3 Driven by incentives.Those in the trucking industry know that increases in fuel and insurance costs are unavoidable. To offset rising costs, John McKevitt Sr, president of McKevitt Trucking Ltd., has created incentives for his drivers and has been investing in fuel-efficient engines. Since 1948 McKevitt Sr. has been working in the trucking business. For 13 years he hauled pulp, wood, sand and gravel. Then in 1961 he established McKevitt Trucking. Including the head office in Thunder Bay Thunder Bay, city (1991 pop. 113,946), SW Ont., Canada, on Thunder Bay inlet of Lake Superior. The city was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the twin cities of Fort William and Port Arthur and two adjoining townships. , there are now four terminals located across Ontario; with one in Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. and Mississauga. The company has 160 employees, including drivers, mechanics and office workers. McKevitt also has a fleet of 140 trucks with an average of 80 to 90 trucks on the road everyday. "These trucks travel 52 per cent (of the time) in Ontario and 48 per cent in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. ," McKevitt says. The trucks usually provide general freight services for his customers, but also haul forest lumber and paper. McKevitt has taken a unique approach to help offset the rising cost of fuel. He is offering drivers incentives to conserve fuel. The better the fuel mileage the drivers get, the better the bonus, as the incentive is calculated by a cents-per-mile bonus, McKevitt says. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. McKevitt, the company purchased the first computerized engine introduced to Canada in 1987 and has also invested in exhaust gas recirculation “EGR” redirects here. For other uses, see EGR (disambiguation). Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a NOx (nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide) reduction technique used in most gasoline and diesel engines. (EGR EGR Engineering EGR Exhaust Gas Recirculation EGR Engineer EGR Early Growth Response EGR Extra Grace Required EGR Enhanced Gas Recovery EGR Embedded GPS Receiver EGR Emergency Generator Room ) engines. EGR is a technique, which reduces nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide in most diesel and gasoline engines. In diesel engines, efficiency is improved by the reduction of heat rejection and dissociation. By 2004 McKevitt started to buy trucks with the progressive Mercedes Benz engines in order to address the rising cost of fuel. Insurance prices have also forced McKevitt to start looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. ways to overcome this obstacle. He says he is continually trying to reduce the amount of accidents and admits speed plays a role in this. He says drivers should drive at a speed limit of 90 kilometres per hour, and in order for McKevitt Trucking to achieve this goal the drivers are offered a driving bonus, in addition to the fuel bonus. Much like the fuel bonus, the drivers are required to maintain a standard. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] However, with the driving bonus they must maintain their speed limit. "By driving at a slower speed, the drivers can react better to their environment," McKevitt says. By ALLISON LORANGER For Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. QUICK FACTS Company Name: McKevitt Trucking City: Thunder Bay Founded: 1948 President: John McKevitt Sr. |
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