The 2015 Surface Transportation Summit (www.surfacetransportationsummit.com) will be held at the Mississauga Convention Centre on October 14. Dan Goodwill & Associates and Newcom Business Media are delighted to report that the event has a new partner, the Freight Management Association of Canada. FMA will bolster shipper participation at the event. This year’s Summit will feature more shippers as speakers as compared to previous years. The Summit is now open for registration with a lineup of high quality speakers and a new networking feature. Here is an overview of the day.

The one day event will be kicked off with a discussion of what happened to the economy in 2015 and where it is going in 2016. Carlos Gomes, Senior Economist with the Bank of Nova Scotia will provide his annual overview. He will be followed by Walter Spracklin, Managing Director, Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets who will provide an investor’s perspective, on what is going on in the freight industry in Canada. Lou Smyrlis, Publisher and Editorial Director, Transportation Media, Newcom Business Media will lead a panel discussion with Wes Armour, President & CEO, Armour Transportation Systems and Mark Bylsma, President, Spring Creek Carriers Inc. on how they see the economy playing out in the trucking industry in 2016.

This track will be followed by an Executives Perspective panel. This year we will hear from six leaders, each from a different sector of the freight industry, who will share their perspectives on where they see their businesses going in 2016. The panel will include David Zavitz, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Canada Cartage, Mark Lerner, AVP, Intermodal, CN Rail, Joe Lombardo, Director of Transportation Processes, Purolator Inc., John Ferguson, President, SCI Logistics, Anne McKee, EVP, Trailer Wizards and Silvy Wright, President & CEO, Northbridge Financial Corporation.

Shipper-Carrier Collaboration will be the theme of the next panel discussion. This track will include three prominent shippers, the leaders of three trucking companies and the head of a 3PL. Dan Einwechter, Chairman & CEO, Challenger Group, Jason Dubois, President, Len Dubois Trucking, Doug Munro, President, Maritime-Ontario Freight Lines, Kelli Saunders, President, Morai Logistics, Ginnie Veslovaitis, Director, Transportation Operations, Hudson’s Bay Company, Alex Boxhorn, Logistics Manager, Loewen Windows and Kim Wildenmann, Traffic Coordinator, Lantic Inc. will engage in a panel discussion on how can shippers and carriers work together more effectively. This is a session not to be missed.

On May 25, Dan Goodwill & Associates and the Business Information Group will co-host its third annual Transportation Company Workshop at the Capital Banquet Centre in Toronto.   The theme of this year’s conference is “Revitalizing your Transportation Business in an era of Economic Uncertainty and Social Change”.

As we begin the second quarter of 2011, there are a range of forces at play that are having an impact on the Canadian transportation industry. The economic recovery is being influenced by the turmoil in the Middle East that is pushing diesel fuel prices to $110 U.S. a barrel, a surging Canadian dollar that is now in the $1.04 U.S. range and by the growing importance of social media and new technology. The conference has been structured to help gain a better understanding of the impacts of these and other forces.

For the third consecutive year, the lead-off speaker will be Carlos Gomes, Senior Economist at Scotiabank, who will share his insights on the where the economy is going and what are the implications for the transportation industry. Carlos will be followed by Lee Palmer, President and Creative Director of Palmer Marketing. Lee will provide a “need to know” overview of B2B web marketing illustrated through real world examples from specialists serving the transportation industry. He will draw upon his many years of marketing experience in the transportation industry and address the question of “what gear is your web marketing in”?  Lee will be followed by Mark Murrell, President, Carriers Edge, who will focus on what it takes to be a “Best in Class” employer in the trucking industry.

A key part of any business is the effective management of information. Identifying the right Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and managing against those KPI’s can help differentiate between the top performers and the rest of the pack. The next two speakers will tackle the subject of data management head-on. Ray Haight, former Chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association and current CEO of ATBS Canada will address the subject of Benchmarking and talk about the opportunity to be a Best in Class trucker by participating in a Benchmarking Group. Ray will be followed by Brooke Martin, Senior Solutions Consultant, Process Fusion Inc. who will speak to the tools that are available to better manage trucking company data. You can only manage what you can measure.

Last year’s shipper panel was one of the most popular features of the Workshop. In an effort to provide all attendees with a better understanding of shippers’ requirements as we move through the balance of 2011, two panels have been assembled, one with some of Canada’s leading retailers and another with a panel of leading manufacturers. The retail panel will include Robert Wiebe, Senior Vice President, Transportation & Logistics, Loblaw Companies Inc., Heather Felbel, Vice President, Supply Chain, Indigo Books & Music Inc. and Ginnie Vensolvaitis, Director, Transportation Operations, Hudson’s Bay Company. The manufacturer panel will consist of Mike Owens, Vice President of Physical Logistics, Nestle Canada Inc., Chris West, Director, US Transportation Operations, McCormick & Company Inc., and Todd Kostal, Director, Purchasing/Logistics, Atlantic Packaging Products Inc. The two panels will be moderated by Lou Smyrlis, Editorial Director of MotorTruck Fleet Executive magazine.