2

Did you noticesomething different aboutthe front cover this month?

Instead of just May, it

is a May and June Edition.

This is the first time in 19 Edi-

tions I have combined and

about time. First the work

that goes into producing,

printing and delivering the

magazine each month is a

job in it’s self especially in

this economy where I am all

of those plus the sales guy.

The magazine has been

going out later and later each

month missing it’s 15th of the

month distribution date.

Combine all of this

with 2 Truck shows in June

the Fergus show on our

heals and two of my sons

having wedding socials and

getting married. You HERD

right both getting married this

year one month apart. Good

thing they both have great

heads on thier shoulders and

great better halfs that have it

so all I have to do is show

up.People always ask about

me having kids old enough to

get married and surprised to

find out that Robert is 32 this

year and Gordon is 30.

Smarter then thier dad mar-

ried at 18.Then the other

shoe drops when I tell them

that I have had 9 children, not

to slight you other guys in my

life that have lived with me

that I consider like my sons. A

gang of us, eh!

So back to my story.

This month I am combining

May & June in one to give me

a chance to put out a stellar

July 15th edition for the Fer-

gus truck show. But don’t let

me get to far ahead of myself

Dave brings to CTM 36 years of

valuable experience in transporta-

tion, management, business and

compliance. Dave has driven in

every condition across North Amer-

ica and overseas as military, police,

company driver to owner operator.

Now Publisher & Editor of

Canadian Trucking Magazine

the one you pick up,read and keep.

3

here.

Let us start with two

shows on the father’s day

week-end. A great way to

spend time with the family.

The Stirling show in theEast at of course StirlingOntario and the Big RigWeek-end this year in RedDeer. Both great shows giv-

ing you the opportunity to

spend a week-end at a truck

show no matter which side of

the country you live in.

I will be at the Stirling

Truck Show because I can’t

be two places at the same

time and at Stirling we have

a Herd Intergrated VehicleProtection Bumper we aregiving away at the awards

ceremony. It will be sitting at

our both, so come down and

give us a visit.

Rumor has it that our

CTM Girl from last month

Jen and our current CTMGirl Krissy are planning onattending and signing au-tographs and handing outmagazines.

The fine folks at Stir-

ling put on a banner show, in

my opinion if you are a

trucker and anywhere in the

east around that time you

have to attend to see this is a

truck show for truckers.

Now talking west

here, there is no introduction

or indorsement needed for

the Big Rig Week-end put on

by Pro-Trucker, more impor-

tantly the White Family who

are Pro-Trucker. I have at-

tended several of thier shows

and trust me if you miss this,

what are you doing driving a

truck! I will get out to Chilli-

wack for the July one and

sure sorry this year I am torn

in two and will be in Stirling.

So drivers plan your

trips and book your days

now. Those in the West, Red

Deer and those in the east

Stirling. Both are located

where you can so easily get

to. Any one sitting in Cow-

town or Edmonton reading

this magazine should all get

together and run there for the

day. An hour and a half drive

from either direction which is

nothing for a driver.

Back to Stirling, this

HERD is going to be drawn to

some lucky driver who will

never have that whiteknuckle feeling again.

Sorry I don’t under-

stand Owner Operators that

don’t have a HERD on thier

truck already. No this isn’t an

4

info commercial, this is years

of experience speaking. On

my trucks I had my bar and I

could fill up the magazine

with times I used that bar

even in traffic accidents.

Never any my fault by the

way. If you have to run at

night and in Canada in the

fall/winter you don’t have

much choice if you are going

to make a buck. Having asolid bar on the front ofyour truck, takes a littlemore stress off the chest. I

promote HERD as I have

toured thier factory, used

thier product and spoke to

drivers that have savedthousands in repairs anddown time, because theyhad a HERD. Of course

there is different price breaks

and models of HERD so

compare apples to apples.

Don’t run out and buy a

cheap bar that does not say

HERD on it and think you are

going wildlife hunting. I just

have a friend Gord, owner

operator out there pasted by

a four wheeler who then

locked thier brakes to turn off

giving him no choice but kill

them or take the ditch. Gord

went in and locked them and

drove out, but the roo bar on

his rig twisted like paper. Not

a HERD. Not saying the bar

won’t take a beating depend-

ing on what you spend, but

the HERD quality and if youinvest right might saveyour life. It will certainly in

this economy save you down

time and repairs and again

peace of mind.

There is my two cents

again on bars on trucks, not

because they advertise, but

because I asked them to be-

cause I believe in this prod-

uct.

