CAM PUBLICATIONS
For 2000, CAM has revised the format and the schedule for its publications. The Official Guide of the Canadian Association of Movers (the membership directory) and The Canadian Mover (CAM’s magazine) will be combined in one publication and published twice a year in April and November. The new combination magazine/directory will retain the name The Canadian Mover and will be published in an 8 1/2 x 11 inch, full-colour, glossy format with association reports, timely information and up-to-date industry articles, as well as a complete listing of the membership at the time of publication. It will provide members, suppliers, international members and even non-members with networking information to our membership. Its sole purpose is to assist you to do business. Visit our Website and review your company’s information. This is the information that CAM will use in generating the membership lists. Are your phone numbers up to date? Do you have an e-mail address or Website that you feel the moving community should know about? Let us know.
CANADIAN PROFESSIONAL MOVERS COURSE
At last, the Canadian Professional Mover’s Course is ready to go. It has been developed in a partnership between CAM and Dalhousie University in Halifax. It has been launched through significant early subscriptions from AMJ Campbell/ Frappier Group, Aurora Moving & Storage, Bigham the Mover, D’Arcy Moving & Storage and Hoyt’s Moving & Storage. Randy Hoyt worked with Phil O’Hara and Hanny Alshazly of Dalhousie to complete the project. Executive members Paul Van Remortel and Graham Acreman also contributed to the content of the course.
The course consists of nine modules:
- Estimating Procedures
- Long Distance Moving – Canada (2 modules)
- Long Distance Moving – Canada/USA/Mexico
- Local Moving
- Permanent Storage (3 modules)
- Office Moving
The course will only be available on the Internet. All course material is on the Dalhousie Website and can only be read by those individuals with password access to the site. Tests and quizzes are included on the site and students progress at their own speed through the course. Each module must be completed before the student can move on to the next one. At the end of the course, certificates showing both CAM and Dalhousie logos will be sent out to all graduates. The course will provide not only the moving knowledge that a consultant requires but also familiarity with the Internet that all businesses need today.
For those who have registered, user names and passwords will be sent out this week; for those who wish to register, contact the CAM office. This course is only available to members of CAM.
TRUCKING SAFETY
In Scientific American’s January 2000 issue, an article titled "Placing the Blame" reported: "Most people assume trucks are to blame. But after analyzing 5,500 fatal accidents from 1994 and 1995, Daniel F. Blower of the University of Michigan found that passenger-vehicle drivers are at fault in 70 percent of fatal crashes involving heavy trucks. In the most common type – head-on collisions – passenger-vehicle drivers crossed the center line into the truck’s path eight times more often than the opposite scenario. They were also more at fault in fatal sideswipe and rear-end collisions. The study appeared in the university’s June/July UMTRI Research Review."
LABOUR ISSUES
Part of CAM’s mandate for 2000 is to review with government the labour issues that affect our industry and clarify for our membership the regulations for movers who operate as intra-provincial, inter-provincial and international carriers. The issue of fly-by-night operators who do not comply with labour legislation and taxation requirements falls into this category. One of CAM’s objectives – as it has been for hours of service, GST and workers’ compensation issues – is to ensure government is aware of the existence of these operators and the burden they place on both the reputation and the financial results of the moving industry.
CANADA/USA BORDER CROSSINGS
The problem of delays at the border is one that has been recognized by carriers, industry associations and governments. Recent events regarding Canadian-based terrorists crossing into the USA have significantly increased the time it takes to cross the border. With the additional customs officers in place on the U.S. side, more stringent crossing procedures have been implemented resulting in longer waits.
2000 MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
CAM is gratified to note that movers are renewing their memberships for 2000 and those renewals are arriving at a very significant rate. For non-members, membership in CAM can be obtained by contacting the CAM office.
Y2K
Y2K was the biggest news story of 1999. It was featured in Movers’ Edge several times in 1999 both in terms of warnings about its effects and items related to the federal government’s tax relief program in the financing of the hardware and software needed to protect against the problem. It would appear that most of the warnings have been heeded. At this writing, the world has not ended and the moving industry advances into 2000.
Happy New Year!
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