December 2014 Volume 34, Issue 12
TRUCK NEWS Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
Putting it all on the table
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
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Report from the Summit Um none officip sapero commoditat
Panel addresses the seven elephants in the driver shortage room
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On the road
We test drive a new powertrain from Eaton and Cummins in the International ProStar, which seems a good fit for Canada.
By Jason Rhyno MISSISSAUGA, Ont. • A panel discussion in late October on the driver shortage took a refreshingly honest tone when discussing the role of Indo-Canadians and women in trucking. The event, hosted and organized by Delta Nu Alpha, brought in Mark Seymour, president of Kriska Transport and chair of the CTA Driver Shortage Blue Ribbon Task Force; Manan Gupta, editor of Road Today magazine; Angela Splinter, executive director of Trucking HR Canada; and Guy Broderick, drivertrainer with Apps Transport. Moderated by Mike McCarron, founder of MSM Transportation, the panel took a “macro approach” to the driver shortage, discussing the usual suspects: the image of trucking, EOBRs, mandatory training, recruitment and retention. But it was the time taken during the 90-minute discussion to dig into the various, as McCarron said, “elephants in the room,” that set the panel apart from others on the same topic. Elephant #1: Is the driver shortage a friend or foe for carriers?
“How motivated are the owners in finding drivers?” McCarron asked. Trucks are full, rates are going up and capacity is good. “Is that demotivating transportation companies from solving this problem?” “The situation is preventing people from growing organically, thus the reaContinued on page 20
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A full report from the soldout Surface Transportation Summit. Four pages of coverage.
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Loaded for cargo
The new Sprinter cargo van is loaded with features and options.
George Sutherland, a city driver with Bison Transport in the Greater Toronto Area, has been named the 2014 Owner/ Operator of the Year.
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The truck comes first Owner/Operator of the Year George Sutherland built his business by running it like a business.
Does the shoe fit?
What you need to know about remanufactured brake shoes and why simply relining may not be the best option.
By James Menzies TORONTO, ONTARIO
T
hat George Sutherland even bothered to show up for work on the second day of his new career, given the disastrous nature of his first day on the job, is a surprise. That was 20 years ago. He’s been showing up every day since then and piling up the safety awards and accolades along the way. He has a new one to his name. Sutherland has been named the 2014 Truck News Owner/Operator of the Year, for his industry advocacy, safe driving, willingness to help others and his business acumen. Sutherland had an interest in big trucks since childhood and decided in 1994 to obtain his A/Z licence. He went to a driving school and after about 40 hours behind the wheel, passed his driving test and was ready to embark on his new career. He applied for a job and the owner handed Sutherland the keys to a tractor hooked to a tridem trailer. Sutherland asked which driver would be accompanying him and the owner said, “You’re on your own,” he recalled. “They said ‘If you can make it back by the end of the day, no accidents, you’ve got the job.’ So off I go in this single-axle truck, no idea how heavy the load was because, you know, it didn’t really mean anything to me.”
Sutherland got onto the 401 and the trailer began swaying like crazy. He was driving just 35 mph and trying to maintain control. When he arrived at his destination another driver noticed the trailer’s lift axle had 105 psi when it should have held 55 psi, causing the poor handling. “He says ‘How did you even get here? That thing must have been snaking all over the highway! You were running on one axle!’” Sutherland unloaded and went back to the office, having spent eight hours to make one delivery. “I thought there’s no way I’m going to have a job,” Sutherland recalled. But to his surprise, the owner hired him on the spot. • A lot has happened to Sutherland since that first trip. He worked as a company driver for about five years, but always with an eye towards buying a truck of his own. Those early years he operated the company truck as though it were his and carefully tracked his numbers to determine whether he could make it as an owner/operator. “To try to jump in with no knowledge of what you’re doing, I don’t think you can make it,” Sutherland said. “The probContinued on page 22
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