
to slight you other guys in my
life that have lived with me
that I consider like my sons. A
gang of us, eh!
So back to my story.
This month I am combining
May & June in one to give me
a chance to put out a stellar
July 15th edition for the Fer-
gus truck show. But don’t let
me get to far ahead of myself
Dave brings to CTM 36 years of
valuable experience in transporta-
tion, management, business and
compliance. Dave has driven in
every condition across North Amer-
ica and overseas as military, police,
company driver to owner operator.
Now Publisher & Editor of
Canadian Trucking Magazine
the one you pick up,read and keep.
3
here.
Let us start with two
shows on the father’s day
week-end. A great way to
spend time with the family.
The Stirling show in theEast at of course StirlingOntario and the Big RigWeek-end this year in RedDeer. Both great shows giv-
ing you the opportunity to
spend a week-end at a truck
show no matter which side of
the country you live in.
I will be at the Stirling
Truck Show because I can’t
be two places at the same
time and at Stirling we have
a Herd Intergrated VehicleProtection Bumper we aregiving away at the awards
ceremony. It will be sitting at
our both, so come down and
give us a visit.
Rumor has it that our
CTM Girl from last month
Jen and our current CTMGirl Krissy are planning onattending and signing au-tographs and handing outmagazines.
The fine folks at Stir-
ling put on a banner show, in
my opinion if you are a
trucker and anywhere in the
east around that time you
have to attend to see this is a
truck show for truckers.
Now talking west
here, there is no introduction
or indorsement needed for
the Big Rig Week-end put on
by Pro-Trucker, more impor-
tantly the White Family who
are Pro-Trucker. I have at-
tended several of thier shows
and trust me if you miss this,
what are you doing driving a
truck! I will get out to Chilli-
wack for the July one and
sure sorry this year I am torn
in two and will be in Stirling.
So drivers plan your
trips and book your days
now. Those in the West, Red
Deer and those in the east
Stirling. Both are located
where you can so easily get
to. Any one sitting in Cow-
town or Edmonton reading
this magazine should all get
together and run there for the
day. An hour and a half drive
from either direction which is
nothing for a driver.
Back to Stirling, this
HERD is going to be drawn to
some lucky driver who will
never have that whiteknuckle feeling again.
Sorry I don’t under-
stand Owner Operators that
don’t have a HERD on thier
truck already. No this isn’t an
4
info commercial, this is years
of experience speaking. On
my trucks I had my bar and I
could fill up the magazine
with times I used that bar
even in traffic accidents.
Never any my fault by the
way. If you have to run at
night and in Canada in the
fall/winter you don’t have
much choice if you are going
to make a buck. Having asolid bar on the front ofyour truck, takes a littlemore stress off the chest. I
promote HERD as I have
toured thier factory, used
thier product and spoke to
drivers that have savedthousands in repairs anddown time, because theyhad a HERD. Of course
there is different price breaks
and models of HERD so
compare apples to apples.
Don’t run out and buy a
cheap bar that does not say
HERD on it and think you are
going wildlife hunting. I just
have a friend Gord, owner
operator out there pasted by
a four wheeler who then
locked thier brakes to turn off
giving him no choice but kill
them or take the ditch. Gord
went in and locked them and
drove out, but the roo bar on
his rig twisted like paper. Not
a HERD. Not saying the bar
won’t take a beating depend-
ing on what you spend, but
the HERD quality and if youinvest right might saveyour life. It will certainly in
this economy save you down
time and repairs and again
peace of mind.
There is my two cents
again on bars on trucks, not
because they advertise, but
because I asked them to be-
cause I believe in this prod-
uct.
All this talk about bars
and running down the road
really makes this drivermiss the road. Years ago
with a CDL in my pocket I
could just go to a company
grab thier truck and thier load
and run off to Texas or
Florida make some cash and
put some pavement under
my tires. These days with a
CDL in my back pocket and a
fast card I can’t do that. They
want me to become an em-
ployee, go through origina-
tion, drug testing, road
testing, dangerous goods, in-
terviews and a class room. I
guess I am grounded till the
driver shortage picks up, and
it will. As Tonnage is now on
6
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the climb and a lot of drivers
dropped off the market when
there were no trucks or jobs
available when the loads
start pilling in, again there will
be a shortage of good expe-
rienced drivers. Right now I
have friends that own trucks
on with companies that I can’t
even team a load unless I
jump all those hoops. With
not taking a load for 2 years
now and pounding on this
keyboard, I get pretty antsy.