All this talk about bars

and running down the road

really makes this drivermiss the road. Years ago

with a CDL in my pocket I

could just go to a company

grab thier truck and thier load

and run off to Texas or

Florida make some cash and

put some pavement under

my tires. These days with a

CDL in my back pocket and a

fast card I can’t do that. They

want me to become an em-

ployee, go through origina-

tion, drug testing, road

testing, dangerous goods, in-

terviews and a class room. I

guess I am grounded till the

driver shortage picks up, and

it will. As Tonnage is now on

6

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the climb and a lot of drivers

dropped off the market when

there were no trucks or jobs

available when the loads

start pilling in, again there will

be a shortage of good expe-

rienced drivers. Right now I

have friends that own trucks

on with companies that I can’t

even team a load unless I

jump all those hoops. With

not taking a load for 2 years

now and pounding on this

keyboard, I get pretty antsy.

I hear time and time

again when I go out and de-

liver the magazines from On-

tario to BC by hand, people

saying wow that is a lot of

miles. About 8000 clicks. But

it is the only road I get to play

on each month. To bad it is in

a four wheeler.

This last trip I hit 3

major storms in AB and SK

. Wow did peo-ple forget how to drive inwinter?If you were on the highway

in AB or

SK

around

the 29th

of April

you

know

what I am talking about.

Every few miles there were

2 or more vehicles in the

ditch and a few big trucks.

If you are a new driver

and the road conditions are

bad, park that rig. You are

more important than the box

behind you and if you do turn

her over then there goes your

job anyways.Even with sum-

mer, we get heavy down

pours with high winds a

recipe for disaster. If you feel

your butt checks clenching

where you could split a 2 x 4.

Guess what you should not

be on that road.

I have never chained

up in my life. If the roads are

so I need chains I park. The

CB has always let me know if

the road ahead is not what I

look forward to driving and

driver I park it. Never put one

in the ditch, touch wood,,, But

I have done some tree farm-

ing, ask me about that one

over coffee.

Hey talking about cof-

fee, in

Winterpeg

there is a

s p o t

called the

57 ChevCafe hid-

8

9

den on 365 Transport

Road out on the east

end of the city, indus-

trial area, actually con-

sidered the R.M of

Springfield.

If going around

the perimeter you no-

ticed Gunn Road, you

are close. Only open

Monday to Friday from

6:30 to 3:00 pm it is

worth going in there.

Debbie andSherri make me aburger and fires todrive my cardiologistnuts. I gave it away

this month as they are

in my driver do you know this

person.

Since we are talking

about food, On delivery in

Saskatoon at my favoriteHusky there, I caught up toGrumpy having breakfastwith an amazing

women, of course his

better half, sorry

women he is taken.

Had to put a plug in

for Crystal one of

CTM’s biggest fans

who has a pile of

people each month

asking her for the lat-

est CTM. She can’t

even go to Tim’s without a

driver in line asking Crystal

for the latest magazine.

Nothing is better

music to my ears when I hear

how much you enjoy my

magazine and you keep it.

This month I took my

10

10th Annual BC Big Rig Weekend

8th Annual AB Big Rig Weekend

July 10th-11th, 2010 at Chilliwack Heritage Park

June 19th-20th, 2010 at Westener Park, Red Deer

Trucker’s Family Weekend

For more information call 1.800.331.8127 pro-truckermagazine.com

own advise and headed to

South Beach for a minnivacation. Another advertiser

I pursued on the next page to

us here. The reason, great

food combined with excellent

entertainment and priced

right for my scottish heart.I

was happy to hear a lot of

you took advantage of thiergift cards at Christmastime for people who arehard to buy for. Great for abirthday present to withthier golf packages and soclose to Grand Beach oneof the worlds finestbeaches in my opinion.A

couple of great car shows

coming up and you can

check thier web site for the

entertainment line up. Give it

a whirl or give someone who

deserves a good week-end a

gift card and let me know

how it works out.

Talking about web

pages, we now have all the

back issues on digital on the

web page for you to read at

your liberum. As well we have

hit over 1200 fans on ourFacebook Page, that is more

fans then any other transport

magazine in Canada.

Please keep in mind

the very important events

coming up with Convoy for a

Cure and the Torch Run. We

drivers have always been

there for people that need our

help. This year let’s make

these events the largest best

ever.

Once again I look for-

ward to meeting each one of

you on the road or at one of

these truck shows and hear-

ing your input into my maga-

zine. I built this as an

entertainment magazine for

you my readers.

Happy Trails My Friends,,,,, Dave12

Gas Prices Up to $7 per gallon?Give me a Break!

I just about fell out of my

chair. I know gas and oil prices

have moved up over the last few

months and we are on the verge of

the annual summer bump in fuel

prices, but when I heard about the

possibility of a $7 dollar gallon, I

had to do some digging. Where

did that number come from?

It seems the prediction

was made as a reaction to more

stringent environmental controls on

emissions coming in the future for

both Canada and the US.

