Report warns of trucker shortage

Canada needs about 20,000 more drivers, data shows

A lot of people are wondering why Canada has a truck driver shortage, and Philip Fletcher is one of them.

About 50,000 commercial driving tests for Class A through to F licences are taken each year in Ontario, said Fletcher, the president of the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario. It should be enough to keep up with retirements.

About 20,000 to 22,000 of those are Class A, said Fletcher, which is needed to drive a tractor-trailer. But even with those numbers, concerns about a driver shortage continue to mount, with a new report warning Canada’s economy could be in serious trouble if its truck driver shortage is not addressed soon.

“They (truckers) don’t seem to be sticking in to be a productive member,” Fletcher said.

“Not like we used to have in back the ’80s and ’90s when guys would come in and they’d spend 25, 30, 35 years in the industry as a driver before retiring.”

The report, released by PricewaterhouseCoopers for Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP), said that given the reliance the country’s supply chain has on the trucking industry, a growing trucker shortage poses significant “risk” to the economy.

A lack of drivers results in shipment delays and barren shelves, the report said, which drives up prices.

Canada has a shortage of about 20,000 truck drivers, and one third of current drivers are nearing retirement, according to the report. The shortage could reach 30,000 in the coming years if recruitment doesn’t pick up. In June, the Ontario government said about

6,100 truck drivers are needed across the province to fill the gap.

On Monday, Ottawa announced changes to the Express Entry worker program allowing for greater intake of transport professionals, including truck drivers. Express Entry is a federal immigration program aimed at skilled workers.

“Truck driver shortages tend to ebb and flow,” said Frank Scali, FHCP’s vice-president of industry affairs. “Through the pandemic it became a bit of a crisis for a while, as some drivers left the business and volume went up.”

The report said attracting young drivers is a major front in the battle against the shortfall.

It calls for reaching out to more diverse communities through social media and improving the image of the industry in the minds of younger Canadians, among other recommendations. One suggestion is outreach to high schools promoting the industry as a possible career choice.

“It hasn’t been appealing to young people, it hasn’t been appealing to women,” Scali said.

He said part of the image rework should include talking about some of the more recent or coming advancements in the industry, such as electric trucks and simulator training.

Part of the formula to attract new drivers is good salary packages, the report said. According to Statistics Canada, the average hourly wage of a long-haul truck driver in Canada is $27.80.

Christopher Monette, director of public affairs for Teamsters Canada, which represents 55,000 truckers, said much of the issue comes down to salaries being too low. Monette said he’s heard of some drivers being paid $40,000 a year.

“Wages and working conditions in this industry are just way too low,” Monette said. “The reality is, especially when you’re starting out, there are a lot of other jobs outside traditional trucking that will pay better.”

Courier delivery for some companies pays above some starting wages for traditional trucking, he said, and entry-level training for larger trucks averages $10,000.

“There aren’t many people who are going to look at that kind of deal and jump on it,” he said.

Monette said the stagnant wages go back to the 1980s when deregulation of the industry began, making it a less enticing career option.

The deregulation, which saw rate controls removed, made it easier for companies to charge lower rates, which truckers at the time argued would trickle down to lower wages.

The reasons for drivers not staying long term are too numerous to count, Fletcher said, despite drivers being able to earn $100,000 a year in some cases.

It seems some people are getting their licences and “keeping the in their back pocket for a rainy day,” he said.