July 2016 Volume 36, Issue 7
TRUCK NEWS The art of the deal
Driving the HX
We test drive International’s new HX-series truck with an all-new interior that brings luxury to the work site.
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
Spec’ing shunts
More fleets are buying higherend shunt trucks to attract and retain drivers.
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A report from the latest Driving for Profit seminar, which looked at HR best practices and wellness.
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Driving for Profit
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Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
Fastfrate turns 50
Consolidated Fastfrate is planning a summer of celebrations this year as it marks 50 years in business.
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A look inside one of Canada’s fastest growing trucking firms
By James Menzies WOODBRIDGE, ONTARIO
T
itanium Transportation Group was never meant to stay small. The vision was always to grow, even when Titanium was operating as a freight brokerage in 2002 from its 500 sq.-ft. headquarters, which sat atop a sketchy strip plaza at Toronto’s Dufferin and Finch. “We couldn’t get anywhere else to rent to us,” recalled Marilyn Daniel, chief operating officer of Titanium, now 400 trucks strong and one of Canada’s few publicly traded transportation companies. “We had nothing. People wanted security deposits.” What Marilyn, and husband Ted, did have, was a varied business background – none of which involved trucking. That, and an opportunity. Ted worked in the finance industry and worked on corporate turnarounds. One of the companies he was involved with attracted the attention of TransForce, Canada’s largest trucking company led by Alain Bedard. TransContinued on page 12
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A driver attempts the alley dock at the CORTDC on June 11.
The best of the best
Some of the most skilled Toronto-area truck drivers went head-to-head at the Regional Truck Driving Championships By Sonia Straface BRAMPTON, ONTARIO It wasn’t just the weather that was causing a number of professional drivers to sweat May 28 – 32 drivers from Toronto and the GTA participated in the Toronto Regional Truck Driving Championships and it was the heat of the competition that kept the drivers perspiring. The annual competition took place at Brampton’s Powerade Centre parking lot. Thirty-two drivers competed in a three-part competition in order to prove they are the best driver regionally and to move on to the provincial championships that are set for mid-July in Kingston, Ont. Drivers started the competition with a written test at 7:30 a.m., next moved on to a timed pre-trip inspection where they had to identify five defects with an MTO officer watching over them in just eight minutes. Then finally, they got into their truck class of choice and took to the driving obstacle course. Classes included: straight truck; single-single; single-tandem; tandem-tandem; and B-Train. The drivers were more than excited for their chance to climb up in the truck and show off what they could do in the obstacle course – mostly because most of them have done the course before. One such driver, Daryl Poole who drove in the straight truck category, said he couldn’t even remember if this was his fifteenth or sixteenth time at the regionals. Poole, a driver for YRC Reimer for 19 years, placed second last year at the same event and first in 2014.
“I always come back and do this for the people. Not only to join the people I work with, but with the other guys that compete,” he said. “There’s such a camaraderie there. It’s like sports – we all play for a different team but at the end of the day we’re all friends and we all have fun.” Poole went around the course quite quickly, however he did have some trouble when going through the offset alley, and his truck scraped one side. Despite this, he said the pre-trip is always the most nerve-racking part of the competition. “The MTO officer is right there watching you and you really want to make sure you don’t make a mistake,” he said. The MTO officers, along with the organizers and judges of each obstacle, are all volunteers and take hours out of their day, and year, to prepare for the championships and donate their time. Funding from the event comes solely from registration fees collected and sponsors. Poole said he is proud to be a part of YRC and it means so much that they not only support him participating in the event, but they support the championships itself. Just this year, YRC donated trucks to the competition (each driver has to drive the same truck in the class to even the playing field). “It means a lot (to have my employers and co-workers here) to root for me,” he said. “It goes to show I’m appreciated. They really show their support by coming out to root for Continued on page 8
2016-06-14 10:44 AM