FEATURE
The Global
Transportation
Hub
How highways and road
construction impact the
transportation industry
By Craig Slater, Martin Charlton Communications
A six-kilometre stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway
was completely washed away. All four lanes in both
directions were under water and eventually gave way,
leaving a massive crater. This was thanks to more than 100 millime-tres
of rain that fell on this region during a 48-hour span.
Canada’s most-travelled roadway was impassable. Traffic through
a corridor that connects the prairies with southern Alberta en route
to B.C. was slowed significantly before it was eventually rerouted.
This presented an inconvenience for some and a headache for many.
For those in the transportation industry, this was a nightmare
scenario.
But Bryan Richards couldn’t pinch himself to wake up and make
this go away. For a man who was running a lot of expedited trucks
like UPS and Purolator couriers at that time, this was his reality.
“The detour involved was gigantic,” said Richards, now the CEO
at the Global Transportation Hub (GTH), remembering the summer
in 2010. “Not only was it distance and time, but you had to move at
a much slower pace.”
All long-combination vehicles weren’t allowed on the detour
route for several reasons, with safety being a main concern on the
less-travelled secondary highways. This meant each truck had to
stop and have its trailers separated before it could proceed one trail-er
at a time through the detour.
And in the transport industry, time means money. Downtime can
be catastrophic.
At the Global Transportation Hub, it’s a seamless transition from
stop to go. It needs to be in order to maintain the flow of heavy traf-fic
through the 300-acre inland port on the outskirts of Regina.
Close to 5,000 trucks each week pass through the facility and even-tually
make their way to all corners of the continent.
With close to three decades in the transport industry, Richards
understands the impact highway and road construction have on
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