November 2009 Volume 29, Issue 11 Delivering daily news to Canada’s trucking industry at www.trucknews.com
Closed for business Despite tough economic times, truckers once again volunteer their time and their equipment to support a worthy cause.
Story on page 11
Ontario highway service centres could be closed for years By Harry Rudolfs TORONTO, Ont. – Drivers looking for a restaurant and a place to buy fuel on Ontario’s 400-series highways will find slim pickings the next few years. Twenty of the 23 sites are closing while they are being decommissioned and rebuilt. And although some parking, vending machines and portable toilet facilities will be available at some of them, the project is expected to take much longer than originally expected. The service centres are being shut as soon as the leases expire and the last one will close its doors in 2011. But until the first of the new structures come on stream – a process that takes three years or more – we could be left with only three fully-operative service centres (Ingersol, Maple, and Newcastle) on the 400 and 401 highways. This is nothing new to truck drivers. From Windsor to the Quebec border we’ve watched these places close in bunches for the last Continued on page 24
The new UltraShift Plus Putting it to the test on some massive grades
Inside This Issue... • Are you ready for this?: The US is completely changing how it issues carrier safety ratings and is already monitoring you. Are you prepared for the new rules? Page 8
See our ad page 50
• Don’t trash those tires: Ontario’s used tire program may add to the price of tires, but there are savings too.
Page 20
• The last load:
After humping furniture for 40 years, a professional driver decides to hang up the keys. We chat with him before he heads out on that final run. Page 32
• Hands on Trucking: Mark begins to seek revenge on a shipper that’s exploiting truck drivers.
See page 48
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