I hear time and time
again when I go out and de-
liver the magazines from On-
tario to BC by hand, people
saying wow that is a lot of
miles. About 8000 clicks. But
it is the only road I get to play
on each month. To bad it is in
a four wheeler.
This last trip I hit 3
major storms in AB and SK
. Wow did peo-ple forget how to drive inwinter?If you were on the highway
in AB or
SK
around
the 29th
of April
you
know
what I am talking about.
Every few miles there were
2 or more vehicles in the
ditch and a few big trucks.
If you are a new driver
and the road conditions are
bad, park that rig. You are
more important than the box
behind you and if you do turn
her over then there goes your
job anyways.Even with sum-
mer, we get heavy down
pours with high winds a
recipe for disaster. If you feel
your butt checks clenching
where you could split a 2 x 4.
Guess what you should not
be on that road.
I have never chained
up in my life. If the roads are
so I need chains I park. The
CB has always let me know if
the road ahead is not what I
look forward to driving and
driver I park it. Never put one
in the ditch, touch wood,,, But
I have done some tree farm-
ing, ask me about that one
over coffee.
Hey talking about cof-
fee, in
Winterpeg
there is a
s p o t
called the
57 ChevCafe hid-
8
9
den on 365 Transport
Road out on the east
end of the city, indus-
trial area, actually con-
sidered the R.M of
Springfield.
If going around
the perimeter you no-
ticed Gunn Road, you
are close. Only open
Monday to Friday from
6:30 to 3:00 pm it is
worth going in there.
Debbie andSherri make me aburger and fires todrive my cardiologistnuts. I gave it away
this month as they are
in my driver do you know this
person.
Since we are talking
about food, On delivery in
Saskatoon at my favoriteHusky there, I caught up toGrumpy having breakfastwith an amazing
women, of course his
better half, sorry
women he is taken.
Had to put a plug in
for Crystal one of
CTM’s biggest fans
who has a pile of
people each month
asking her for the lat-
est CTM. She can’t
even go to Tim’s without a
driver in line asking Crystal
for the latest magazine.
Nothing is better
music to my ears when I hear
how much you enjoy my
magazine and you keep it.
This month I took my
10
10th Annual BC Big Rig Weekend
8th Annual AB Big Rig Weekend
July 10th-11th, 2010 at Chilliwack Heritage Park
June 19th-20th, 2010 at Westener Park, Red Deer
Trucker’s Family Weekend
For more information call 1.800.331.8127 pro-truckermagazine.com
own advise and headed to
South Beach for a minnivacation. Another advertiser
I pursued on the next page to
us here. The reason, great
food combined with excellent
entertainment and priced
right for my scottish heart.I
was happy to hear a lot of
you took advantage of thiergift cards at Christmastime for people who arehard to buy for. Great for abirthday present to withthier golf packages and soclose to Grand Beach oneof the worlds finestbeaches in my opinion.A
couple of great car shows
coming up and you can
check thier web site for the
entertainment line up. Give it
a whirl or give someone who
deserves a good week-end a
gift card and let me know
how it works out.
Talking about web
pages, we now have all the
back issues on digital on the
web page for you to read at
your liberum. As well we have
hit over 1200 fans on ourFacebook Page, that is more
fans then any other transport
magazine in Canada.
Please keep in mind
the very important events
coming up with Convoy for a
Cure and the Torch Run. We
drivers have always been
there for people that need our
help. This year let’s make
these events the largest best
ever.
Once again I look for-
ward to meeting each one of
you on the road or at one of
these truck shows and hear-
ing your input into my maga-
zine. I built this as an
entertainment magazine for
you my readers.
Happy Trails My Friends,,,,, Dave12
Gas Prices Up to $7 per gallon?Give me a Break!
I just about fell out of my
chair. I know gas and oil prices
have moved up over the last few
months and we are on the verge of
the annual summer bump in fuel
prices, but when I heard about the
possibility of a $7 dollar gallon, I
had to do some digging. Where
did that number come from?
It seems the prediction
was made as a reaction to more
stringent environmental controls on
emissions coming in the future for
both Canada and the US.
First, let’s look at what is
planned for the oil sands in Al-berta. Production from oil sands bi-
tumen emits 15% more carbon
dioxide (CO2) than conventional
crude oil on a wells-to-wheels
basis. Shell reports it is committed
to cutting its environmental foot-
print. The company reports on its
website it is dealing with the prob-
lem in a number of ways, “including
greater efficiency and technological
innovation.” They report the first
stage of expansion will employ a
new technology that cleans the bi-
tumen froth more efficiently, saving
energy and water and avoiding
C02 emissions by 40,000 tonnes a
year. Shell will build the process
into the first expansion phase of the
Athabasca Oil Sands Project
(AOSP Expansion 1) now under
construction.
