by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Sep 12, 2016 | BLOG
A CVSA level one inspection has 38 steps and it is a full mechanical and driver inspection, where drivers would have to provide necessary documentation to the officer.
A CVSA level two inspection is a 31-step procedure, where the majority of the steps are repeated just as a level one procedure (checking HoS compliance, low-air pressure etc.) however, the inspector is not going under the vehicle.
A level three inspection is only a 13-step procedure that involves no mechanical inspection, just the presentation of documentation from the driver.
These levels are standardized, meaning that the same level one inspection you receive in Ontario is the same level one inspection you’d be getting in southern Mexico.
The purpose of an inspection is four-fold. The CVSA is to check to see if drivers are in violation, if they are out-of-service, if the vehicle has defects and if the vehicle is out-of-service.
For more information on the CVSA please follow this link :
http://www.cvsa.org/programs/nas.php
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Sep 7, 2016 | BLOG
Let’s get the biggest group of Women in the Trucking Industry together for a picture with the pinky truck.
Bring your family for a fun filled day and help support this worthy cause. Special performance by the Danny Thompson Band. Together we can beat breast cancer one mile at a time .
Help us spread the word:
Please print and post these flyers in your company. Send to all your email contacts.
General Information:
Trucking For A Cure
Was presented this award in 2013 & 2015 by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation :
Community Event Commitment Award which is presented to the organizer of an outstanding community event that has demonstrated excellence in fundraising, fostering a spirit of volunteerism and reaches a new audience to the Foundation or that fundraises in a unique way.
Joanne MacKenzie Founder of Trucking For A Cure
The first covoy was in Woodstock ON in 2010.
They have raised over $400,000.00 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
All the funds raised goes directly to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
More information on Trucking For A Cure
Or to help sponsor this event please see the link below
https://truckingforacure.com/
Danny Thompson Band
A prestigious nomination for best new country artist by New Music Weekly has kept the band in high demand on the local music circuit.
The nomination comes as a result of Thompson’s latest hit single, Miles and Miles, a tribute to son Jamie, who was killed while driving his rig through Quebec in 2012.
Miles and Miles, recorded in Nashville and released in Canada early this year, has been climbing the charts on both sides of the border.
More information on the Danny Thompson Band and a full list of their up coming events please follow the link below
http://www.dannythompsonband.com/
Women’s Trucking Federation Of Canada
The 1st organization in Canada for Women in the Trucking Industry. Whether its in the office, under the hood or behind the wheel.
The Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada is about camaraderie, drivers helping drivers, pride and passion in what we do, empowerment and building morale. We aim to build bridges between drivers and all areas of the trucking industry; carriers, enforcement, training organizations, and safety groups, as well as citizens and the media. An important part of this goal is getting more involved with young people at the high school level, or even elementary school, We aim to help our
youth better understand the trucking industry and to promote trucking as a viable career option. Whether its in the office, under the hood or behind the wheel.
More information on the Women’s Trucking Federation Of Canada or to become a member or sponsor please follow the link below
www.wtfc.ca
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Aug 29, 2016 | BLOG
Truck Runaway Down a Mountain in Wyoming
While we were waiting at the Evanston WY truck stop that had been our home for 3 days for the chain law to be lifted, I was watching other drivers chaining up.
The 2 trucks beside us belonged to a father and son and they were chaining every wheel. Tractor and trailer. When I saw them putting a set on the steers I had to ask why, the dad said “It’s no use going if you can’t steer. Chaining the steers stops the truck from skating”
I knew what he was talking about from working in the bush with my husband and riding with him when we would take a load of pulp wood from the bush to the railway.
If you have never had a truck skate on an icy curve you are missing a heart pounding experience. That’s when you’ve turned the steering wheel but the truck keeps going in a straight line.
Finally on the 3rd day the chain law was lifted and we were allowed to start out. I should have waited till the next morning, but this was the first trip we were making for this company I wanted to get this load delivered on time.
You can safely go down a hill with a load if you use the same gear it would take to climb it.
I’m sure most of us have heard this when we were learning to haul freight,,,, following this rule can kill you! First of all when you’re climbing a hill the load is trying to pull the tractor back, when you’re descending a hill that load is pushing the truck.
I got a hard fast lesson the day I left Evanston Wy and headed up the first mountain. There was 44,000 lbs or so in the trailer and the old General had no Jake brake,,,, I was in 5th gear when I topped the hill.
The road looked like a rutted bobsled run and when the load started pushing me the truck over revved in a heartbeat. So to keep from blowing the engine I thought I would shift up, lol. As soon as I put it into neutral the truck shot off like a bullet and I couldn’t get into another gear, also I was rapidly gaining on the line of trucks ahead of me!
