|
 Sheila
introduced our Speaker
today, Rob Harding, an owner
operator with Trimac
Transportation Services and
one of the Ontario Trucking
Association’s Road Knights
– a team of 10 professional
drivers who promote the idea
of sharing the road with
trucks.
 Harding,
who hauls specialized loads
throughout North America,
has logged over 3.7M km in
his 23 yrs on the road. His
current contract is taking a
route from Hamilton to
Sudbury daily, a 14 hr tour
over 600 miles. He fills
his tanks every 2 days,
costing up to $1200 each
fill. The average rig costs
$135,000 & then add on the
licenses & taxes. Their
$7000 road tax is paid
through the fuel prices.
These increasing prices do
make it down eventually to
the cost of goods to the
consumer. Yikes.
What
ever happened to the times
when we used to wave at the
truck drivers, when
traveling the 401?
Rob spoke to us about the
current conditions for
driving the highways in
their big rigs – drug &
alcohol testing procedures,
pre-trip inspections, log
book records, computerized
systems that record such
things as speed, times,
brakes’ usage, gears of the
engine. He welcomes next
year’s law that will enforce
a speed limit of 105 kph.
for trucks.
Education & lack of
attention cause most of the
accidents. We need to
learn to share the road, as
we’re all someone’s brother
or sister & we all have a
destination that we need to
reach. Stop eating, stop
texting, stop talking on our
phones. Drive safe &
ensure that message goes out
to our children.
Rob’s Road Knights are out
in the communities,
promoting safety on the
roads, providing schools
with programs that encourage
careers in the industry.
They’re part of a large
system that honours & awards
those with great safety
records. Companies without
that, will not last.
Heather thanked Rob for his
time today, in delivering a
message of less intimidation
towards the trucks on the
Road. “Big Trucks” will be
presented to the Chatham
Public Library, Literacy
Angels program, in Rob’s
honour. |
