Canada’s trucking industry at a crossroads as safety and compliance concerns grow

Canada's trucking industry finds itself at a critical juncture as safety and compliance issues intensify. In 2005, a young driver named Kate Shingler was stranded on a snowy, slippery road in central New Brunswick when an unknown trucker helped her reach safety. She remembered the driver's assistance and felt a sense of security, as if truck drivers were the best on the roads.

Over the past two decades, the trucking industry has undergone significant changes due to deregulation, increased competition, and uneven government oversight. These factors have led to concerns about driver training and regulatory compliance. Industry representatives, such as Ken Adams from the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario, have observed a decline in the quality of driver training and a lack of adherence to professional standards.

Jonathan Blackham, director of policy and public affairs with the Canadian Trucking Alliance, highlights the emergence of two distinct industries: one focused on training and safety, and another that prioritizes cost-cutting over driver welfare and safety.

This shift can be traced back to the 1980s when the United States reduced trucking regulations to boost competition and lower freight rates. Canada followed suit in 1987, leading to deregulation and a surge in the number of trucking companies. Christopher Monette, director of public affairs for Teamsters Canada, explains that this deregulation allowed anyone with a truck to start a trucking company, resulting in a cutthroat industry with a massive oversupply of trucks.

Established carriers, who invested in driver training, safety, and equipment, began to disappear, leading to stagnant wages and declining working conditions.

Bryon Slade, a former truck driver, witnessed these changes firsthand. He started in the industry in 1976 and spent years learning the trade before becoming a professional driver. However, as the industry deregulated, new drivers received inadequate training, trucks were poorly maintained, and road safety deteriorated. Slade retired in 2020, expressing dissatisfaction with the current state of the industry.

Industry representatives attribute the decline in trucking to stagnant wages, demanding working conditions, and long distances from home. This has led employers to increasingly rely on temporary foreign workers, who are often more willing to accept lower pay and less likely to report poor working conditions. As a result, some trucking companies favor temporary foreign workers, further exacerbating safety and compliance concerns.