I grabbed my CB mic and said “I’m coming down too fast I can’t get my truck into a gear !! And this deep calm voice came back “You’ll be ok sweetheart just lean it out into that other lane and let it run, we’ll all just stay in this one and when you stop on the face of that other mountain just pull the red button” I never knew who talked to me but I have been grateful for him saving our lives that day. I still remember my partners face it was a white as chalk and he had his feet braced against the dash, that driver kept talking to me until I stopped on the next hill thank goodness I didn’t start sliding backwards, but it was just icy enough that I couldn’t get going again, so there we sat. We were only about a mile or less from the Little America Truck stop. The drivers going by couldn’t stop to pick us up because they would have been stuck too. But then a woman’s voice came on the CB she said they had a Jeep and would give us a ride to the truck stop.
They were local and knew people who worked at the truck stop, they told us to talk to the girl at the fuel desk and she would know who to call for a tow.
The fuel desk attendant’s name was Carol and she knew exactly who to call! She said Tim Cook is who you need and she called him. While we were waiting we sat down with a coffee by now the reaction to my runaway was setting in and I was shaking so bad I could hardly drink my coffee,,, but before I was even half finished the door flew open and this tall apparition came flying through “Kramer “ style! He was well over 6 feet tall dressed in a long drover’s coat, he had long curly red hair past his shoulders and topped it off with a leather cowboy hat, before he stopped moving he called out “ Who in here needs a tow off the Sister?”. I put my hand up and heard my voice say in a really high shaky voice “That would be us”. Hardly breaking stride he said “C’mon” and headed out the door.
Sitting in the yard was the biggest Tow truck or Wrecker as they call them there, huffing and rumbling it was all black and was a 6 wheel drive Kenworth, Tim called “Betsey” . We climbed in and went to rescue my truck. He hooked up aired up my truck and away we went up to the Little America Truck Stop. After he got my truck parked he asked us what our plans were, we told him we would sleep in the truck and start out again in the morning. He didn’t think that was a good idea, he told us that his wife managed the motel in Evanston and he wanted us to have a good warm safe place to recover from the runaway. He took us to the motel came and took us back up to the truck stop got the truck started and charged us $17.00 ! His comment was “I rescue a lot of trucks stuck in the mud at oil rigs and they pay real good, but I have to give my wife something for the room’’ he climbed back into Betsey with a wave and a “ You kids be careful now” and he was gone. I never saw Tim again but I hope he knows he was very instrumental in me continuing on this long road.
BUT this trip was far from over!
Stay tuned for more of Bev’s life experiences as a truck driver.
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Aug 27, 2016 | BLOG
I drive truck, a big truck. I pull trailers behind me. Sometimes they are empty and sometimes they are full.
When my trailers are empty, my rig weighs in at 19 and a half tonnes. When it is full, it weighs 63 tonnes. I drive as sensibly as I can, I have a family to go home to and I am sure that many of you do as well.
Here are a few tips to help us all do just that:
When you pass a truck and duck back in front, do not slow down. We are moving and usually building speed as we just came up a hill or just got some open room. When you cut in front and drop down to the legal limit right away, you are becoming a speed bump. So, please……leave about 40 or 50 feet between you and me, you and your family will appreciate you making it home.
If your road to turn onto is close ahead, do not pass me and then jam on your brakes. It takes a good distance for me to stop, especially if my trailers are full. If you do cut in front and decide to make a sudden turn, I will do everything in my power not to hit you. I will swerve, I will lock up all my brakes and if it is not too much of a slope, I will even take the ditch and roll my truck. But if I do end up hitting you, I can promise you that only one of us is going home to see our families, and it won’t be you.
When a truck does hit a car from behind, we do incredible damage to our units. First thing that happens is we climb your vehicle and rip out our front axle, we land on top of your car and now you become my steering wheels. You are probably dead at this point, so don’t trouble yourself trying to think of an out. There is none. The only problem is I go where you last pointed your wheels, I hope that was in the direction I wanted to go and not a sharp turn that could possibly flip my truck and hurt other people.
When a truck is slowing down for a light, you may notice a lot of room in front of them, that is not a spot that the nice driver reserved for you. It is a safety buffer for him to slow down without danger. It is also a zone that the driver will use to keep moving so he doesn’t have to burden other drivers with stopping and crawling up a hill or impeding the flow of traffic too much. When you think that it is a spot just for you, think again. If you look in your mirror, you know that thing that hangs in the middle of your windshield, you may notice a bumper that is inches from your car and bouncing up and down because you took the safety zone away and forced the driver of that truck to stop quicker.
When we are approaching a downhill grade, we do slow down. Especially in areas where some great politician decided that he did not like the sound of engine brakes. Yes, they can be loud. Yes, they can be annoying. But, when you see a big truck coming down a hill and he is having trouble slowing down and you see a busload of kids at the bottom of that hill, then the noise of the engine brake is something you should want to be hearing at that moment.
