2012 Surface Transportation Summit to Promote Dialogue between Shippers and Carriers

For the third consecutive year, Dan Goodwill & Associates and BIG Media, publishers of Truck News, Canadian Transportation & Logistics and MotorTruck Fleet Executive, will be co-hosting a Freight Transportation Conference. In prior years, separate conferences were organized for shippers and carriers. The 2012 Surface Transportation Summit (www.surfacetransportationsummit.com, #Tsptnsummit) will bring both groups together to foster dialogue and networking.

The 2012 Summit will take place on Wednesday, October 17 at the Capitol Banquet Centre that is located at the corner of Dixie Road and Courtneypark Drive in Mississauga. It will focus on all forms of road and rail freight transportation. Prior conferences were held in the spring and summer months. The switch to a fall date was made to provide the attendees with a “year in review” perspective on the past year and a look ahead to the New Year.

Carlos Gomes, Senior Economist at Scotiabank, will again kick off the conference and provide his insights on where the economy in general and transportation in particular are headed as we approach the New Year.

Carlos will be followed by a joint presentation from Lee Palmer, President, Palmer Marketing and me on Social Media in Transportation. The two speakers will:

• Review the fundamentals
• Address the big four social media and outline how they fit into a company’s core business strategies
• Show industry examples where they have been applied properly...and poorly
• Review first steps, associated costs and key benefits in the areas of brand building, customer retention and recruiting.

Lou Smyrlis, Editorial Director of BIG Media, will review the findings from an annual research study that his company conducts with shippers across Canada. The presentation will provide early findings from shippers on their expectations as they pertain to rate increases, modal switches, freight volume expectations and other data. This information will be of interest to both shippers and carriers as they prepare their budgets for 2013.

This year’s Summit will feature a new track that will provide CEO perspectives on some of the major modes of surface transportation. Douglas J. Harrison, CEO, Day & Ross General Freight, will address the LTL freight market; Greg Hewitt, President, DHL (Canada) Ltd. will focus on where the courier business is going and Mark Seymour, CEO, Kriska, will provide his perspective on the truckload market.

This will be followed by a panel discussion on a subject near and dear to the hearts of shippers and carriers - - - freight rate negotiations. Representatives from two of Canada’s largest shippers, Brian Springer, Vice President, Transportation, Loblaw Companies and Michael Tan, Divisional VP, Supply Chain & Transportation, Hudson's Bay Company will engage in a dialogue with representatives of two of Canada’s largest motor carriers, Dan Einwechter, CEO, Challenger Motor Freight and Wes Armour, President & CEO, Armour Transportation Systems. The panel will be moderated by Lou Smyrlis.

The discussion will address such topics as how can shippers and carriers communicate and collaborate more effectively to create a Win/Win result, what information should be shared between the parties and would this help the process, what can the parties do to establish trust and commitment, creating a core carrier network and what role should contracts play in the process. Audience participation will be encouraged.

In keeping with the new format of the conference, the afternoon will feature parallel tracks focused on shipper and carrier issues. One track will contain representatives from two leading shipper organizations and one consultant. They will speak to how they led large organizations through major transformations that were driven by a change in transportation strategy. Mark Gallant, Director – Supply Chain Transportation for Home Depot, Jack Ampuja, President and CEO, Supply Chain Optimizers and Jim McKay, Director, Transportation, Wal-Mart Canada Corp,., will each address a major transportation initiative that they undertook to transform their companies or client operations.

Business Intelligence in Transportation has become a new “buzz word” over the past couple of years. Our two featured speakers, Steve Morandi, Analytics Solutions Leader, Deloitte Managed Services and Rick Tucker, Senior Vice President, Global Technologies, Lean Logistics will speak to how Business Intelligence in Transportation is helping their clients improve the performance of their transportation operations.

Human Resources are one of the key assets of any organization. The two speakers in this track have a long history in working with transportation organizations to successfully manage their employees. Ron Mosey, Principal, RM2 Associates and Marvin J. Huberman, Certified Civil Litigator, Barrister, Mediator and Arbitrator will lead a discussion on a broad range of important HR issues.

• Ensuring a Fair Workplace
• Combating Labour Shortages through Better Employee Retention
• Employee Performance Documentation: Avoiding Pitfalls
• Maintaining Labour Supplier Independence
• Statutory Compliance: "The best surprise is no surprise!"
• Non-Competition Clauses: The Real Story;
• Frustration of Employment Contracts Due to Illegality;
• The New Tort: Intrusion Upon Seclusion – Based on Invasion of Personal Privacy;
• When Is an Employer’s Covert Surveillance of An Employee Justified?
• Punitive Damage Awards for Employers’ Behaviour.

Safety is an important element of every transportation company. A poorly maintained fleet and poorly trained drivers can result in a loss of life, poor service and weak bottom lines. The three speakers will each approach this important topic from their own perspective. Rob Penner, Vice President, Operations, Bison Transport, the winner of a prestigious TCA safety award, will speak to Best Practices in Safety Management. Mark Murrell, President, Carriers Edge, will discuss the Best Practices in Safety Management of the Best Fleets to Drive For.  CSA has been heralded as the biggest change in Safety Management in the United States in the last few decades. Of course, CSA compliance has an impact on every driver who crosses the Canada/U.S. border. The third speaker on the panel, Jim Angel, Product Manager, Safety and Compliance Apps, Peoplenet, will talk about Next Steps in CSA Compliance.

In addition to the excellent educational content, there will be opportunities throughout the day and at the end of the day to meet new carriers and shippers and to expand your personal network. The “early bird” registration fee is $199. Register early and save $100.