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.