November 2010 Volume 21, Issue 11 Delivering daily news to Canada’s trucking industry at www.trucknews.com
gleaning knowledge: It was wet, cold and blustery during the RCMP’s test sessions in Hanna, but officials said the results were worth the discomfort.
RCMP takes to the track to test truck accident dynamics By Jim Bray HANNA, Alta. – Talk about getting cold, hard data. It was an unseasonably chilly and stormy week in rural Alberta when representatives from police services, government and the transporta-
tion industry converged on an isolated test track to put a selection of big rigs through their paces in the interest of science and safety. The miserable weather didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the participants, however, who came from a variety of
locations in Canada and the US to either help with or observe a series of tests designed mostly to glean data that can be used in collision reconstruction. That’s how the sessions were envisioned by the RCMP officers who spearheaded the tests and, according
to Sgt. Sam Hewson, the RCMP’s Edmonton-based collision reconstruction program manager for K Division, it went very well. “We’re very happy,” he says. “We conducted 49 skid tests and also did timed Continued on page 7
Industry creates reward funds for information on B.C. trucker beating By James Menzies LANGLEY, B.C. – The trucking industry is rallying to bring justice to the perpetrators of a stunning, seemingly unprovoked attack on a truck driver who says he was simply trying to help a fellow motorist. Monarch Transport driver Alex Fraser, 67, stopped his truck Sept. 24 on
the Yellowhead Highway just north of Blue River, B.C., when a motorist flagged him down for help. According to media reports, the Good Samaritan truck driver was then ambushed and badly beaten by several men, one of whom reportedly said: “You truckers are all alike.” Fraser was left for dead, but man-
Wide-base tires go mainstream
aged to eventually get himself to safety. He has since undergone reconstructive surgery and has told media his trucking days are over. As Fraser recovers at his B.C. home, trucking groups are raising money in hopes of bringing his attackers to justice and helping ease Fraser’s transition to an unplanned retirement.
The B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the attackers and the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) said it would match the offer. “I have never, in the 16 years I’ve been with BCTA, heard of anything Continued on page 7
Inside This Issue... • Tipping the scales:
Mark Dalton O/O
Truck drivers waved into the Balzac
Michelin scales on a cold September day were in for a pleasant surprise – a free lunch courtesy the AMTA. Page 12 celebrates ook who’s 40: GreatWest Kenworth celebrated its 40th the production • Lanniversary recently. We catch up with Paul Storwick to discuss the dealer’s past and future. Page 16 of its one millionth • I t’s a convoy: Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario recently held versions of the World’s Largest Truck Convoy. Page 20 X One
See pg. 24
• Exec view:
We talk to Cummins’ Jeff Jones about future engine technologies. Page 21
Reach us at our Western Canada news bureau E-mail Jim Bray at jim@transportationmedia.ca or call 403-453-5558
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To view list of advertisers see pg. 27
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