For the second consecutive year, MotorTruck Fleet Executive magazine and Dan Goodwill & Associates will be co-hosting a conference on how to maximize the profitability of a trucking company. This event is targeted at owners and leaders of truck fleets and will address the key issues facing them in 2010. The Workshop will be held on May 26 at the Airport Marriott Hotel in Toronto.

The Workshop will begin with an overview of the current economic situation, presented by Carlos Gomes, Senior Economist at Scotiabank. In his remarks, Carlos will highlight the impact of these developments on Canadian trucking companies. I will follow Carlos and address the issue of how to revitalize a trucking company’s sales program. Many trucking firms experienced double digit sales declines in 2009. This segment of the conference will focus on how to rebuild revenues and improve yields.

Ken Manning, President of Transportation Costing Group will then address an issue of critical importance to every trucking company executive, namely making sure that an accurate costing model is in place so as to ensure every piece of business is delivering the maximum contribution. Ken will be followed by Marc Cascagnette, Vice President of Cushman and Wakefield. Marc will provide an overview of the current real estate market for transportation and distribution facilities and will highlight some strategies to derive the maximum benefit from these important assets.

Jack Ampuja, President of Supply Chain Optimizers will provide an insight into an issue that is becoming increasingly important in freight transportation, packaging optimization. Wal-Mart and other world class shippers are actively searching for ways to improve cube utilization as a means of driving down freight costs. Jack will share his experience in this area.

This year the conference will feature two interactive panel discussions led by Lou Smyrlis, Editorial Director of MotorTruck Fleet Executive. The first panel will include three leading shippers, Mark Gallant of Home Depot, Mike Owens of Nestle and Ginnie Venslovaitas, formerly of Unilever. Lou will engage the three panellists in a discussion of the strategies they are employing to manage freight programs in 2010.

This panel will be followed by a discussion with the leaders of three well-known Canadian trucking companies, Dan Einwechter of Challenger Motor Freight, Peter Di Tecco of Armbro Transport and Doug Munro of Maritime-Ontario Freight Lines. Lou will engage them in a dialogue on how they are managing their trucking companies through this so-called economic recovery.

These panel discussions will be followed by a presentation from Kevin Snobel, General Manager of Caravan Logistics on effective workforce strategies to lead and motivate employees. Elian Terner, Director, Investment Banking at Scotia Capital, who specializes in mergers and acquisitions in the trucking industry, will then address the issue of how to rebuild value in trucking businesses after the setbacks of 2009. He will be followed by Jim Papineau, Director of Supply Chain Systems & Automation of Dan Goodwill & Associates. Jim will provide an overview of the results of an extensive study he just completed on computer systems to manage trucking businesses. For those companies seeking to upgrade or replace their current system to improve productivity, Jim will provide some insights.

In keeping with the format of last year’s Workshop, the conference will wrap up with four discussion groups. These groups will be led by four of the speakers. In each session the conference attendees can “speak with an expert” concerning those topics of most interest to their particular trucking company. The four topics will be business development, costing models, real estate and computer systems. Only two discussion groups will be held at a time so everyone has an opportunity to engage in a dialogue on the two topics of most interest to them. Those companies that register two or more people will be able to have a team member attend all four of the small group discussions.

Note that April 26 is the last date to register and receive the “early bird” special rate, a savings of $100 or 25% of the regular rate. Those companies seeking to re-energize their trucking companies, to learn some new strategies and to network with other industry executives can look forward to a stimulating and productive day. For more information on the conference or to register, click on: www.dantranscon.com.