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July 2013 Volume 24, Issue 7
For the health of it: More fleets are implementing formal driver health and wellness programs.
Page 30
No sugar-coating: An Alberta Ministry official told AMTA not to expect weight increases or big spending.
Page 24
Taking a stand: Jeff Bryan Transport founder says industry must adopt e-logs, and before the US does.
Page 20
Page 13
Western Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1989
A new alternative: Volvo is launching a DMEfuelled truck it claims has advantages over nat-gas.
trucknews.com
Alberta’s new training standard taking shape By Jim Bray
Shelley Lothian was at a crossroads when she decided to embark on a career in trucking. She says she couldn’t be happier with the decision and is looking to transition into a safety-related position.
Breaking stereotypes
Reach us at our Western Canada news bureau Contact Jim Bray at: jim@transportationmedia.ca or call 403-453-5558
Transport companies are tapping new sources for professionals. And their results are paying off.
PM40069240
By Jim Bray
pg 01, 19, 26-27 tw july v2.indd 1
EDMONTON, Alta. – A self-styled country girl, Shelley Lothian is also a woman in love with her job – and the trucking industry she chose to be part of – after a couple of earlier careers didn’t work out. Lothian, 49, now calls Sherwood Park, Alta., home, but her story actually began in nearby Edmonton, which coincidentally is home to Park Paving, the company for whom she’s been driving for the past couple of years. She actually grew up in Ardrossan, though, which is about 20 kilometres east of the Alberta capital, and spent time in Fort Saskatchewan before settling in the bedroom community she now calls home. And while driving is clearly her passion now, her previous careers couldn’t have been more different. Lothian used to work in the printing industry, but found it a tad “binding” when everything there got computerized, and that kind of drove her away. So she changed gears and entered a totally unrelated industry: food service.
Careers: 7, 17, 19, 25, 27, 29, 33, 38
Ironically, considering the lack of skilled designation for truck drivers, Lothian (who’s single and has a grown daughter) got her Red Seal as a cook, and her gig evolved until she found herself working as a cake decorator, undoubtedly hoping that might put the icing on her career. It wasn’t to be, however; after about five years this gig also ended. “One day, I was putting a big carrot cake into a box and a tore all the TFCC’s (triangular fibro cartilage complex) in my wrist, so I couldn’t do that anymore,” she told Truck West. Lothian said the doctors operated on her right hand but they could only clean it up. “They can’t fix it,” she said, “so I pretty much had to get a new career.” And that’s when she started driving, in this case school buses – a business that, like many in the industry, always seems to be picking up. “I got my Class 2 to drive my school bus and I did that for about six months,” she said, “and then a lady who drove one of the trucks for Park Continued on page 26
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CALGARY, Alta. – It’s a chance for Alberta to lead the nation, and it just may help make the ‘unskilled’ career designation annoyance a thing of the past. If nothing else, it’s a first step. That was the upshot from a presentation by outgoing Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) president Dan Duckering who, aided by AMTA director of safety operations, Brian Bell, fielded a few questions on the association’s attempt to help develop minimum commercial driving standards for the province of Alberta. The topic was discussed during the AMTA’s annual Management Conference in Banff, prompting several thoughtful questions from the floor. Bell kicked things off with a briefing on the situation to date, then opened the floor to questions from delegates. Bell noted off the top there are actually two committees involved, one made up of industry stakeholders as well as an appropriately-named “steering” committee that consists, Bell said, of “industry-specific members as well as other affected industries that we have to consult with… such as oil and gas, busing, driving training, construction and forestry.” He said there’s also representation from Trucking HR Canada (formerly the CTHRC) and Alberta Transportation. The initiative, Bell said, began with a Fall 2012, meeting between AMTA board members Duckering, Willie Hamel and Rob Eskins, executive director Don Wilson and Transportation Minister Ric McIver. “The minister asked for a proposal be given to him after consulting as many stakeholders as we possibly can,” Bell said, “so we set out to do that.” Bell said the two committees are made up of about 60 people, and have already been at work. “They have discussed at great length the definition of commercial driver and currently we’re kind of looking at the definition as defined by Transport Canada,” he said. “We’ve looked at many different things and essentially, what we’re trying to establish is mandatory training for commercial drivers.” The “mandatory” aspect is apparently quite a sore spot with some, but Bell and Duckering were quick to note that, while the standards may indeed be compulsory, most credible companies in Alberta are already doing most, if not all, of what may eventually be required. “What we looked at was things that are already in existence,” Bell pointed out, “so the driver would have to have a pre-trip
Continued on page 19
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