It's National Trucking Week in Canada, and to mark the occasion the Ontario Chamber of Commerce is urging action on challenges currently facing the industry.
This week casts a spotlight on the vital role trucking plays in both the provincial and Canadian economy, and chamber members provincewide are emphasizing the pressing need to address challenges like labour shortages, training, and red tape impacting the sector.
Officials say the trucking industry forms the backbone of the economy, ensuring goods are transported reliably and efficiently across vast distances, and they're urging the federal and provincial governments to take action.
Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Rakesh Naidu says the trucking industry is a key sector in Windsor-Essex's regional economy, especially with our close proximity to the border.
"A significant of the goods that are imported/exported between the countries goes through the border and is transported by truck, so it's a very important sector for us," he continued. "In Ontario it contributes roughly about 1 per cent of the GDP and on Ontario roads approximately $3 billion dollars worth of goods is transported every day."
What they're looking to do, according to Naidu, is raise awareness about the various issues facing the industry and chief among them is the labour shortage.
"There is a driver shortage, and we know that when the shortage is not addressed in time it can lead to an increase in costs but also a delay in transportation of goods. And in a region which actually thrives on just in time manufacturing philosophy, we need our products and goods to arrive in time."
He says they're asking the governments take steps to address these issues, because according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance, we are likely to be 55,000 drivers short of where we should be in the country by the end of the year.
The Chambers believe there's a need to train more local drivers to help address that, but also find pathways to bring internationally trained drivers and expedite the process to get them the required certifications and licensing.
Naidu says they're also interested in seeing if they can reduce the overall cost to the industry, with a focus on the smaller and medium sized operators.
"There is a significant amount of training costs and more so on the small operators. Small operators also usually pay more when it comes to insurance costs, this can really affect their bottom line. Several owner/operators and small businesses have identified more bottom line pressure in the last year," he said.
Naidu says the recommendations they called for in their policy resolution Support for the Trucking Industry are clear action items that can help address the challenges facing the industry.
National Trucking Weeks begins on the first Sunday in September every year, and runs to the following Saturday.