25 Years with Brian Harris & FTI

25 years ago, Canada’s annual truck show was held in the fall; I believe October. It was the same format and location as today’s Truck World which is held every other April. That was where I met Brian Harris. At that time, he was operations manager for then Frederick Transport. Two months later, I published the first issue of Over the Road Magazine with Gary McSweeney on the cover and inside we featured a carrier profile on Frederick Transport (now FTI) with interviews highlighting both Gary McSweeney and Brian Harris. A lot of rubber has met the road since that first issue in December 1993 and FTI have appeared in about 300 issues and have been featured in five editorials and on many covers.

The relationship between myself and FTI is more than business. Over these past 25 years, Brian has advised me on trucking issues, had lunch with me many, many times and he, Randy Tempeny the Director of Fleet Development and the FTI team have supported the magazine, our Recruiting & Retention conventions and our online training platform.

So, I am both happy and sad when I inform you that in May of this year, Brian retired from FTI. When I spoke to Brian he said, “I am happy but a bit bored”. He continues, “I have lots of time on my hands. I meet friends for coffee at Tim Hortons and my wife, Gui-Anne and I are traveling a bit but mostly I read anything about trucking I can find. I keep saying to myself, ‘If I were still working, I would do this, or that, or do things this way, or that way!’ This keeps me busy and informed”.

Brian’s son Cody still works at FTI and his other son Kyle has his own drag racing team www.kyleharrisracing.com which Brian follows with a high level of interest. Brian concluded our conversation by saying he will continue to read about and be interested in all things trucking including this story about our great 25-year relationship. We wish you all the best in your retirement Brian! And a big thank you to the FTI team for 25 years of support.