According to a survey completed and published by Insurance Business Canada only 15% of Canadians surveyed said that they were confident that they feel ‘very prepared’ financially if the get too sick to report for work. 23% of Canadians answered that they are not at all prepared financially if they pass away too soon, the study also discovered. Only 16% said that they have purchased life insurance that would cover their remaining mortgage payments should they ever pass away.
If like me you can sometimes feel somewhat sceptical about stats it does however strike me that far too many of us are not prepared for the unexpected, the chances of experiencing a financial loss if you are unable to work due to injury or illness are frankly very worrying. There are of course a number of reasons that can be attributed to this; perceived cost, understanding of coverage, availability, where to get it.
As someone who works largely with Income Protection Insurance and other living benefits my advice would be to work with a broker, a broker works for you their client and not a specific insurance company this means that they can take the time needed to understand your needs and then advise you as to the best options available from the very many insurance companies.
Insurance has to be exact and legally binding for your own protection but it does not need to be difficult to understand, when you work with the right broker it will be explained clearly and without jargon so that you have the peace of mind of knowing that if and when the time comes you and your loved ones will be properly protected.
We all know that at some point we will die and we hope that it is at a ripe old age and so we can more readily accept the need and payout of life insurance.
Income protection of the other hand is a different story because we are more easily swayed that we will be fine because; • ‘I’m a healthy person’ • ‘ I’d just carry on going to work’ • ‘I can’t afford it’ • ‘I’ll dip into my savings’ • ‘my family will help’
The reality is that if we lose our ability to work and earn a living everything else will suffer, friends and family while might be willing to help will usually themselves be using all of their income for their own needs. Savings will be depleted this will have a negative impact on the subsequently growth of any capital that was invested and there will also be tax implications of withdrawing from your RRSP.
The bills will continue to come in and the family needs will not be reduced in fact if you have a family member in need of medical care it is more likely that the other wage earner in the family may need to take time away from work to become a carer, long or short term. If you are self-employed you may need to employ someone to carry work load of the lost worker, you.
When I am speaking with clients about their need for Income Protection far too often I am asked to complete insurance for them for accident coverage only. It is my job and ethical responsibility to explain the pit falls of this choice, what if you get sick? It might be that you are newly starting in business and so may need to start at a lower amount than you would like in order to suit your budget or that money is tight. Start where you can and work your way up to where you need to be if you have to. Just don’t have nothing. If I were to ask you how many reasons do you think there could be for not being able to go to work what would you say?
The answer I give is easy, it’s 2, if you become injured or if you become ill. It’s that simple. If you can’t work how will you keep the lights on, put food on the table and keep your home warm or even just keep your home. I could quote stats again but I don’t need to, I have firsthand experience of having to remind clients or their partners that no they are not covered for the sickness that has befallen them because they wanted to wait and add it later or they just didn’t think they needed illness coverage. It is the worst, the very worst phone call because by the time I receive it it’s too late, there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it.
The solution to making sure this is not you is simple: 1. Work with a broker that you like and trust. 2. Get insurance while you are healthy if you can, but you can still get good coverage if you have pre-existing conditions. 3. Review your coverage regularly 4. Just don’t have NOTHING, please. Be prepared for the unexpected and rest easy with the peace of mind that you and your family will be financially secure when the time comes. Make the call today to speak to a trusted adviser.
Fiona Stone – Owner Contact Fiona at fiona@stoneinsurance.ca
As a child, on those numerous occasions when I thought that a task was too large or too complex for me, my father had one response that he used without fail, always phrased in the form of a question: How do you eat an elephant- answer: one bite at a time.
Much has been published in the last seven months in both industry publications and mainstream media outlets about the ongoing capacity shortage an elephant sized issue if there ever was one- particularly as it relates to the limited supply of trucks. In many ways, the solution to this industry challenge is no different than that of perceived challenges of my childhood. We need to simply start to fix the parts of the supply chain that we have allowed to break – one bite at a time.
I was thinking of this universal truth in light of an experience I have repeatedly experienced over my two decades in this industry- yet another typical example of the myriad ways that this industry attempts to diminish the value of drivers limited on duty hours.
