Canada needs more people looking at the world through a windshield

GETTING NEW, FRESH BLOOD THAT WANTS TO COME IN AND DRIVE

FOR A LIVING ISN’T EASY TO FIND. AND THE INDUSTRY ITSELF IS BUSY,

THERE IS A LOT OF GROWTH, AND THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF DEMAND.

— SARA MACKIE, DIRECTOR AT MACKIE TRANSPORTATION INC.

Commercial trucking is the key to making other industries run smoothly since about 90 per cent of all freight shipments in Canada are hauled by trucks, so any lack of drivers has major implications for a wide variety of supply chains.

Trucking HR Canada data identified 20,000 unfilled truck driving jobs in 2020, and projected a 23,000 shortfall by 2023. The International Road Transport Union (IRU), a supply chain group that counts the Canadian Trucking Alliance among its members, has stated that some of the biggest issues in retaining truckers are an aging workforce, a lack of safe and secure truck parking, and struggles to attract both youth and women.

“Getting new, fresh blood that wants to come in and drive for a living isn’t easy to find,” said Sara Mackie, a director at Mackie Transportation Inc. and vice-president of the Toronto Trucking Association. “And the industry itself is busy, there is a lot of growth, and there has been a lot of demand.”

That demand, she adds, has created a lot of turnover “because the drivers have the option to move around and find the right fit when it comes to hours worked, miles driven and location.”

What’s it pay?

The average salary for a truck driver is $23.45 an hour, based on 14,200 jobs listed on Indeed Canada. That works out to about $48,000 a year for a 40-hour week. Four of top five Canadian cities for hourly wages are in Alberta — Fort Mcmurray, ($32.65), Grande Prairie ($30.60), Edmonton ($26.23) and Calgary ($24.41) — while the fifth is Brampton, Ont. ($23.05).

According to talent.com, more experienced truckers can make around $58,000 per year, with Alberta, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario being the top five provinces for truckers in terms of pay.

Who’s it for?

Trucking is for anyone who wants to drive for a living, but specifically those who have obtained a commercial driver’s licence. The process to obtain such a licence slightly varies between provinces and territories, but typically involves at least one written and one driving exam, as well as medical and vision tests. In most of Canada, you can take the test once you turn 18, although in certain provinces you need to have spent some time driving a regular car first.

Training time is a factor as well. The national entry-level training standard is 103.5 hours, not including an extra 8.5 hours for air brake training. On the higher end of that scale, B.C. will require 140 hours of training as of Oct. 18.

The cost of training also varies, but it’s not cheap. For example, a seven-week AZ licence program at Humber College in Toronto costs $9,499, and even private driving schools will usually cost a minimum of about $5,000.

But the cost isn’t the real barrier to getting new truck drivers on the road, given the lack of women drivers, retirements and some misperceptions about the job.

Mackie said the job may have lost some of its lustre over the years, but pointed out that increased safety and regulations, such as electronic logs of driving hours, should alleviate some of those concerns.

“When a driver gets in the truck, they’re only allowed to drive for a certain amount of hours,” she said. “It is supposed to be safer for them and safer for other people on the road, where other drivers previously used to run the whole day if they wanted to, and drive as far as they could.”

Mackie said one of the biggest attractions of trucking, aside from enjoying driving, is that it has low-level entry requirements compared to other careers. Once you have your licence, it’s all you’ll ever need.

“It is a job that you can get into quicker than doing plumbing or electrical or something like that,” she said. “You do your (test), then once you’ve passed, you can get out there and work right away.”

Within Mackie Transportation, new hires have been skewing younger as of late, and a recent employee was just 21. That said, the median age of all skilled tradespeople, which includes transport truck drivers, is 35.

In 2016, Statistics Canada reported that the share of women transport truck drivers was just 3.5 per cent of 300,000. It’s a share that has no magic fix, although some small steps are being taken to rectify it.

For example, the Ontario government, in partnership with the Workforce Planning Board of Waterloo Wellington Dufferin and the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada, in April announced a 14-week, $600,000 trucker training program for 30 women and members of other underrepresented groups.

Where are the jobs?

Like a few other essential professions, truckers are needed everywhere in Canada, although Quebec had the busiest third quarter as August outbound loads from the region rose 22 per cent from the prior month.

Mackie said that the most in-demand drivers during the pandemic have been for general freight trucks, simply because that’s how manufacturers get their equipment and supplies to where they need to go. She’s also noticed a consistent demand for refrigerated transport (known as reefer in the industry) drivers.

It’s worth noting that the trucking shortage isn’t limited to Canada. Bob Costello, chief economist at the American Trucking Associations, told the Financial Times that about 60,000 drivers in the United States have either left or been dismissed since the beginning of the pandemic. Because of this, many trucking companies are interested in hiring workers from Canada and Mexico, since their commercial driving licences are recognized by the States.