Dave Elniski

AMTA Industry Advisor, Safety & Compliance

Whether federally [1] or provincially [2] regulated, trucking companies need to address psychosocial hazards in their occupational health and safety programs. In a recent survey, AMTA found confidence around addressing psychological and psychosocial safety to be limited, especially amongst small carriers [3].

Rob Dombowsky, MBA, CPHR

AMTA Industry Advisory, Human Resources & Labour

An intrinsic part of coaching and developing employees is providing effective feedback. The key word being “effective”. Effective feedback requires that a person has a goal, takes action to achieve the goal, and receives goal-related information about his or her actions. Information becomes feedback if, and only if, we are trying to cause change and the information tells the recipient whether I am on track or need to change direction.[i]

Safety in road transportation has evolved with technology, infrastructure, and societal expectations. Road planners have the challenging task of building highways today that account for future use given the resources, standards, and predictions available to them. While driver training and vehicle system improvements save lives, it is my opinion that infrastructure makes the biggest difference when it comes to increasing safety for motorists.

On day two (April 27) of the Canadian Hydrogen Convention AMTA President Chris Nash announced the association’s partnership with Suncor for the Alberta Zero Emission Truck Electrification Collaboration (AZETEC), among other projects.

Nash was joined on the Edmonton Global Stage by David Van Den Assem, (Senior Manager, Clean Technology and Climate Change Innovation, Alberta Innovates), and Grace Meikle, (Senior Business Partner, Alberta Innovates & Emissions Reduction Alberta).

Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) President Chris Nash announced an ambitious two-year Hydrogen Vehicle Demonstration April 26 at the sold out Canadian Hydrogen Convention (CHC) Hydrogen Hub stage.

With an anticipated 4,000 attendees from around the world CHC serves to show the critical role Canada is playing in the development of a global hydrogen economy.

Meet Perry, a very personable fellow with extensive experience in the oil and gas industry, primarily in supervision, job coordination and operation roles in Canada and abroad. Perry is actively searching for a new career in coordination or dispatch roles. He has a history of long-term employment with different companies and has demonstrated his ability to communicate professionally at all levels, problem solve and build and maintain strong relationships with colleagues and customers.

I find it interesting how quickly I can focus on one part of the industry. Take Alberta’s dual registration program, for example (which, pardon my unapologetic plug, can be found at this link). Dual registration became my biggest focus when I was working on that bulletin, and I’ve found it useful in work I’ve done with carriers since it came out.

The Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) Driver of the Month program is expanding to include Class 5 drivers to increase the nominee pool and generate increased interest in the program.

AMTA April 2022 Driver of the Month: Ken Grabinsky, Sobeys

Rob Dombowsky, Industry Advisor, Human Resources & Labour, AMTA

On April 1, 2022, the federal minimum wage will increase to $15.55 per hour from $15.00 per hour.

The federal minimum wage, which came into force on December 29, 2021, is adjusted automatically on April 1 of every year, based on the average annual increase of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), as reported by Statistics Canada. This is to ensure that the federal minimum wage keeps pace with inflation. This year’s rate increase reflects the 3.4% annual average rise of the CPI for Canada in the previous calendar year, rounded up to the nearest $0.05.[1]

The Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) is celebrating the successful completion of Canada’s first on-road commercial truck platooning trials. For years, researchers have studied simulations and test track data to assess the potential benefits of platooning technologies. Now, the AMTA – together with its industry partners – will be able to analyze accurate data collected during real-world platooning operations.

WCB Featured Job Seeker profiles highlight individuals available through the Training on the Job program.

Mike has 20 years of professional driving experience and is looking for the next step in his career path. Mike is highly experienced in a wide array of different roles and brings with him a multitude of training hours and active safety tickets. He’s open to various options within the transportation industry and he’s ready to start right away!

Alberta’s Transportation Minister Rajan Sawhney, addressed about 50 Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) members and industry March 11 for an industry mix and mingle.

– Rob Dombowsky, Industry Advisor, Human Resources & Labour, AMTA

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

Charles Dickens – A Tale of Two Cities

Rob Dombowsky, AMTA Industry Advisor, Human Resources & Labour

On occasion, WCB will circulate policy updates for review by its stakeholders. If you are impacted by the following policies, may be impacted or have an opinion you would like to share, please review the policies below and submit your feedback directly to WCB. Alternatively, AMTA is interested in hearing your feedback, so we are able to formulate an industry representative opinion on our members’ behalf.

The 2022 COVID Audit Plan is in effect from January 1 to December 31, 2022.

-On-site data gathering activities by auditors was suspended from January 1 to February 28, 2022.

During this period, Alberta implemented a public health measure for mandatory working from home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Note internal maintenance auditors were allowed to continue on-site activities, if they were directed by their employer to remain on-site during the pandemic.

Opportunities aplenty in commercial transportation industry, say women who have broken the bias

Kelsey Hipkin, AMTA Staff Writer

It’s the theme of the 2022 International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on March 8. The day is an opportunity to celebrate women globally and an opportunity to celebrate the contributions women make to the commercial transportation industry and to Albertans and Canadians, every day.

The Alberta Government has released its 2022-25 budget.

Key funding anticipated for the transportation and research and innovation industries includes:

AMTA: Why did Esso become involved with the CTPS system?

Esso: The Cooperative Truck Platooning System project connects with two key priorities for Imperial: safety and innovation.

From a safety perspective, everything we do at Imperial is based on our core value of ensuring that Nobody Gets Hurt. The project’s demonstration of platooning technology and its potential safety improvements for drivers and the motoring public is aligned with our commitment to helping protect the well-being of Canadians from every walk of life.

Dave Elniski, Industry Advisor, Safety & Compliance

This article has been accepted for publication by Western Canada Highway News; their digital editions can be accessed at this link.

I commonly receive requests for help with figuring out weight limits for light vehicles in my role as an AMTA Industry Advisor. When I say light vehicles, I’m referring to combinations that are significantly lighter than Class 8 tractor-trailers where the manufacturer’s axle and overall weight limits are less than the legal weight limits for the jurisdiction. Examples of light vehicles for this article include units like a pickup truck pulling a tandem axle bumper-pull dump trailer or a one-ton dually crew cab that occasionally pulls a gooseneck trailer.