First, let’s look at what is

planned for the oil sands in Al-berta. Production from oil sands bi-

tumen emits 15% more carbon

dioxide (CO2) than conventional

crude oil on a wells-to-wheels

basis. Shell reports it is committed

to cutting its environmental foot-

print. The company reports on its

website it is dealing with the prob-

lem in a number of ways, “including

greater efficiency and technological

innovation.” They report the first

stage of expansion will employ a

new technology that cleans the bi-

tumen froth more efficiently, saving

energy and water and avoiding

C02 emissions by 40,000 tonnes a

year. Shell will build the process

into the first expansion phase of the

Athabasca Oil Sands Project

(AOSP Expansion 1) now under

construction.

Looking at that situation,

4Refuel Fuel Analyst Bob van der

Valk says, “Current technology has

not caught up with the impending

stricter requirements to make the

heavy Alberta Oil Sands crude oil

more environmentally sensitive.

When it does, it will eventually add

to the cost of production pushing

up prices.” So, in reality, having

cleaner extraction technology will

boost the price we pay at the

pumps, eventually.

Now on to the US. The

Obama Administration has identi-

fied the environment as another top

priority and in order to meet the

new regulations, consumers will all

be asked to pick up a portion of the

cost of cleaner air.

A Harvard Study says to meet EPA

emissions targets gas prices could

reach $7 per gallon!

Here’s what the gas guy,

Bob van der Valk has to say about

that, “Targets set by the US Envi-

ronmental Protection Agency (EPA)

include a goal to reduce carbon

dioxide emissions in the transporta-

tion sector 14% by 2020. A lofty

ambition, and in order to give it

some teeth, it is included in the

EPA’s 2010 budget. Consumer

studies by researchers at Harvard’s

Jack LeeAskTheFuelExpert

14

Belfer Center for Science and Inter-

national Affairs suggest that in

order for the Obama Administration

to meet that target and cut green-

house gas emissions, Americans

will soon be spending $7 per gal-

lon.”

And what about those new

laws controlling emissions? van der

Valk reports, “As the government

works through its new Health Care

legislation, it will turn to the pro-

posed carbon tax which is meant to

discourage the present trend for

ever increasing use of fossil fuels.

Without implementation of this car-

bon tax, it is predicted that vehicle

miles traveled will increase by more

than 30 percent between 2010 and

2030, putting even more pressure

on fuel prices.”

Bottom line is we will all

spend more for gas. Will it hit

seven bucks a gallon? Maybe. But

for now let’s assume fuel prices are

on a rocket to new heights. What

do you do? There will be a need

for a huge shift in how we all use

fuel. For families, we’ll have to con-

tinue our move to more energy effi-

cient models, do more carpooling

and take fewer road trips. For com-

panies who are fuel dependent

there is a technology solution tied

to Fuel Management, called Fuel

Management Online, or FMO.

With this web-application fuel mon-

itoring is made easy so that fuel

consumption can be controlled,

measured and managed. For

years there have been similar ap-

plications available to control

labour costs and now FMO makes

these tools available for fuel man-

agement use.

FMO helps Fleet Man-

agers, Operations Managers and

Purchasing Agents cut fuel costs.

In a technology driven world, FMO

is a technological solution. Created

by 4Refuel, the world leader in

Total Fuel Management, this soft-

ware suite is exportable for use

with any accounting software. In

fact the 4Refuel has even created

USB FMO buttons that plug into

your computer and take you imme-

diately to the app’s home page with

one click…very slick.

Fleet Managers used to

rely on manual reports, if they got

them at all. FMO eliminates the

hassle of gathering this information

and ensures accuracy in all data.

So relax. Fuel is going up,

but probably not to $7 a gallon any

time soon. But we all need to re-

place old habits with new ones. For

company owners and fleet man-

agers, FMO is the only way to plan

for the future sting.

Jack Lee is CEO of 4Refuel – the largest on-site fuel management com-pany in Canada and aglobal leader in technologydesigned to help busi-nesses reduce their fuelexpenses.

Got a questionabout fuel?

Ask the fuel expertby emailing Jack at AskTheFuelExpert@4Re-fuel.com

16

17

Once upon atime, dinosaurslived on theearth, humanslived in caves,truck driverswere hardworking,

dedicated professionals who put

the load and company first and

were some of the most respected

workers on the road. Like the di-

nosaurs and cave people, the old

time, old style driver is becoming

extinct. What is killing off the old

time driver? The new style of truck-

ing is.

