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August 2013 Volume 24, Issue 8
Your other fleet: We drive the 2014 GMC Sierra and put its towing capabilities to the test in southern Alberta.
Page 28
Super showing: Canadian trucks fared well at this year’s Shell SuperRigs show in Tomah, Wisconsin.
Page 26
Before you sell: M&A pro Doug Nix provides insights on how to maximize the value of your company.
Page 24
Page 22
Western Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1989
Focus on safety: We were at the AMTA’s first safety workshop. Check out our full report on the event.
trucknews.com
Alberta swamped by floodwaters Carriers roll on, chip in to help out in the face of catastrophe. By Jim Bray
Shell has opened Alberta’s first commercial LNG fuelling station at the Flying J Travel Plaza in Calgary.
LNG reaches milestone
Reach us at our Western Canada news bureau Contact Jim Bray at: jim@transportationmedia.ca or call 403-453-5558
Alberta’s first commercial LNG fuelling station paves the way for more widespread use.
PM40069240
By Jim Bray
pg 01, 12, 16 tw aug v3.indd 1
CALGARY, Alta. – May 28 may have been a significant date in Canadian trucking history. That was when Shell fired a major shot in what many think is a fuel revolution, unveiling to the public the first of its commercial LNG refuelling stations. The event came with the requisite amount of hoopla, as media, industry and government folk converged on the Calgary location – the Shell Flying J Travel Plaza at 11511 40 Street SE – for a unique ribbon cutting and addresses by dignitaries on hand. The gas bash was hosted by Jean-Marc Morin, Shell Canada’s general manager, commercial fuels, who said he believes the new facility, which will facilitate LNG-fuelled hauls along the Calgary-Edmonton corridor, anchors what will be the first of many such transport corridors in Canada. Morin kicked off the proceedings with an
anecdote from his childhood as a way to illustrate how profound he thinks the impact of LNG will be. His story hearkened back to October of 1974, when his Dad picked up the family’s new Chevrolet Impala in Drummondville, Que., and Morin noted that its first trip to the gas station was different from usual fillups. “Instead of pulling up to the pump with the familiar yellow decal that read Regular,” he said, “this pump was a bit different. It had a blue decal and it read Ultra.” Of course that was the beginning of the age of unleaded fuel, an era that shows no sign of ending unless gasoline itself can be replaced. “I can’t help but draw some parallels between my early memories of unleaded gasoline and LNG,” Morin said. “For example, I remember how unleaded gasoline was still a novelty back in 1974. It wasn’t widely available outside the urban areas. But today it’s ubiquitous.” Continued on page 12
Careers: 11, 12, 15, 17, To view list of advertisers see pg. 36 19, 22, 25, 29, 31
CALGARY, Alta. – Mother Nature chose the beginning of Summer 2013, to show just how puny human beings and their proud structures can be when she decides to make her presence known. And boy, did she make herself known, with the worst flooding across southern Alberta and British Columbia in memory. It took more than a week after Nature’s tantrum for evacuees to start being allowed back into High River – arguably the community hit worst by the flooding – while downtown Calgary finally started getting back to normal (as in “open for business,” as signs leading to the downtown core said) the day after Canada Day. Calgary and other southern Alberta municipalities found themselves under a state of emergency due to the floodwaters, forcing some 100,000 people from their homes. Electricity was off to portions of Calgary – including much of the downtown core – for days, while access to High River was cut off completely, not only by water but by the RCMP, whose cruisers blocked all of the highway exits into the community for more than a week after the initial rush of water. The High River closure also affected traffic heading south along Hwy. 2, thanks to a lane closure around the main exit from the highway into High River. That bit of “traffic calming” led to long lineups and bumper-to-bumper traffic as two lanes of high-speed traffic were forced into a single line that – between the volume of traffic and the amount of rubbernecking going on as drivers passed by – made the usually straightforward trip an interminable ordeal for truckers and motorists alike. It took more than a week for that situation to be resolved as well. Naturally, the aqua-kerfuffle had a huge impact on the trucking industry, as many units heading west and south from Calgary were forced to park until the Trans-Canada Highway and the southern Crowsnest route reopened. It took several days, the Trans-Canada finally being opened completely in both directions – albeit with reduced width – nearly a week after the June 21 flood. Truck stops in Calgary did a booming business during the flooding, as drivers were forced to cool their heels until they
Continued on page 16
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