Opinion: Canada’s Trucking Week 2010

By Paul Landry

President and CEO

British Columbia Trucking Association

This Opinion piece appears in the Sept. 13 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

Except for those who live in the northernmost parts of Canada or other remote regions of our country, we Canadians tend to take for granted the idea that when we need a loaf of bread or gasoline or a new high-definition TV, it will be on a local store shelf or in a storage tank or a warehouse. We forget the basic Canadian geography lesson: We’re the second-largest country in the world (after Russia) but only 36th in population. Most of us live strung out along our southern border, connected by, in some places, a relatively sparse network of highways.

That we can forget that lesson is a testament to the transportation systems we have built and the efficiency with which they are run by hundreds of thousands of men and women across the country.

Transport Canada, which is responsible for policies and programs for all modes of transportation, says that transportation overcomes the challenges imposed by “topography and geography, linking communities and reducing the effects of distances separating people from each other.”

Originally, it was the railroad that united us, but nowadays it’s the trucking industry that guarantees bread and gas and appliances will arrive like clockwork at the retail outlets where we shop in communities across British Columbia and Canada.

National Trucking Week, which took place Sept. 5-12 this year, celebrates the industry’s role in Canada. It’s a low-key event, and the onus usually is on the trucking industry to make some noise about it. Still, it’s a good time to acknowledge that trucking supports and sustains us everywhere in the vast Canadian expanses we call home.

For example, trucking was responsible for 59% of the total value of all Canada’s trade with the United States in 2009.

According to Industry Canada, the department that helps to develop industry and technology capability in the country, trucking revenue is estimated to be about $40 billion annually. For-hire trucking generates roughly $15.5 billion, more than rail, air and marine transportation combined. In British Columbia, the industry’s share of the province’s gross domestic product was 1.3% in 2009 or about $1.85 billion. And, these figures don’t include the contribution of private trucking companies that carry only their own goods.

Because the industry is involved in virtually every economic transaction and sometimes many times over in a product’s life cycle, trucking’s contribution to the gross domestic product reflects the economy in general — more trucks on the road means that people are spending money on the goods they need.

Trucking also is a major employer in Canada, providing careers for more than 400,000 people. Driving trucks still is one of the leading occupations for men in the country. In British Columbia and the territories, for-hire companies employ well over 30,000 people, and this number does not include drivers and others who work for private companies. Industry jobs are stable and well paid, not only for professional drivers but for transport mechanics, warehouse workers, information technology and logistics specialists, and administrative staff in communities across the province. Although British Columbia is home to a few of the largest carriers in Canada, most trucking businesses here are small and family-owned, as they have been since the industry began in the 1900s. Chances are you know someone who makes a living in trucking.

Trucking shares community concerns about the environment and greenhouse gas emissions. Companies of all sizes are implementing strategies and investing in new equipment to cut diesel fuel use. Company policies requiring zero-idling and speed reduction are becoming the norm. Recent model-year trucks also are technological marvels — new engines are virtually smog-free, thanks to low-sulfur diesel fuel and stringent emissions standards.

And, although our safety record has never been better, we continually strive for improvements. Heavy-duty trucks are involved in only 3.9% of all collisions in British Columbia. In multivehicle fatal collisions, truck drivers were at fault 19% of the time, compared with 57% for the drivers of other vehicles. Reputable trucking companies take safety seriously, investing time, money and energy in training and maintenance to ensure high standards for our employees, equipment and cargo, not to mention other drivers on the road. That’s just good business.

Even 50 years ago, the Trans-Canada Highway didn’t quite exist from sea to sea. Now, we can’t imagine what it would be like not to have a reliable network of highways and roads and the trucks and professional drivers that travel them bringing us the products that our families, businesses and communities need to thrive.

During National Trucking Week especially, I’d say we should be thankful that’s the case.

The British Columbia Trucking Association, Langley, British Columbia, is the voice of the provincial motor carrier industry, representing more than 800 truck and bus fleets.