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June 2013 Volume 24, Issue 6
Tops in the shop: Canada Cartage’s John Haines has been named Maintenance Manager of the Year.
Page 30
Gas pains: Bison Transport COO Rob Penner candidly discusses the fleet’s natural gas experience and more.
Page 29
Fuel to the fire: Pilot Flying J is in hot water after allegedly shortchanging customers’ fuel rebates.
Page 22
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Western Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1989
Shot in the dark: On-road editor Harry Rudolfs testdrives Truck-Lite’s new LED headlight system.
trucknews.com
Embrace change Navistar’s Jack Allen tells AMTA conference more change is coming By Jim Bray
Tex Bussey, a retired commercial truck salesman, is among the volunteers who’ve rescued a collection of antique trucks and found them a new home where they can be enjoyed by visitors.
Home at last
B.C. Vintage Truck Museum returns to its roots in Cloverdale
Reach us at our Western Canada news bureau
By Harry Rudolfs
PM40069240
Contact Jim Bray at: jim@transportationmedia.ca or call 403-453-5558
pg 01, 10, 26-28 tw june v3.indd 1
CLOVERDALE, B.C. – It took a lot of meetings and about two years of work, but the collection of vintage trucks that was once at the core of the B.C. Transportation Museum, is once again back where it started in Cloverdale, B.C. Eighteen of the trucks are now housed and on display in a building beside the Fraser Downs horse track. I recently walked in on a group of ardent volunteers who were preparing the trucks for the grand opening on Victoria Day Weekend . The spirit of volunteerism was everywhere. I found Brian Busby, a retired driver, behind the wheel of a 1929 White tanker painted up in Shell colours. The engine purrs along as Busby rolls it into the driveway. “It runs okay, but I need a swamper to help me steer it,” he joked. Tex Bussey, another retiree and a former commercial truck salesman, was doing a final patch on the floorboards of a 1941 Chevrolet Maple Leaf, manufactured in Oshawa, Ont., during WWII. Another retired driver Lloyd Lemky showed up to help
Careers: 6, 10, 15, 20, 27, 28, 33, 37
with the preparations, and it was then I realized this museum is about more than just the vehicles – it’s also about the stories and the passion that the volunteers bring to the artifacts. Lemky, for instance, was among the first drivers to haul A-train gasoline tankers for Trimac. “They thought we could do the job with 270-horse engines, when really we needed about 350,” he told me. “That is until we started to bill them by the hour instead of the trip. It would take me almost six hours to go from Hope to Princeton, and most of that was in second and third gear.” The story of these trucks and their people is as varied as the history of trucking in British Columbia. The bulk of the collection comes from Aubrey King, a trucking magnate who shut down his drayage business rather than cave into labour pressure from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who were courting his drivers at the time. King simply closed up operations and many of the trucks were preserved in mint condition in an old warehouse. One of the Chevrolet Maple Leafs had only 77 miles on the odometer. Continued on page 10
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BANFF, Alta. – Jack Allen thinks there are some pretty heavy-duty times coming in the not too distant future – as if there haven’t been some already! But he also thinks that, rather than bemoan the situation, the industry should look at the changes as opportunities. Allen, the new chief operating officer for Navistar, also told the 75th Alberta Motor Transport Association Management Conference in this Rocky Mountain resort town that his company is moving full steam, or at least “full diesel and alternate fuels,” ahead into that future and intends to be a big part of it. Saying it’s a great privilege to be leading Navistar through what he called “a great time of transition and challenge,” Allen noted that the company – like the industry – faces some pretty big challenges, but everyone goes through challenges at one time or another. “To paraphrase Mark Twain,” he said, “the rumours of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. Despite some elegantly crafted obituaries I’ve read recently, we’re moving ahead with a renewed dedication and resolve.” But his address dealt more with what’s coming for the industry as a whole, in light of some possibly disturbing trends and looming new rules. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, there’s really no industry that is immune to change. Change is the only constant we can count on, and we succeed by turning uncertainty and change into opportunity.” Allen said he believes the trucking industry has a tremendous future and it’s the shared responsibility of all the stakeholders to recognize that they need to adapt and, in some cases, even be “the driver of that change.” One big change – and a good one – Allen bets is coming, is a more stable price for diesel fuel. He noted that the price of diesel has seesawed over 30% over the past three years, a situation exacerbated by instability in the Middle East and the European financial meltdown. “It seems like every global crisis there is results in the price of diesel fuel in North America being…on a wild ride,” he said, “And it’s very difficult to Continued on page 26
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