Looking at that situation,
4Refuel Fuel Analyst Bob van der
Valk says, “Current technology has
not caught up with the impending
stricter requirements to make the
heavy Alberta Oil Sands crude oil
more environmentally sensitive.
When it does, it will eventually add
to the cost of production pushing
up prices.” So, in reality, having
cleaner extraction technology will
boost the price we pay at the
pumps, eventually.
Now on to the US. The
Obama Administration has identi-
fied the environment as another top
priority and in order to meet the
new regulations, consumers will all
be asked to pick up a portion of the
cost of cleaner air.
A Harvard Study says to meet EPA
emissions targets gas prices could
reach $7 per gallon!
Here’s what the gas guy,
Bob van der Valk has to say about
that, “Targets set by the US Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency (EPA)
include a goal to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions in the transporta-
tion sector 14% by 2020. A lofty
ambition, and in order to give it
some teeth, it is included in the
EPA’s 2010 budget. Consumer
studies by researchers at Harvard’s
Jack LeeAskTheFuelExpert
14
Belfer Center for Science and Inter-
national Affairs suggest that in
order for the Obama Administration
to meet that target and cut green-
house gas emissions, Americans
will soon be spending $7 per gal-
lon.”
And what about those new
laws controlling emissions? van der
Valk reports, “As the government
works through its new Health Care
legislation, it will turn to the pro-
posed carbon tax which is meant to
discourage the present trend for
ever increasing use of fossil fuels.
Without implementation of this car-
bon tax, it is predicted that vehicle
miles traveled will increase by more
than 30 percent between 2010 and
2030, putting even more pressure
on fuel prices.”
Bottom line is we will all
spend more for gas. Will it hit
seven bucks a gallon? Maybe. But
for now let’s assume fuel prices are
on a rocket to new heights. What
do you do? There will be a need
for a huge shift in how we all use
fuel. For families, we’ll have to con-
tinue our move to more energy effi-
cient models, do more carpooling
and take fewer road trips. For com-
panies who are fuel dependent
there is a technology solution tied
to Fuel Management, called Fuel
Management Online, or FMO.
With this web-application fuel mon-
itoring is made easy so that fuel
consumption can be controlled,
measured and managed. For
years there have been similar ap-
plications available to control
labour costs and now FMO makes
these tools available for fuel man-
agement use.
FMO helps Fleet Man-
agers, Operations Managers and
Purchasing Agents cut fuel costs.
In a technology driven world, FMO
is a technological solution. Created
by 4Refuel, the world leader in
Total Fuel Management, this soft-
ware suite is exportable for use
with any accounting software. In
fact the 4Refuel has even created
USB FMO buttons that plug into
your computer and take you imme-
diately to the app’s home page with
one click…very slick.
Fleet Managers used to
rely on manual reports, if they got
them at all. FMO eliminates the
hassle of gathering this information
and ensures accuracy in all data.
So relax. Fuel is going up,
but probably not to $7 a gallon any
time soon. But we all need to re-
place old habits with new ones. For
company owners and fleet man-
agers, FMO is the only way to plan
for the future sting.
Jack Lee is CEO of 4Refuel – the largest on-site fuel management com-pany in Canada and aglobal leader in technologydesigned to help busi-nesses reduce their fuelexpenses.
Got a questionabout fuel?
Ask the fuel expertby emailing Jack at [email protected]
16
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Once upon atime, dinosaurslived on theearth, humanslived in caves,truck driverswere hardworking,
dedicated professionals who put
the load and company first and
were some of the most respected
workers on the road. Like the di-
nosaurs and cave people, the old
time, old style driver is becoming
extinct. What is killing off the old
time driver? The new style of truck-
ing is.
In the old days, a driver thatmade deliveries on time no mat-ter what, took care of the equip-
ment, talked politely to their
dispatchers, other office employ-
ees, and gave 110% were taken
care of. Pay raises, new equipment
and bragging rights to being a top
driver were the old time drivers re-
wards, with perhaps a jacket for not
tearing up the truck or someones
car thrown in to boot. A driver knew
where he or she stood in the com-
pany if they did a good job,
There were heroes of legend on
the road to think about, drivers who
ran fast, experimental engine
trucks and many tales were told of
their adventures over coffee. The
old hands knew that they would
never be like their heroes, the com-
pany trucks were slower for the
most part, but still a little bit inside
of the driver wanted to be like them.
