July 1st, Canada Day

And to mark the event, since Midnight, the United Socialist State of Quebec and the future Socialist State of Ontario are in “Hard Enforcement” mode on speed limiter law for your trucks.

I thought that Canada, even if in Quebec we try to make us believe we are a Nation, individual freedoms are part of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If I think correctly, we are free to do what we want and operate a small business until we have a stick put in our spokes. We are free to do it within the laws and if there is no law yet, there is surely a pressure group to have one written.

Yes I am frustrated today. Not because we have celebrated the 142^nd Anniversary of our country but against the Provincial governments that are closing the vice on the population to restrict the wealth, the well being and common sense.

With another obligation to put up with in trucking, one that is ridiculous, it’s the small business trucker’s wallet that is being emptied again. This limits the possibilities for the owner-operator to make a better income by putting more time to do west coast loads and also provoke less income tax, less road and fuel taxes. In order to compensate, there is now new fines for the outlaw truckers.

The well being is also affected. The small business trucker will have to put more time to make the same income or a better one. This will leave less time for the families. Coming back home is still a priority for most drivers.

Finally, common sense. This is the ultimate weapon for the citizen and it must be banned from our arsenal. A little sarcastic but, with the current rates in trucking, the rising costs of replacing or maintaining the equipments, the roller-coaster fuel prices, I don’t know any small business owner that is going to run over the speed limits or the flow of traffic just for the pleasure of it and increase the cost of operations.

The activation of the speed limiter is a business decision of a trucking company. This choice must stay this way and not be a government mandate. If you still have some courage left to stand for your rights and freedoms, contest these ridiculous laws.

The « Fête Nationale du Québec »

When a preceding Government of Quebec changed, probably to get rid of some old clergy relic, the name of “Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste” to “Fête Nationale du Québec”, that government didn’t think (does that happen?) that Quebeckers who speaks another mother tongue then French would also like to celebrate their belonging to Quebec’s territory.

To ear on radio and read on news web sites the comments of Gilles Rhéaume on the “Autre Saint-Jean”, a gathering to be held in Montreal on the 23^rd with mostly non-french party music, I kind of hear a tone similar to some KKK’s leaders. If theirs views are towards “White Power”, Rhéaume’s sounds like “French Power”. If the target of the name change was to appropriate June 24^th for the French speaking “Quebecois”, why was it not called “The National Holiday for the French Speaking Quebeckers that have many generations of roots” …

This writer is proud of his French roots but also recognizes that there is an ethnic diversity caused by immigration. People, like our ancestors, that have chosen a better place to live in and that are also “Québécois”. I think I’ll go and listen to some Beau Bommage or baladi music. I prefer that to the loop of the same three bass notes of rap.

By the way, I’m wondering if Loco Locass that wants to be liberated of the liberals, (cheaply translated title of their song “Libérez nous des Liberaux”) are happy to get paid by a liberal government to sing (?) on June 24^th? (I still don’t know if I should call it St-Jean-Baptiste or Fête Nationale du Québec, so I will only state the date)

Drive safely during these times of celebrations

To translate some words from the show “Les Parlementeries”

SAAQ is the agency that allows you to drive

SAQ is the agency that allows you to drink

SQ is the agency that takes your drivers licence if you drink and drive

Turcot Interchange, Quebec Government Taken Hostage

On that issue, the Quebec Government is taken hostage by many pressure groups. What brought us to this point? The current government is not the only one to blamed but all previous administrations, paid by our taxes. All the Commissions, Public hearings, the weigh of the administration in general when it comes to do road infrastructures.

This interchange may not have been is such a bad shape if a beltway around Montreal, A-30, would have been done when initially planned. It would be outdated today but at least, it would have saved many years of wear on the road infrastructures of Montreal. It took the Natives Crisis in 1990 to have the loop made around the Kanawake Reservation. This is not counting the cost of the law enforcement to protect the perimeter of the reserve, about $30M.

The Turcot interchange is today’s result of the complacency of the Government towards the population. Preferring the citizen that barely uses this infrastructure to the profits, or should I say loses, of the one making the economy go forward. For the trucking and the intermodal industries, the Turcot Interchange is one of the most important road links in the Province. It’s the link to all major container rail yards to the Montreal Harbour and the link between the Atlantic Provinces to the rest of Canada.

Will we have to go trough another tragedy like the overpass of “de la Concorde” to do something? If this happens during the rush hours, it’s by the dozens we will count the fatalities this time. Just like for that overpass that collapsed, an emergency repair plan is going to be made, the work done and nobody will have a say on it.

Other then the A-30, there is many road infrastructure plans that have been put on hold for so long. The day the first vehicle will roll on it, it will be outdated

The Ville Marie Autoroute is another nice example I can comment on with facts. My father was a store owner selling office furniture on Notre Dame Street at the corner of Valois. In early 1972 the business was expropriated to make place for this Autoroute. Today, 37 years later, it is still Notre Dame Street. In 1985, I was a citizen of Laval. We were promised that the A-25 Bridge would be running by the turn of the century. The access roads have been under construction since last year. Nose around and you may find plenty of these.

Let’s all get together and say a big thank you to all these Naysayer groups that opposes anything the government proposes. Issues that can restart the economy here, create jobs and all of that for the sake of their belly buttons or their NIMBY Syndrome (Not In My Back Yard).

Picture LaPresse Archives

Thank You Ministers

I would like to thank the Ministers of transport and of environement of Québec for the announcement today of a $45M budget aimed towards helping all the transport industry to acquire GHG reducing equipments. All the detail are not currently available on the web site of the ministry, the server is off-line.

