Circle June 20 on your calendar as the day you need to free up to attend the Ontario Trucking Association’s third annual Council Summit – the popular one-stop, industry learning and networking opportunity for OTA carriers and member suppliers.
The event covers everything fleet managers need to know in the world of freight policy, trucking HR and labour, cross-border, sales and finance as well as freight market trends.
Members received a registration link earlier today with their member IDs. The cost to attend the event is $125 and is open to OTA members only. Non-member carriers who would like to attend the event can contact OTA president Stephen.laskowski@ontruck.org
The morning features five concurrent sessions on operations, customs/border, human resources, finance and sales. Attendees can attend any council session they like but are free to move freely between sessions. Feel free to register multiple staff from various fleet departments to gain the full benefit of all the session topics.
The afternoon will include a networking lunch for all attendees, followed by a market trends panel discussion and Q&A with an all-star lineup of esteemed trucking market analysts and carrier executives. Bob Costello, VP, American Trucking Association and Noel Perry, principal, Transport Economics, will lead off with a freight industry overview before joining a panel made of up Royce Mendes, senior economist, CIBC; Steve Ondejko, president, Onfreight Logistics; Rob Penner, President & CEO, Bison Transport; Genevieve Gagnon, president XTL Transport; and Ken Rosenau, president Rosenau Transport, who will discuss trends in the marketplace impacting carrier operations, customer supply chain management, labour, human resource and equipment issues.
Overview of Council Agendas:
OTA Cross Border Council: CBSA’s Plans for Innovative Solutions to Border Management and Future of Crossing the Border; Infrastructure Improvements and New Initiatives at Ontario Bridges; and, US Customs and Border Protection ACE Portal and Truck Program Update. Speakers from CBSA, CBP and major bridge crossings will be featured.
OTA Compliance & Freight Policy Council: The anatomy of a US truck accident from catastrophic loss through trial; Canadian & US ELD Update; and, MTO’s New Commercial Vehicle Strategy. Speakers from TIDA, Transport Canada, CVSA and MTO will be featured.
OTA People Planning & Development Council: National HR strategy and industry practices; marijuana legalization and zero tolerance for commercial drivers; and federal labour update. Speakers from Trucking HR Canada, Ministry of Transportation and the Employment and Social Development Canada will be featured.
OTA Sales Council: A panel of experts will discuss cost implications of poorly utilized equipment; quantifying the importance of maximizing driver time and the additional impacts related to appointment times; efficient stop times and paperwork issues. Following the panel, these topics and others will be discussed amongst participants in a round table peer-to-peer format.
OTA Finance Council: Industry professionals will cover an array of money matter issues like the risks and benefits of hedging (US dollar exposure & fuel prices); Putting Together a finance executive team; and employee health care costs & management.
The OTA Council Summit is a popular event, so make sure you and your team don’t get left out. If you did not already receive a registration link with your member ID via email, please contact yvonne.macaulay@ontruck.org).