July 2018 Volume 38, Issue 6
TRUCK NEWS Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
Eastern Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
Pages 16-17
Page 35
Page 38
Page 49
Smokescreen
‘Hey, Mercedes’
Spec’ing shunt trucks
Spec’ing for success
This summer Canada is moving to legalize marijuana. Is your trucking company prepared?
We take the new Sprinter for a drive and get to know its MBUX user experience system.
Fleets are spec’ing higher-end yard tractors to reward hard-to-find drivers.
Fleets at the Canadian Fleet Maintenance Summit discuss their spec’ing strategies.
Truck market ‘red hot’
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Canada sets best month for Class 8 orders since 2006 Canada posted its best month for Class 8 order intake since early 2006 in April, and was the only North American market to post a monthover-month gain. It booked 5,815 units, according to ACT Research. May Class 8 orders were also strong, with North American orders totaling 35,200 units – slightly below the six-month average of 40,000 units per month, FTR reported. Class 8 orders for the past 12 months have now totaled 386,000 units, pushing the backlog out to the end of the year and causing supply chain challenges for truck makers. “We are seeing the backlogs grow to the point where you can say, for all practical purposes, we are sold out for 2018,” Roger Nielsen, chief executive officer of Daimler Trucks North America, said during a media roundtable June 6. “We’re reaching
Nearly 170 trucks were lined up at the Ilderton Fairgrounds June 9-10, to raise funds for two important children’s causes.
Doing it for the kids Trucking for Kids truck show experiences another growth spurt
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Careers: 6, 18-35, 55 Ad Index: 53
By James Menzies ILDERTON, ONTARIO The third annual Trucking for Kids truck show was held here June 9-10, with more trucks than ever before participating. Organizer Colleen Manning said there were 169 trucks on site, up from the 148 that took part last year. Many were decked out with stuffed animals or arranged with bowls of candy for visiting children. The event, which also features a car show and a kids’ zone, raises money for two charities that Manning and her husband J.R. – a truck driver – hold dear. Ronald McDonald House and the Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre came to the couple’s aid when their son Samuel was born premature in 2015. Once Samuel had recovered, the Mannings wanted to give back to the charities, and decided to call on truck drivers for support. “I floated the idea of a truck show before we were even out of the hospital,” J.R. Manning told Truck News at this year’s show. “I threw it up on Facebook and everybody
said ‘We’ll come out.’ We settled our life back out and got to it and it far exceeded our expectations.” The first show in 2016 raised about $30,000, which was split evenly between the two organizations. Last year another $37,000 was raised. This year, $45,000 was raised, bringing the three-year total to more than $112,000 – far more than the couple thought possible that first year. “We said if we raised $1,000, we will be happy with that, and we raised $15,000 the first year for each of the charities,” J.R. added. Owner-operator Mark Desjardine was one of the truckers who came out to support the show. He has a first-hand experience with the charities the event raised money for. “Elizabeth is my granddaughter. She was born premature and spent two weeks in the children’s hospital and my daughter and her husband spent the same amount of time at Ronald McDonald House,” Desjardine told Truck News in front of his truck, its grille decorated as a tribute to Elizabeth. “Those are pretty amazing facilities.” Elizabeth is now a healthy two-year-old. Continued on page 23