In the old days, a driver thatmade deliveries on time no mat-ter what, took care of the equip-

ment, talked politely to their

dispatchers, other office employ-

ees, and gave 110% were taken

care of. Pay raises, new equipment

and bragging rights to being a top

driver were the old time drivers re-

wards, with perhaps a jacket for not

tearing up the truck or someones

car thrown in to boot. A driver knew

where he or she stood in the com-

pany if they did a good job,

There were heroes of legend on

the road to think about, drivers who

ran fast, experimental engine

trucks and many tales were told of

their adventures over coffee. The

old hands knew that they would

never be like their heroes, the com-

pany trucks were slower for the

most part, but still a little bit inside

of the driver wanted to be like them.

A driver felt like a hero when he/she

knew that they were designated top

driver in their company.

Truck drivers were respected then,

not feared. A little old lady in her

broken down car knew that a

trucker would stop and assist her.

Children would stop playing to

pump their arms to hear the air

horns the driver would blow. Truck

stop personnel of both genders

would come out and wake a driver

up with a cup of coffee without fear

of getting beaten, raped or shouted

at. Truck stops at night were litwith the running lights of 100s oftrucks idling so that the drivercould sleep comfortably, no onecomplained of the noise or pol-lution, everyone knew a driverneeded their rest.

Now days, things are radically dif-

ferent. People are encouraged to

enter the profession to be profes-

sional tourists not professional driv-

ers. Companies no longer

acknowledge a driver as ̃ top driver

other than at award ceremonies

and the driver is rewarded with

monetary bonuses for doing their

job; fuel, safety and

perforance.quarterly or annually.

Like the companies themselves,

this has changed the driver to

being more concerned about the

bottom line rather than taking pride

in giving 110% or their own health

and safety.

Talking to one’s dispatcher is no

longer an option. Everything is

going high tech with loads given

over satellite systems and one puts

Sandy Long

20

one’s hours, comments or requests

over them too. Gone is the voice at

the other end of the line saying

Good job driver. It is all impersonal

now, drivers have become just the

person who drives the truck, meat

in the seat.

Drivers are caught between theirdispatchers who want the freightdelivered ˜just in time and thecompany safety department andHOS regulations while driving atoo slow governed truck. The dis-

patcher can get the driver fired if

they are late on delivering a load,

while the safety department can get

the driver fired for not following the

strict letter of the regulations.

Where is the pride in a ˜damned if

you do, damned if you don’t catch

22 situation?

Trucking has become so regulated

that a driver is told when they are

tired or not tired, when it is too cold,

too hot or just right for them to be

comfortable in their trucks, and

where they can or cannot park to

catch a nap. Those same regula-

tions have turned the trucking in-

dustry into a huge cash cow for

many municipalities and states.

No longer do many children pump

their arms to hear the air horns and

few truckers would notice to blow

the horn anyways. Little old ladies

in broken down cars look up in fear

if a truck comes by. Truck stops are

now travel centers and a driver

cannot for the most part even get a

free cup of coffee for buying

$500.00 worth of fuel much less get

a wake up call while parked in the

lot, the tourists get the freebies

now. Truck stops in the night too

are darker as more and more

states have laws against idling the

truck so a driver can rest comfort-

ably.

Drivers turn down loads now be-

cause they have to do their laundry

or they have a headache. Even

though showers are more available

now than ever before, there is little

pride in appearance and a lot of

drivers look worse than the beg-

gars at the off ramps of the inter-

states. Most companies no longer

have dress codes and allow every-

thing from cheek piercing to crack

showing sweat pants and flip flops.

Where are the legendary truckers

that used to be around? They have

died off and been replaced by

nascar drivers and heavy metal

bands. Now days, one no longer

sees a huge round table of drivers

laughing and telling tales over a

cup of coffee, everyone is in too big

of a rush and too self centered to

mingle and socialize. In the rare oc-

casions one does get into a conver-

sation with a driver, it isn’t about

tales of legends, it is about griping

about loads or how many times one

scored with the opposite sex.

Once upon a time starts many a

fairy tale and before too much

longer the old time truck driver will

become just a faded memory of a

time long ago when drivers were

respected for the professionals

they were and treated accordingly.

As an old time driver, I too am

being slowly killed off by the new

style trucking industry and will fade

away in time just like the dinosaur,

22

but I will not go quietly. I will keep

the memory of the old time driver

alive the best I can in my writing,

who knows, fairy tales sometime

come true and perhaps some day

in the far future, the old time type

of driver will be appreciated once

again.

Yall be safe out there!

Sandy Long is a long time truck

driver who is also very active within

the trucking industry. She is a free-

lance writer for layover.com, a lifemember of OOIDA, member ofthe WIT and owner of two web-sites: Trailer Trucking Tech, ayahoo group dedicated to theeducation of new and prospec-tive truck drivers and

www.satinandsteelsisterhood.com

for women in non traditional jobs.

Sandy welcomes comments at

Who is this Great Person!24

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