We had a driver scheduled to load for a 3PL this morning- 6 am Pickup appointment with strict instructions for the driver to be on time. As often happens, the driver arrived at 6 am only to find out that the brokerage dispatcher on the order had neglected to provide us with the correct pickup number and trip number needed for loading, even though they were in her custody. After 90 minutes, the confusion was finally clarified at the cost of 90 minutes of the drivers on duty time.
Assuming that we have this issue happen once per day with half of our trucks, for a duration of 30 minutes per event – it means that in a small fleet like ours- 12.5 hours per day are being wasted with delays that are entirely avoidable. Most of us are aware that preventable delays are one of the main sources of driver frustration and exodus.
However, the other thing I would like us to think about is this when we think about our elephant eating challenge: that’s more than one 11 hour driving shift- so by extension for every day of operation, we have one truck running free of charge because simple things like pickup numbers are not provided – simply because people do not care enough to think about the downstream effects of their inaction.
In essence, this means that we have one truck that could be moving freight but is not- taking one trucks capacity completely out of the market, even though all of its associated expenses are there. If that’s true for a small 50 truck fleet like ours- imagine the number of trucks wasted if that math holds true industry wide?
Perhaps, instead of complaining about shortage of capacity and rising rates, forward thinking shippers and receivers can look internally at simple cost and efficiency improvements. I hope to explore a number of these themes over my next few posts.
However, with this challenge – there is also a call to action for those people responsible for operational decisions at asset based carriers. As an industry we need to stop saying “this is part of Transportation”- there’s no need for inefficiencies like this- and no need for the same folks who cause the inefficiencies to be complaining about rising costs. It takes true collaboration and partnership to drive inefficiencies out of a supply chain- the picture is much bigger than pure Transportation cost. It takes everyone’s proactivity and effort to improve conditions for everyone.
How do you eat an elephant: To solve our capacity crisis, we all need to be serious about one bite at a time!
Bio: Tony Gerber has been one of the Managing Directors at Flash Freight Systems of Guelph, ON since 2004 – an asset based provider of crossborder and domestic transportation and warehousing solutions. He’s passionate about operational excellence, the application of the lost art of common sense, coffee, and reimagining the status quo in the supply chain to improve everyone’s quality of life and service levels.
CAREER OPPORTUNITY AZ/DZ Driver Equal Opportunity Employer POSTING DETAILS
Posting Opened on: May 31, 2018 # of Positions: 4 Posting Closes on: June 28, 2018 Location: Elmwood, ON (Bruce County) Contact: Andrea Zanetti, Manager HR Email: awzanetti@energysolutions.com
Summary:
Responsible for the transporting of general freight, dangerous/hazardous goods, radiological material and
other loads as contracted with customers and as scheduled by the dispatcher.
• $0.51 to $0.59 per mile
• 37.5 to 60 hours per week
• Company match Group RRSP
• Company paid benefits, incl. Health, Dental, Life, AD&D, Dependent Life, Short Term Disability
• Company provided steel-toed shoes and cell phone
• Quarterly Bonus Program
• Driver Mile Program
• Paid biweekly by direct deposit, paperless paystubs
Must be able to report to work at Elmwood, Ontario within 1 hour.
Key Accountabilities:
• Secures loads to trailers with chains, binders and straps to hold load securely while in transport.
Maintains permit compliance.
• Tarps loads when necessary to ensure nothing is blown away or damaged to protect the load, the
transportation vehicle and the surroundings.
• Completes logs, reports and other required forms and paperwork in accordance with laws and
regulations.
• Meets schedules established by dispatcher to ensure loads are delivered safely and as quickly and
efficiently as possible.
• Maintains the inside and outside cleanliness of assigned vehicles including power units and trailers.
• Other duties as assigned.
Other Requirements:
• AZ/DZ Driver’s License.
• Must be willing and able to be on the road for up to 10 days at a time.
• Must be available to work days, nights and weekends.
• Must be available on standby on weekends on a rotation basis.
• Satisfactory driver’s abstract with no more than 3 minor violations/accidents in past 3 years and no
major traffic violations in the past 5 years.
EnergySolutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability or any other characteristic protected by law. Accommodations are available on request for all aspects of the selection process.
PHTS Logistics
CAREER OPPORTUNITY AZ/DZ Driver Equal Opportunity Employer
• Must maintain a professional appearance. When on call, must be willing and able to report to
designated location within 1 hour.
