July 2014 Volume 34, Issue 7
TRUCK NEWS Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
The 6x2 debacle
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
Page 8
A Canadian SuperRig
How your government is putting you at a competitive disadvantage
Um none officip sapero commoditat
By James Menzies
Page 22
Six-by-two axle configurations – in which only one of the two drive axles provides power to the vehicle – are gaining a lot of attention for their weight- and fuel-saving potential. According to Meritor, one of several manufacturers to produce 6x2 axles, about 4-5% of the North American Class 8 truck build for 80,000-lb GCW on-highway applications is currently being ordered in such a manner. “We think it’s going to hit 16% within the next four years,” John Nelligan, general manager, sales and marketing, Meritor North America, told Truck News. The advantages are obvious. Six-bytwos reduce weight by about 400 lbs, which can be converted into payload or translated into a fuel economy improvement ranging from 2.5-6%. And it’s not just the manufacturers citing these numbers. A recent study by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) looked at real-world usage as well as on-track tests and found that 6x2s delivered fuel savings averaging 2.5%. The results were even more impressive when singling out carriers using 6x2s in real-world applications, where average savings amounted to 3.5%. The environmental benefits are staggering. A 6x2 truck averaging 120,000 miles per year at 6.5 mpg that reduces its fuel consumption by 3.5% would reduce its CO2 output by 14,592 lbs each year. And that’s just one truck. But unfortunately, Canadian carriers looking to enjoy these savings – and Canadians who wish to breathe cleaner air – are being denied the opportunity by legislators in this country. Ironically, a Memorandum of Understanding that was intended to harmonize weights and Continued on page 43
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We catch up with Rodger Nelson, whose truck placed fourth at the Shell SuperRigs show.
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Secrets of the best
What do the Best Fleets to Drive For do that your company doesn’t? Their tips revealed. Page 46
More integration
More Canadians, including drivers, are using medical marijuana. How does this impact the carriers that employ them?
Prescription pot and trucking
Legal experts weigh in on the medical marijuana debate. And carriers may not like what they said.
Daimler unveils its first fully integrated Detroit powertrain. Page 54
For the family
Margaret Hogg gave up the bright lights of L.A. and returned home to run the family trucking business.
By James Menzies Before her first driving shift with a new carrier even began, Patti Satok lost her job. After being offered a domestic trucking job and put through the carrier’s two-day orientation, Satok’s pre-employment drug test came back positive for marijuana. Satok, who was injured on the job five years ago, uses medical marijuana for chronic pain relief while off-duty. She is one of about 40,000 Canadians now holding a prescription for medical marijuana. After her job offer was retracted, Satok initiated a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. You can read her story, published in the June issue of Truck News, at: http://tinyurl.com/TNmarijuana. This month, we explore the issue of medical marijuana use in the trucking industry in greater detail. • anadian trucking companies that employ drivers who use medicinal marijuana, may have to accommodate them to the point of “undue hardship,” or risk violating federal and provincial human rights codes. This could mean providing a driving schedule that allows them to work when the effects of the drug will have worn off, or giving them a non-driving job within the company. That’s the interpretation of the law from Ken Krupat, an
C
Ontario lawyer specializing in employment law. “The Canadian Human Rights Code (which governs most truckers) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability,” Krupat told Truck News. “Someone who requires prescription medication to treat a disability is entitled to accommodation to the point of undue hardship. This should mean that someone who is taking marijuana at some point should not lose a position because of that, assuming that they can medically demonstrate the need.” But Krupat acknowledged the balance between medication and safety would have to be considered by any human rights commission or court. Krupat isn’t aware of any current cases involving the trucking industry and medical marijuana. “This may come down to a human rights hearing with competing medical evidence,” he said. “If it could be shown that a certain amount of THC in the blood leads to or contributes to impairment – much like a certain blood-alcohol level – a company could rightly insist that truckers not drive if they test above that level…If some sort of residual level was deemed to be non-impairing, that evidence might be enough to cause a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to proContinued on page 9
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