A driver felt like a hero when he/she
knew that they were designated top
driver in their company.
Truck drivers were respected then,
not feared. A little old lady in her
broken down car knew that a
trucker would stop and assist her.
Children would stop playing to
pump their arms to hear the air
horns the driver would blow. Truck
stop personnel of both genders
would come out and wake a driver
up with a cup of coffee without fear
of getting beaten, raped or shouted
at. Truck stops at night were litwith the running lights of 100s oftrucks idling so that the drivercould sleep comfortably, no onecomplained of the noise or pol-lution, everyone knew a driverneeded their rest.
Now days, things are radically dif-
ferent. People are encouraged to
enter the profession to be profes-
sional tourists not professional driv-
ers. Companies no longer
acknowledge a driver as ̃ top driver
other than at award ceremonies
and the driver is rewarded with
monetary bonuses for doing their
job; fuel, safety and
perforance.quarterly or annually.
Like the companies themselves,
this has changed the driver to
being more concerned about the
bottom line rather than taking pride
in giving 110% or their own health
and safety.
Talking to one’s dispatcher is no
longer an option. Everything is
going high tech with loads given
over satellite systems and one puts
Sandy Long
20
one’s hours, comments or requests
over them too. Gone is the voice at
the other end of the line saying
Good job driver. It is all impersonal
now, drivers have become just the
person who drives the truck, meat
in the seat.
Drivers are caught between theirdispatchers who want the freightdelivered ˜just in time and thecompany safety department andHOS regulations while driving atoo slow governed truck. The dis-
patcher can get the driver fired if
they are late on delivering a load,
while the safety department can get
the driver fired for not following the
strict letter of the regulations.
Where is the pride in a ˜damned if
you do, damned if you don’t catch
22 situation?
Trucking has become so regulated
that a driver is told when they are
tired or not tired, when it is too cold,
too hot or just right for them to be
comfortable in their trucks, and
where they can or cannot park to
catch a nap. Those same regula-
tions have turned the trucking in-
dustry into a huge cash cow for
many municipalities and states.
No longer do many children pump
their arms to hear the air horns and
few truckers would notice to blow
the horn anyways. Little old ladies
in broken down cars look up in fear
if a truck comes by. Truck stops are
now travel centers and a driver
cannot for the most part even get a
free cup of coffee for buying
$500.00 worth of fuel much less get
a wake up call while parked in the
lot, the tourists get the freebies
now. Truck stops in the night too
are darker as more and more
states have laws against idling the
truck so a driver can rest comfort-
ably.
Drivers turn down loads now be-
cause they have to do their laundry
or they have a headache. Even
though showers are more available
now than ever before, there is little
pride in appearance and a lot of
drivers look worse than the beg-
gars at the off ramps of the inter-
states. Most companies no longer
have dress codes and allow every-
thing from cheek piercing to crack
showing sweat pants and flip flops.
Where are the legendary truckers
that used to be around? They have
died off and been replaced by
nascar drivers and heavy metal
bands. Now days, one no longer
sees a huge round table of drivers
laughing and telling tales over a
cup of coffee, everyone is in too big
of a rush and too self centered to
mingle and socialize. In the rare oc-
casions one does get into a conver-
sation with a driver, it isn’t about
tales of legends, it is about griping
about loads or how many times one
scored with the opposite sex.
Once upon a time starts many a
fairy tale and before too much
longer the old time truck driver will
become just a faded memory of a
time long ago when drivers were
respected for the professionals
they were and treated accordingly.
As an old time driver, I too am
being slowly killed off by the new
style trucking industry and will fade
away in time just like the dinosaur,
22
but I will not go quietly. I will keep
the memory of the old time driver
alive the best I can in my writing,
who knows, fairy tales sometime
come true and perhaps some day
in the far future, the old time type
of driver will be appreciated once
again.
Yall be safe out there!
Sandy Long is a long time truck
driver who is also very active within
the trucking industry. She is a free-
lance writer for layover.com, a lifemember of OOIDA, member ofthe WIT and owner of two web-sites: Trailer Trucking Tech, ayahoo group dedicated to theeducation of new and prospec-tive truck drivers and
www.satinandsteelsisterhood.com
for women in non traditional jobs.
Sandy welcomes comments at
Who is this Great Person!24
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