• Complies with legislation, policies and practices, including those regarding respect in the workplace,
harassment, bullying.
• Complies with applicable health and safety legislation and policies.
• Able to interpret and apply transportation laws and regulations. Able to identify and resolve loading and
load security problems.
• Must be able to communicate effectively orally and in writing to receive instructions and communicate
with customers. Maintains a high level of professionalism and customer service
• Must be able to enter log, mileage and other data into electronic systems when required.
• Able to read, write and comprehend written and oral instructions in English. Able to work in a team
environment
Interested candidates please email Andrea Zanetti at
awzanetti@energysolutions.com as soon as possible! Thanks very much!
EnergySolutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability or any other characteristic protected by law. Accommodations are available on request for all aspects of the selection process.
It’s estimated that we have over 300,000 truck drivers in Canada. Yet we are seeing very few answering this survey. The lack of Truck Parking effects everyone in the industry. Carriers we need you to do your part too !! Take the time to complete the survey, get it out to your drivers. Send a satellite message, post it on your company website, in your employee only forums, why not send them an email with the links. Have you posted it on your Facebook page ?? Contact Ted Harvey: ted.harvey@spr.ca and get a flyer to put up in your terminals. All drivers who travel through Ontario are encouraged to participate in this survey. Even our American sisters and brothers of the highway.
The lack of Truck parking has Major Economic Impacts on The Trucking Industry. In their work, SPR has consolidated considerable research, by bodies such as the American Transportation Research Institute which indicates that the lack of parking costs the trucking sector hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Similarly, an excellent study recently published by Trucker Path indicated substantial costs to North American trucking, of over $5.1 billion, [including Canada], comprised of $500 million in lost profits, $500 million in added maintenance, $1,500 million in lost wages [trucker time], $2.6 Billion in wasted fuel, plus stress impacts detrimental to recruitment and sustaining the trucking workforce. Trucker Path estimated direct costs at $ 7,200 per driver per year, and $720 per driver in lost profits.
These costs of parking shortages impact all segments of the trucking sector, including those directly affected — companies and drivers — and also those serving trucking, in training, recruiting, insurance, leasing ,parts and services — since the total trucking ‘economic pie’ is reduced by lack of parking.
The Driver Survey: Their survey of truck drivers — their main method — has obtained 800+ driver responses. This is good, but they need at least 3,000 driver responses to meet the Ministry’s information needs and bring about real change.
SPR is appealling for your help !! Drivers they need you to complete the survey (deadline is February 28th).
Benefits: The survey is providing very detailed and rich data. Nearly all drivers who come to the survey complete the entire questionnaire even though it is relatively detailed.
For example: the 800+ drivers responding so far have provided over 5,600 ratings of parking difficulty on 25 highway segments. (each driver rates an average of 8 segments of the 401 or other 400 series or secondary highways). This will tell the Ministry where parking is most needed. The same drivers have evaluated 70+ individual truck stops (each driver rating an average of 8 truck stops), so that about 16,000 ratings of truck stops have been obtained. More than half of the drivers report economic losses, stress, anger or loss of sleep.
Other Findings: SPR has recently prepared a report on their consultations which includes submissions from a number of associations, companies and municipalities. Four submissions are of particular interest, from: Ontario Trucking Association, the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada , ITS, and the US-based OOIDA [all available on request contact Ted Harvey at ted.harvey@spr.ca. They all make the case: that the truck parking shortage is severe, particularly in central Ontario.
St. Lawrence College Employment Service is a free service to both employers and job seekers. We are open to the public, and funded by Employment Ontario. Our services
are available to Employers and Job Seekers, who may require some assistance in the hiring and employment process; this can provide substantial time and financial savings for the Company or Individual. Should you have any current, or anticipated hiring needs
our team would be more than happy to provide assistance. In my role as Employer Liaison, I can help to promote and advertise Employer opportunities, find and pre-screen applicants, help plan job fairs that are tailored to your company, or assist with career
fairs at larger events with multiple employers. We can also provide interview and meeting space, if required. All of the services we offer are at no cost to you! Additionally, if you choose to hire a candidate that is registered with our office, we can help
you gain access and information about our wage subsidy programs, and grants which can offset the cost of hiring.
If you have any questions about our services, and how I might be of assistance to you I would be more than happy to connect with you further at your convenience.
