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Meet Mike Millian, the new face of private trucking

Mike Millian wanted to be around trucks his whole life. The new president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada (PMTC) – only the second person to hold the role in more than two decades – even refers to Grade 1 school books where he shared dreams of becoming a truck driver.

Or a hockey player. Or a farmer.

“By Grade 6 or 7 I figured the hockey thing wouldn’t work out,” Millian says with a shoulder-shaking laugh. The interest in farming waned because of a miserable case of hay fever. But the draw of large machinery never left him. At an age when some kids were still learning to drive a car, he was steering cultivators and other heavy equipment around the family farm. “It was like a Tim Allen thing,” he says, referring to the grunting comedian who always looked for tools with more power. “When you’re a young guy, it makes you feel like a man.

He signed up for classes at a driving school within months of his 18th birthday. A job hauling livestock followed. At 21 he followed his dream to become a long-haul trucker, and spent the next five years pulling general and refrigerated freight through six provinces and 48 states. The plans didn’t stop there, either. He wanted to limit himself to five years on the open road so he could spend more time at home and raise a family. He became a driver-trainer at the fleet’s new driving school. Then there were safety and compliance roles, evaluating and testing new hires, as well as overseeing everything from logbooks to drug and alcohol testing programs.

His career shifted directions again in 2002, when the fleet went out of business and he accepted a job at Hensall District Co-operative, which had 40 trucks traveling the farmland of southwestern Ontario.

That’s where he was first exposed to private fleets.

The biggest difference was a new mindset. “Our business was not trucking,” he learned. “The trucks were there to service the business, to get products out to the customer. The trucks were more of a selling tool.”

Millian managed the fleet over 12 years as it grew to 140 vehicles including equipment as diverse as petroleum tankers, hoppers, containers and fertilizer trucks traveling a collective 6.5 million kilometres annually.

The grassroots experience will help in the new association role, he says. “I’ve been a fleet person most of my life. My hands-on experience in the industry will help me understand the issues of the day.”

Accelerated plans

He has wanted to steer such issues for years. It’s one of the things he enjoyed most about serving as a member of the PMTC’s volunteer board of directors. The 43-year-old just didn’t plan on a related career change until he was 50.

Then Bruce Richards announced plans to step down as PMTC president.

Millian was conflicted. He lived just 15 minutes of work, and enjoyed the stability that comes with more than 12 years in the same workplace. He had time to volunteer as a hockey coach for his blended family of three children: Robbie, Rebecca and Damien.

His wife, Tracy, deserves credit for getting him to apply for the association’s top staff job.

“We can manage this,” she said. “This opportunity may not come up when you’re 50.”

Millian broached the subject during the next conference call with the search committee. “I’m not sure if I’m qualified or if you’re interested, but I’m thinking of throwing my name in the hat,” he told his fellow directors. Several meetings followed. Many meetings. He wanted to ensure Richards would remain in a consulting role. “I don’t think you can put a value on the kind of experience Bruce brings.” And he needed to know Vanessa Cox would remain on staff in her member services role.

The toughest meeting of all probably involved telling Earl Wagner, Hensall’s long-time CEO, that it was time to part ways. “It was almost like telling my father I was leaving home. He was surprised at the start, but he was understanding and supportive and wished me luck,” Millian says. “It was still awful tough.”

As tough as the decision was, Millian has long been a vocal supporter of PMTC. He first became involved in 2004, attending the annual conference where Hensall was honoured with a Private Fleet Safety Award. “I was struck by the professionalism; the educational value. That sold me,” he says. The fleet was a member by 2005, and he never looked back. Two years later he joined the board of directors and then became a member of the executive committee.

He was never one just to raise his hand in the boardroom, either.

“I’m opinionated,” Millian admits of his approach to discussions. “You need to be willing to express your views and have a strong voice on issues. I don’t consider debating different points of view as a bad thing. I do have strong opinions, and I will argue them, [but] I’m willing to listen, I value the views of others, and I want to hear them.”

He also knows that a strong and vocal association can help to bring about change. The PMTC gives private fleets a voice in front of regulators. And as the voice of private trucking the group has another advantage during related debates. The fleet members may all operate trucks, but they largely don’t compete. “We’re not bidding on the same freight, so there’s more of a willingness to be open and transparent with each other,” he says.

Challenges to come

It isn’t the only advantage that his members have enjoyed. The private fleets are largely involved in local, regional or hub-and-spoke deliveries, which have insulated many businesses from the high employee turnover rates that have plagued some for-hire fleets. The draw of returning home every night or even every couple of days can’t be overstated. Many job candidates are also attracted to consumer-facing brands. “You may not know ABC Transportation, but you know who Tim Hortons is. You know who Home Hardware is,” he says.

But Millian knows the intensifying driver shortage will eventually touch them all. While the cry of a shortage is easy to ignore when employees are available, existing workers are creeping closer to retirement age. (The average driver is now 46, according to Statistics Canada.) The recession only offered a temporary reprieve. Job candidates are now exploring new offers from inside and outside the industry alike.

“Companies are starting to feel the pain,” he says.

And solutions will take time.

One strategy will involve reaching out to students before they choose career paths of any sort, but Millian knows that guidance councillors are not always open to hearing such messages. Five years ago he personally approached a councillor at his former high school with literature about industry careers, and promised to supply more information. He never heard back. “There’s still a stigma that we need to get over,” he says.

Ontario’s push for mandatory entry-level driver training, and Trucking HR Canada’s push to create detailed National Occupational Standards, will help. Armed with those it will be difficult for anyone to argue against the idea that trucking is a skilled occupation, says Millian, who is also serving in a rotating role as chair of Trucking HR Canada’s board of directors.

No matter what issues the industry faces, he also understands that there is strength in numbers. The need to attract and retain members is fundamental to the health of any organization. Bigger memberships increase exposure and offer the funds to expand services. The good news is that most of the fleets which join PMTC become “lifers”, he says. The secret is simply to show other fleet managers what the council has to offer. The annual conference is a perfect example. “I don’t think you’ll find value like that anywhere else in the industry. The association sells itself once people come into it,” he adds.

“Get a hold of us. Come in and be part of the organization if you’re not a member now. Reach out. You’ll get great value for your dollar, and you can get as much value out of it as you want. Let your voice be heard.”

Current News

It's well past time the Feds Provinces Territories Come Together to effectively Monitor Commercial Motor Carrier Safety Fitness Rating

The Feds, Provinces & Territories Must Work Together to effectively Monitor Carrier Safety Fitness

 

The System in place currently has been broken for a long time, and solutions offered by Industry have yet to be acted upon

(the below is an exert of a communication that was sent by the PMTC to the CCMTA, Transport Canada & The Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation)

Currently Commercial Motor Carriers who wish to operate a trucking fleet in Canada must apply for a Safety Fitness Certificate to the Provincial Authority in which they plan to licence their vehicles. If the Provincial Authority of the base jurisdiction approves the application, a National Safety Code (NSC) will be issued to the Carrier. The base jurisdiction is then responsible for monitoring the motor carrier for safety and compliance, based on National Safety Code 14, which is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) all jurisdictions agreed to several years back. https://www.ccmta.ca/en/national-safety-code 

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