I can not comment on the ways the funds are going to be distributed but, what is annexed to the press release a $4M part of these budgets is going to the maritime and rail transportation. This leaves a $41M part for the trucking industry. These allowances can go towards the purchases, installations, modifications or replacements of certain devices that will insure a better energy consumption. Among them, on board generators, climate control units, on board computers or aerodynamics improvement devices. When OBAC did its presentation at the National Assembly of Quebec to the Commission of Transport and Environment, on the speed limiter issue, we had made the suggestion to help the small business trucker to purchase these kind of equipments. I see that the idea didn’t stay on a shelve.

In the current state of the economy, these incentives are welcomed. Looked at it from the small business trucker’s seat, it is a wish that it will be evenly distributed among all trucking companies, big or small. Many large carriers have already invested big sums of money to get these devices but the small businesses are still in a struggle. The one more in need are the 5 trucks and less trucking operators.

This arrives at a good time. The price of a barrel of crude is on the rise. This will help one of the most important aspects of the trucking industry and make the difference in passing through the current crisis and going broke to save on fuel.

Speed Limiter Rescind? Possibly!

That is what declared MPP Frank Klees to Land Line’s David Tanner. Klees is also running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in Ontario. The other good news, he is not alone to have that view. MPP Randy Hillier has it too!

I’ll let my good friend David tell you more about it. Just follow the link below to his fine report on OOIDA’s Land Line Magazine web site

http://www.landlinemag.com/Special_Reports/2009/May09/052809_ll_exclusive.htm

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Looks like someone turned it on!

Class 1, Class 6, Two Different Classes of Citizens in Quebec

Here in the “Distinct Society” of Quebec, this is the way our drivers licences are rated. A “Class 1” is the equivalent of Ontario’s A-Z or the U.S. CDL. Let’s go back in history to make sense of the title. In the late 1990’s, many owner-operators had started a protest movement in many places around the province. High priced fuel, low rates, no contracts regulations were the main griefs. Bloquing roads, ports, refineries and just plain parking of the rigs had, within a few days some regions with empty store shelves, empty gas tanks and citizens complaining. The answer came from the National Assembly of Quebec very fast.

That answer from the elected Parti Québecois was a modification to the Highway Safety Code (Code de la sécurité routière) with Bill 130 that stopped in it’s tracks any form of roadside demonstrations. After all, we are only making our livings by hauling freight and as long as the freight is there, nobody really cares what happens to the professional driver.

About 20 years ago, the SAAQ modified the driver’s permit to different classes and sub classes. Class 1, as said previously is for commercial drivers, 2 busses, 3 straight trucks, 4 working vehicles, 5 automobiles-campers, 6 motorcycles. There is a few others for snowmobiles, scooters and farm tractors. Trying to balance their budgets and manage the risks, three years ago the SAAQ announced that motorcyclists, being a higher risk of bodily injuries, will pay more for their plates, already overpriced, and drivers permits, if on the permit. For some racer type bike with an engine over 401cc, the total cost of registration with the mandatory insurance is now at $1030.00 for this year.

All bikers, including myself, are outraged by a raise of 300% of the licencing fee. So, there is a few that decided to organise some protests by rolling on the major highways of the province at minimum legal speeds. This creates a line of bikes for kilometres. I agree with the protests, being a motorcyclist. But, being also a trucker, I am wondering when our government is going to slam to them a special law like they did to us in the late 90’s.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not send my complaints to the groups of motorcyclists, I am aiming at the government that is creating, again, two classes of citizens.

LCV’s, Does it ring a bell?

“LCV” is the short for “Long Combination Vehicle” or as more commonly called Road Trains.

On June 24^th of 2007, if you go and look at the archive of this blog, I was writing about it and leaving you to think about the subject. Last week the Government of Ontario by the voice of the Transportation Minister announced the start of a pilot program. About one hundred special permits to haul LCV’s will be issued to carriers making the demand. The OTA and the PMTC will overlook the distribution of these permits during the pilot program.

To obtain an LCV permit, a carrier must

-Have an exemplary safety record

-Be a member of either association

The permits will be given by lottery and up to fifty carriers can apply for them. A limit of two permits by carrier. Nothing is said if less carriers line up demands how many permits they can get.

The web site of the MTO talks about SPIF for “Safe and Productive Infrastructure Friendly”.

What do I think about it?

Some of my comments I shall keep for myself. The reasons given by all parties involved are an increase of productivity, less fuel and, here again, less GHG’s, fewer trucks on the road, reduced transport costs.

The average Joe Roaduser reading the paper will be happy to read that 2800 trucks are going to be removed from the roadways but, nowhere is it explain to him that the trucks replacing them are going to be over 125 foot or 38 meters long. Me, as a truck driver, I see 2800 less jobs. The carriers could take advantage to increase their profit but again, this may happen on the back of the one driving the rigs.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to LCV’s, I am against the idea to have double responsibility, having a greater fuel expense, if you are an owner operator leased to a carrier, and not getting a fair and equitable rate. Do a simple math. If accordingly to the OTA in the press release (http://ontruck.org/news/releases/2009/prel_2009_04_17_073049_r.php3), a LCV runs at 30% less fuel then two trucks, a fair and equitable rate should be a 70% premium of you r regular rate for hauling an LCV before fuel surcharge. For company drivers I have only one comment, Negotiate a wage worth the extra responsibility.

I’ll leave you on these thoughts…