Feature/Profile Archives

Have you ever wondered why the British drive on the left?

There is an historical reason for this; it’s all to do with keeping your sword hand free!

In the Middle Ages you never knew who you were going to meet when travelling on horseback. Most people are right-handed, so if a stranger passed by on the right of you, your right hand would be free to use your sword if required. (Similarly, medieval castle staircases spiral in a clockwise direction going upwards, so the defending soldiers would be able to stab down around the twist but those attacking (going up the stairs) would not.)

My Worst-Ever Incident with a Dispatcher

October 30, 2021 Guest Contributor

Often, he was amusing and he had an understated comical way of expressing himself. And he’d play pranks on the radio. A French Canadian from Montreal, Jesse would say that he came to Toronto “by skating up the St. Lawrence in the wintertime.” Or, gratuitously, he’d say something like, “Nineteen-nineteen, we’ve just had a lady phone Foobler Taxi who says she lost her dog in your car. It’s a big black dog, four feet high and 150 pounds. Would you look in your back seat and see if it’s there?” It doesn’t seem that funny when it’s written, but Jesse deadpanned it in a way that made it hilarious.

Feature/Profile

Adiós, amigos, and muchas gracias!

October 28, 2021 Rita Smith

“Shop local” has become almost a mantra for consumers in 2021. Whether residents are hoping to protect the environment or to boost the local economy after COVID, “shopping local” has become a virtuous point of pride for Canadians.

Ironically, many of the workers who make local production possible leave their homes and families far behind to do it.

Guest Contributions Opinion/Column Trucking

Ice road trucker reviews “Ice Road,” the movie

October 24, 2021 Guest Contributor

So I’m chilling out, surfing Netflix, and I find “Ice Road” staring Liam Neeson.

Over all, not a bad movie. Typical Liam adventure action flick.

Mind you, with over a decade of driving the Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territory, Yukon and Alaskan ice roads and oil patches (and after 16 years of long haul) I found “Ice Road” had too much “Hollywood” for me to watch at times.

News Opinion/Column Trucking

Supply chain “crisis” update: leadership is the missing ingredient

October 23, 2021 Guest Contributor

yan Peterson of Flexport actually rented a boat and went out to see what is happening in the Port of Long Beach. Here is his Twitter thread report, what he learned and what he thinks. This is the best “up close and personal” report yet seen:

Feature/Profile Taxi industry news

Taxi Dispatchers: A checkered crowd

October 22, 2021 Guest Contributor

Taxi News is very grateful to Dundurn Press (Toronto) and the estate of Peter McSherry for giving us permission to re-publish excerpts of Peter’s book “Mean Streets.” We look forward to sharing the chapters “Me and the Owners” and “Me

Feature/Profile On the Road with Mike Murchison Opinion/Column Trucking

Ships sit in the harbours and I sit at a truck dealership: we just want to go home

October 19, 2021 Mike Murchison

My truck has broken down. Has been down since Saturday morning. No big deal, right? Wrong!

Parts. Where are they? Why can’t I get them? Why doesn’t the dealer or any other heavy duty shop have them, for that matter?

That’s right. They are on a ship somewhere. Anchored off of either the Pacific or Atlantic coast, awaiting its turn to nestle into a berth and get unloaded.

Opinion/Column

The Supply Chain crisis: a myriad of opinions and questions, no single answer

October 18, 2021 Rita Smith

Perhaps, it is a “Perfect Storm:” that rare but devastating nightmare situation which results from a tragic confluence of events both predictable and unpredictable.

Or, perhaps the Supply Chain crisis is in fact due to one, massive unfortunate decision that escaped notice long enough to bring the rest of the system crashing down with it: for example, California’s decision to enforce stringent restrictions on the age of trucks allowed to pick up at its ports.

Feature/Profile Guest Contributions Laugh a Little On the Road with Mike Murchison

What time is it? What DAY is it?

October 17, 2021 Guest Contributor

That light you’re seeing outside is dawn, not dusk.