The transportation industry is a tough go even in the best of times, but I do not know other businesses as well as I know transportation. Specifically recruiting, retention and HR.

Spending a lifetime in one spot allows you to see many things. Providing our services to over 500 companies in the transportation industry for over nearly 4 decades I can safely say we have seen the good, the bad and the ugly and in some cases the great. What makes an organization great? Regardless of size it really does not matter. We have seen and dealt with companies who employ from 1 -5000 across the globe. The one thing all great companies do is pay attention to their talent.

One of things your top talent wants besides a good pay cheque and be treated properly is education. Great people make great companies and great people are educated in their field and always want to learn. Regardless if your company is in a time when your margins are good or bad you should always be paying attention to your talent, your team, the ones in the trenches every day making a difference to your companies. If you don’t they will be moving on. Most have heard this; what is worse than paying and investing in educating and upgrading your people and having them leave? Not investing for any education or upgrading and they stay – True Story!

Educating your team and raising the bar for them if they are in recruiting, retention, HR or really any part of the industry means considering sending them to the National Recruiting & Retention Symposium on May 2nd in Burlington, Ontario. Those who attend will have the opportunity to hear from leaders in our industry who will be sharing valuable information to make your company better and improve your bottom line.

In the late afternoon on May 1st we will have our first presenter, Glenn Caldwell, Vice President of NAL Insurance. Glenn is a networking wizard who has spent a lifetime building his personal and company brand. Have a few refreshments and appetizers as you hear from one of the most liked individuals in our industry and learn how to network like a champ.

The day of the Symposium, May 2nd, there will be a full day of education starting with our keynote speaker, Hamza Khan. His message is extraordinary and he will share with the audience how you can help your company by reinventing leadership and the people first playbook for managing tomorrow’s workforce. This will be worth the price of admission itself. The rest of the day the focus will be on education including recruiting, retention and HR and making you better at what they do. More efficient, more effective, more knowledgeable, – just better!

Other agenda items include a panel discussion with industry association leaders, Mike Millian, President (Private Motor Trucking Council of Canada, PMTC), James Stead, Chairperson (Ontario Trucking Association, OTA) and John Elliott, Past Chairperson (Truckload Carrier Association, TCA) as they talk about all things trucking.

Other industry leaders, panelists and presenters include:

Kara Kett, Contrans Group

Kaitlynn Parker, Armour Transportation

Jason Libralesso, Home Hardware

Patricia Burke, Canadian Blood Services

Tracy Clark, Bison Transport

Jim Dimech, Linde

Matt Richardson, KRTS Transportation Specialists Inc.

Michael Thompson, ISB Global

JB, Hahn, Insurance Specialist

Matt Carr, CPC Logistics

Awards will be presented as well, one being the National Recruiter of Year sponsored by Tenstreet. This award goes to one deserving person who has been nominated by their company for their efforts and contribution in recruiting, retention and HR.

In closing this event is not possible and we would not be able to offer this to the industry at the price we do without the tremendous financial support of the many sponsors who have been with us for many years who at the time of print include;

Revolution Staffing, Tenstreet, Serco, Northbridge Insurance, BFL Canada, Aviva, Purves Redmond Limited, NAL Insurance, Economical Insurance, Wellington Group, Private Motor Trucking Council of Canada, Trucking Human Resource Council Atlantic, Concrete Ontario,  Safety Dawg, Lead Pedal Podcast.

Sponsorship comes with many advantages including registrations and discounts.

Learn more about sponsorship and get registered at www.transrep.ca/symposium/

We look forward to seeing you there!

There is no doubt there are more commercial trucks than ever operating on Ontario highways, one would suggest the increase is on all highways and roads in Canada and the USA.

First, let’s applaud all those great fleets out there, the ownership and management for having a focus on road safety. More importantly let’s recognize all those amazing professional drivers who do such a great job every single day as they perform their craft with all road users of our highways. It is no easy task for sure. A recent OPP report released says that they responded to 9,110 transport truck related crashes in 2022, this is the highest rate in more than a decade. These crashes resulted in 71 fatalities and the majority of them were deemed preventable. The OPP reported improper lane changes, following too closely, speed and distracted driving as the primary causes of the collisions. Speeding and driving to fast accounted for 25.3% of all fatal roadway crashes in Canada in 2020.

How do we lower crashes and increase safety on our roads? There are so many great safety organizations in North America with plenty of educational material and information to be shared. Enforcement is doing their best.

When it comes to education I wonder if we could do more. All of these accidents, are there other trends we could be looking at possibly? Is it possible for the enforcement during the accident to capture the data of the driver as to how long they have had their licence? How about where did they get certified and trained? Potential patterns could be identified.

What can we do as “four wheelers” out there with the big rigs? Number one, give those rigs more room, let them see you, don’t cut them off, don’t rush to merge in front of them, make sure they can see you if you are behind them. We all play a part in road safety, we all want to get home to our families and loves ones at the end of the day, being a safe and responsible road user is everyone’s responsibility.

• For most companies there are mixed messages about their driving opportunities. Every team member should be delivering the same message. Keep it short, write it down, be sure everyone understands the message.
• Tighter hiring criteria leads to higher retention. The insurance industry is tightening things up but I think it goes further than that. Once you identify your companies ideal driver set the criteria and shoot for it every day.
• 20% of the driver turnover is the same drivers moving from company to company. This is their DNA and stay away from them. There probably not going to change.
• In some cases I think recruiters are mislead with how their paid. Many are compensated for putting people in the seats. I don’t disagree with this but I think they need to be compensated on the backend as well for the drivers that they recruit and stay for a year.
• More attention needs to be paid to the drivers and their recruiting efforts. Satisfied drivers who are looked after and treated with the dignity and respect they deserve can be one of your companies best recruitment tools. Remember, referrals don’t drive your business, drivers do.
• Be innovative, innovation needs to be a habit not a goal.