Mike grew up on a beef farm in rural Southwestern Ontario in Huron County. Mike began his career in the Trucking Industry in 1990 at the age of 18, spending three years working for a local carrier Hauling Livestock and bulk agriculture products. At the age of 21 Mike went to work for a long Haul Refrigerated and general freight carrier and spent 5 years hauling all sorts of freight in all 48 US Mainland States and 6 Canadian Provinces. The Carrier then opened a Certified Driver Training School in 1998 and Mike came off the road and become one of the Schools first Certified Driver Trainers. In 2000 Mike Transitioned into Safety and Compliance for the Fleet, while still working part time as a Trainer for the School. In 2002 Mike moved over to a Private Fleet and became the Safety, Compliance, Maintenance and Training manger for the Hensall District Co-operative’s Commercial Trucking Fleet. Mike spent the next 12.5 years with Hensall and oversaw the Fleets as it grew from 40 Trucks in 2002 to over 140 in 2015. In January of 2015 Mike moved into the Trucking Association business and was named the President of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, where he remains in his current role.

Columnists,Mike Millian,Uncategorized |
July 16, 2024

I want to dedicate this article to talk about the great things that women are doing in our industry and with the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada (PMTC). On June 18-20, 2024, the PMTC hosted its 2024 Annual General Meeting and Conference in Niagara Falls, ON, where we offered great educational seminars, networking events, and celebrated the industry’s ‘best of the best’ with our Awards Program. This article is dedicated to the women who were nominated and celebrated for their dedication to the transportation industry:

On June 20, Sravani Nellutla was announced as one of our PMTC-Tenstreet Young Leaders Group Education Bursary winners. Sravani is an international student from India, who is also part of the PMTC-Mohawk Mentorship Program. This award provides Sravani with the funding to continue her education with CITT – Canada’s Logistics Association. Sravani is a driven individual who made the Dean’s Honour Roll while earning an overall average of 92%. Sravani is set to do great things in our industry (and beyond), and we look forward to seeing all that she achieves as a future leader.

On June 19, the PMTC honoured our Rick Austin Memorial Dispatcher Award winner Carrie Scarselli of John Deere Canada ULC. This Award was established in 2018 to honour the memory of Rick Austin, who passed away on March 15, 2017. Carrie was hired in 2018 to take over the role that was left vacant as a result of Rick’s sudden passing. This was an impossible role to fill, but one Carrie did with great respect and hard work. Carrie’s dedication to the role and drivers was evident with the many testimonials that were provided by John Deere’s fleet of drivers in support of her nomination. It was evident that Carrie earned the respect of every driver and coworkers – and that this respect goes both ways! Carrie is a great representative for our industry. On a side note, the first ever winner of this Award was also a female, Linda Valliere of Linde Canada.

On June 18, the PMTC Young Leaders Group (YLG) announced its incoming Board of Directors, whose term started on July 1, 2024. The list of nominees was voted on by the Young Leaders Group members via electronic ballot prior to the AGM. This group of current or up-and-coming leaders will steer the direction of the PMTC’s Young Leaders through the next two years and guide their activities. The group of eight Directors will be led by Chair Sud Malhotra who takes over from the Past Chair, Leanne Drummond. You might be asking how does this fall into the story line of female leaders in our industry? Well, the reason is, of the eight amazingly talented individuals on the Board, five of them are women! It is truly great to see a Board with such diversity on it! I look forward to working with everyone on this Board and thank all who are involved.

Also on June 18, the PMTC announced its incoming Board of Directors, whose term also took effect on July 1, 2024. This Board consists of 25 individuals, who volunteer their time for the betterment of the PMTC and industry at-large.

This year marks the first time in the PMTC’s history that the Board Chair will be a female! Leanne Drummond from CPC Logistics Canada is our new Board Chair.

Leanne has been involved with the PMTC since 2019, part of the YLG Board from 2019-2024, and has been a director with the main PMTC Board since 2020. Leanne has always actively participated in and led many PMTC events. She’s been involved in the industry for over 20 years, starting out in the family trucking business before moving to her current employer in 2021. Leanne is truly deserving of this honour and will represent the PMTC and industry well!

On another note, this year’s first Vice Chair is Angela Munsterman from Coca-Cola – so our first female Chair will be followed by our second ever female Board chair! Angela first joined as a member of PMTC in 2017 and has served on our Board of Directors since 2021. I look forward to working with both of them, and the PMTC Board, on initiatives that will positively serve our industry in the short- and long-term.

On behalf of the PMTC and the industry we share, thank you to all the women who drive our industry forward. We understand that our industry still has a lot of work to do to see an equal representation of women in the workplace; however, we are making great progress. With women – including Sravani, Carrie, Leanne and Angela – behind the wheel and driving our industry forward, I look forward to seeing what our shared future brings! To see all award winners from the PMTC 2024 Annual Conference and Awards Program, please visit https://www.pmtc.ca/content.asp?contentid=158.

Thank you,

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Mike grew up on a beef farm in rural Southwestern Ontario in Huron County. Mike began his career in the Trucking Industry in 1990 at the age of 18, spending three years working for a local carrier Hauling Livestock and bulk agriculture products. At the age of 21 Mike went to work for a long Haul Refrigerated and general freight carrier and spent 5 years hauling all sorts of freight in all 48 US Mainland States and 6 Canadian Provinces. The Carrier then opened a Certified Driver Training School in 1998 and Mike came off the road and become one of the Schools first Certified Driver Trainers. In 2000 Mike Transitioned into Safety and Compliance for the Fleet, while still working part time as a Trainer for the School. In 2002 Mike moved over to a Private Fleet and became the Safety, Compliance, Maintenance and Training manger for the Hensall District Co-operative’s Commercial Trucking Fleet. Mike spent the next 12.5 years with Hensall and oversaw the Fleets as it grew from 40 Trucks in 2002 to over 140 in 2015. In January of 2015 Mike moved into the Trucking Association business and was named the President of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, where he remains in his current role.