Archive for the ‘Safety & Compliance’ Category

I frequently search for new topics when I am writing these articles. While glancing at the news headlines, I came up with this month’s topic. In fact, it was two different headlines that caught my eye. First was “Nearly 13% of Inspected Commercial Vehicles Taken out of Service During Break Safety Week”, and the ATA…

We are not far off from the annual truck driver safety meetings in Canada. The meetings are generally held the same weekend as the American Thanksgiving. This is because in the United States, they close the doors of so many factories on Wednesday afternoon of Thanksgiving and they remain closed on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) and…

There is a movement within the transportation industry to try to have truck driving recognized as a skilled trade. This has been talked about for many years. In the past, the Ontario government even had a “voluntary apprenticeship program” and some trucking companies did participate in this program. There was also some government money available…

I know that your safety department may have told you things like, “Don’t talk to the media” or perhaps they also said, “Protect the scene”, and likely, “Take pictures, lots of pictures”. These previous statements are all true. But what do they really mean? Protect the scene means to make the area safe so that…

If you are based in a province that offers facility insurance and you are using facility insurance, you are or were likely in trouble. If you use facility insurance, it will either slowly or quickly put your company into bankruptcy. What makes the facility insurance market so problematic? Facility insurance is often 3 to 5…

Good day Truck Drivers. The Canadian economy seems to be in a large rut. Many trucking companies are not hiring. Freight is moving but the low amount of freight is allowing shippers to pay and get unbelievably low shipping rates. The economy seems to be in a hole and trucking is certainly in a recession.…

Are we in a trucking recession? It sure appears that way to me, an outsider. In my safety consulting business, I get to visit many trucking companies. Most are the long-haul variety that also cross the border into the United States. Many of my customers are telling me one of two things. First, the amount…

Hey there, fellow truckers! Safety Dawg here and I’ve got a truckload of thoughts to share with you today about detention time. It is one of the most absurd things in our industry; the idea that truck drivers should wait up to two hours without getting paid for their time. Seriously, who came up with…