So, when we go downhill real slow into a town or city, it is not to annoy you or create a line up of pissed off drivers, it is for the kids at the bottom or your wife taking the dog for a walk. It is for safety. We would like to go down the hills and stop in 50 feet while talking on the phone, but we can’t. We plan every stop and every start to the best of our abilities to keep you and us safe.
I am not saying that all truck drivers are safe drivers, God knows that is far from the truth, and I am not saying that everyone driving a car is a bad driver, but they do exist. I am saying that we get into such routine every day that we sometimes forget that the laws of physics still apply to vehicles in motion. The bigger the vehicle, the longer it takes to stop. I hope I never have to look at a person and know that I was involved in the death of their loved one. I never want to see the face of a child that just lost his mommy or daddy to the crushing weight of my truck. I don’t want your death on my conscience.
I want you and me to go home to our families. Please, use some common sense. Look at the vehicle you are passing and give them room to keep you and others safe. Please
by wtfcanada2015@gmail.com | Aug 22, 2016 | BLOG
By Matt Richardson
Once an individual decides to join the trucking industry as a driver, the biggest and most important decision they will make is where they will go to get their education. This decision will greatly affect the job opportunities of a licensed driver entering the work force, and will no doubt be one of the determining factors in the ability to have a successful career. It is important that this decision be an informed one, that is came to by researching different options and knowing what questions to ask and who to ask them too.
The first question that should be asked to any training facility; Is your school a registered and approved training provider? Quite simply, if the facility isn’t a registered private career or community college, they should not be considered. This essentially means that they operate under the radar, and answer to no one or no governing body in regards to training standards or curriculums.
After confirmation has been received that a facility is registered, the next set of questions is very important and should be directed towards the customer service representative at the school or the person responsible for speaking with perspective students;
Do you offer a TTSAO accredited course or PTDI certified course? Truck training programs that are accredited by the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario (TTSAO) or certified by the Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) provide the highest standard of entry level training available. Schools offering these courses are audited regularly and adhere to strict guidelines. These courses and the certificates that go along with them are also recognized by a large number of hiring companies and their insurance providers which means lots of job opportunities and the chance at a great career with graduates holding them!
Are the behind the wheel hours where I am learning to drive the truck One on One, and if not, how are those hours calculated? It is the opinion of many, including myself, that the best way to learn behind the wheel is with 1 instructor and 1 student in the cab, however not all facilities believe this or train this way. If a school does complete one on one in truck training, then you don’t have to worry about how those hours are calculated (50 hours of in-cab is 50 hours). However, if a school does not offer one on one training, it is important to know exactly how much seat time you will be receiving. If there is 50 hours of in cab training but with the ratio of 2 students to 1 instructor each student may only be receiving 25 hours of seat time each. If one on one training is not offered, it is very important to ask how the in-cab hours are calculated so it is clearly understood the amount of time behind the wheel per student.
Do you offer training on both manual and automatic transmissions? Although a number of hiring companies have gone to automated transmissions in their trucks, there a still a large number of companies who have manual transmissions. To open up the most amount of doors for employment, having the ability to drive either type of transmission is critical. The TTSAO found it so critical that its mandated that schools offering their accredited program provide a minimum of 24 hour’s drive time in a manual transmission to each student.
What are your instructor’s qualifications and experience level? The instructors are going to be the one’s educating each student and should have the qualifications and experience to provide the necessary information and knowledge. The highest designation available for truck trainers is the North American Training Management Institutes (NATMI) Certified Driver Trainer (CDT). If a school employs trainers with the CDT designation, there is a good chance students are receiving a high level of instruction.
Can I tour your facility? Schools should be proud of their facilities and want to show them off to potential students. This also gives the student a chance to check out the learning environment they will be spending anywhere from 4-10 weeks at. This also gives perspective students the chance to see the equipment, meet the staff and potentially talk to other students if there are around at time of the tour. A decision on where to attend school should never be made without a tour!
The next step after receiving answers to these questions in narrowing the list down to 2 or 3 schools who have met expectations and impressed over the question and answer period is to contact some carriers or private fleets who are hiring, and ask them where they would recommend a new driver to the industry receive their training. After all, these are the companies who an entry level graduate may look to get work with, so why not get their opinion?
Choosing the right school is the first step to having a successful career as a licensed driver. Make sure the decision is an educated and informed one. It directly effects an entry level driver’s potential in the industry.
Matt Richardson has been in the trucking industry all his life. Currently he is the Sales & Operations Manager at KRTS Transportation Specialist Inc. (KRTS). A graduate of the University of Guelph, Richardson spent 5 years attending school and playing varsity football for the Gryphons. Since graduating in 2012, he has worked in numerous roles at KRTS and is also heavily involved with the PMTC Young Leaders Group. Matt resides in Caledonia with his wife Julie.
