Baljeet Singh Sentenced to Six Years in Canada Over Fatal 2022 Crash

Baljeet Singh, truck driver, has been sentenced to six years in prison in Canada for his role in a 2022 highway crash that killed a mother and her 11-year-old son.

Singh pleaded guilty in April to dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm. Court evidence showed he was playing a game on his cellphone while driving a tractor-trailer when the crash occurred on Highway 30 near Longueuil, Quebec, in July 2022.

The collision involved seven vehicles and killed 42-year-old Nancy Lefrançois and her 11-year-old son, Loïc Chevalier. Ten other people were injured...Read More

GM set to produce trucks in Ontario

General Motors workers in Canada on Sunday approved an agreement that would build a new heavy-duty truck in Ontario, part of a pledge by the automaker to invest in a country now facing a doubling of tariffs.Canada's auto sector is grappling with 25% U.S. duties on vehicles, and U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to increase that to 50% on Jan. 1, 2027. The fate of Canadian auto plants has emerged as a central issue in the stalled U.S.-Canada trade negotiations.According to details of the agreement, released by the Canadian union Unifor on Saturday, GM offered to spend $103.9 million to add the next-generation heavy-duty GMC Sierra truck to a plant in Oshawa, and pledged not to immediately sell or close a second assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. GM has promised to invest over $720 million in Canadian plants. That includes a $498.6 million commitment to support production of new V8 engines in Ontario that was previously announced in April, according to Unifor, which represents 4,600 GM workers in the province....Read More

Canada retaliates against US tariffs as trucking braces for impact

Canada struck back at the United States on Aug. 25 with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment, as the trade war between the once-friendly neighbors escalated sharply.

The confrontation threatened one of the world’s largest trading relationships and further strained ties between the United States and a country long considered one of its closest allies. A prolonged dispute could raise costs for American businesses and consumers less than two and a half months before the midterm elections.The new tariffs extended well beyond industrial goods, hitting everyday purchases such as seafood, cheese, clothing, cosmetics and toilet paper, with some facing duties as...Read More

Wildfire smoke calls for closer truck, reefer maintenance

Heavy trucks and refrigerated trailers that have spent time operating in wildfire smoke may need some extra maintenance attention, even after the skies have cleared.

But fleets looking to manufacturers for wildfire-specific maintenance procedures may not find much guidance.

“Finding published information from the manufacturers is near impossible. Either automotive or commercial,” said Darcy Olson, technical trainer with Bosch Truck Group in Red Deer, Alta.

Bendix similarly acknowledges there is little hard data on the subject. For vehicles exposed to poor air quality or operating close to wildfires, its air treatment product group recommends shorter air-dryer cartridge service intervals and increased inspection of the air system, but notes the guidance is based more on theory than testing because it doesn’t have data evaluating the effects of wildfire smoke and extreme heat on vehicle air systems...Read More

OTA Presents Plan to Ministers of Labour and Transportation to Bring Law & Order Back to Trucking Industry

Earlier this month the federal government began hearings on the state of the trucking industry and the role that Driver Inc. is playing in the deterioration of worker rights, tax evasion and highway safety.

While the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) believes the federal government plays a large role in addressing matters related to tax evasion and labour rights, Ontario also needs also to accelerate its enforcement actions to overcome the safety and compliance crisis throughout the Ontario trucking industry.

“OTA recognizes the strong steps and leadership taken by Minister Sarkaria and Minister Piccini in helping address the labour abuse and increase of unsafe carriers in the trucking industry; but, unfortunately, it’s not close to enough to deal with the crisis,” said OTA’s president and CEO Stephen Laskowski. “We have proposed a plan to the Ministers we strongly believe will help ensure all carriers operating on public roadways are held accountable to meeting their required safety and labour obligations, and that the honour system of compliance, which has been ignored for years, is finally put to rest...Read More