By the British Columbia Trucking Association

While the struggle to fill commercial driver positions becomes increasingly difficult for carriers, the spotlight remains on workforce issues and challenges that plague not only trucking but all sectors across the country.

The general labour shortage is caused by a complicated mix of many factors, however aging labour, gender discrimination, and poor working conditions have largely contributed to the problem. Projections show that the growth of Canada’s labour force will continue to slow for years, therefore the actions we take today as an industry to offset the implications and build sustainable work solutions will be crucial to our future success.1

 Vacancy Rates:The Cold, Hard Stats

British Columbia’s vacancy rate for truck transportation positions (NOC 7511) has risen 39% from the fourth quarter (Q4) in 2020 to the third quarter (Q3) in 2021. This is an increase of 3,065 vacant positions to 4,280 vacant positions, with a vacancy rate of 11%. That is 16% above the seven-year average based on Statistics Canada job vacancies data.

Of no surprise is that the average hourly wage for truck drivers has increased by 9% since Q4-2019 as carriers seek to attract and retain qualified drivers.

The issue of labour and truck driver shortages in BC is not unique as the vacancy rate in truck transportation continues to climb across the country. Statistics Canada has reported a record high surge in Q3-2021 of 22,990 vacant positions in our sector. Trucking HR Canada’s January Labour Market Snapshot revealed the vacancy rate across all truck transportation occupations was 8% in the same quarter, the second highest vacancy rate in the Canadian economy after the accommodation and food services sector. THRC reported that in Q3-2021, 44% of commercial driver jobs have been vacant for more than 90 days, compared to 34% in quarter two. The snapshot also stated that 67% of employers surveyed in the sector stated they were still unable to find all the drivers they required to address the growing demand for truck transportation services as the economy entered a recovery phase in 2021.

Of significant concern to the BC Trucking Association (BCTA) is the fact that our province is trending towards a high vacancy rate as we saw in 2018 – the last peak labour shortage in BC for truck transporters. Less than four years ago, our sector experienced a vacancy rate of 15% that wreaked havoc on our supply chain. Based on BCTA’s Labour Shortage Survey conducted in 2018, we found that:

• 67% carriers reported having one or more trucks sitting idle for longer than one week due to a lack of drivers, with trucks sitting for an average of 14.7 days due to driver shortages. The financial impact for those companies with idle trucks due to driver shortages was estimated at an average of $350,375 in gross revenue loss per company (based on average fleet size of 41.2 trucks and 16.7 owner-operators).

• Driver positions were the most common positions that had gone unfilled, with 76% of respondents reporting one or more driver vacancies, and an average of 7.9 driver vacancies.

• The top three vacancies that had the most significant impact to operations according to those surveyed were drivers (91%), dispatchers (27%), followed by mechanics (16%).

 Tackling Recruiting & Retention

With the country’s driver shortage expected to reach almost 25,000 vacancies by 2025, our industry has directed its recruiting efforts toward the underutilized labour market.2 Trucking has been ineffective at attracting women and Gen Z
workers to date and struggles with red tape when it comes to hiring newcomers to Canada.

Attracting these career-oriented candidates will require more than a promise of a job. Other industries that offer similar or slightly better pay, have lower barriers to entry, and guarantee employees will be in their own bed every night compete with our industry for available workers. After advocating for training subsidies to address cost of entry, BCTA now administers grant opportunities to provide funding to motor carrier members to support mandatory entry-level training (MELT) for new or current employees. We will continue to urge the government for additional funding, however increased flexibility, work-life balance, and company culture are all priorities that employers need to elevate to meet the expectations of employees in today’s workplace.

The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program is available to employers who cannot find qualified Canadian workers. BCTA will be holding a TFW Program session to educate members on how to effectively follow the requirements and support a worker’s permanent residency. Make no mistake – the process to bring a temporary worker to Canada has long been arduous and time consuming. The impact of the pandemic on immigration through 2020 and 2021 has deeply affected the timelines related to the program. Applying pressure on the government to streamline federal economic immigration programs will be more important than ever and is an initiative both BCTA and the Canadian Trucking Alliance are currently pursuing.

Developing strategies to retain aging drivers is another important tactic for employers to consider as transport truck drivers in Canada are much older than the average for the Canadian workforce. More than 60% of drivers are over 45 years of age and more than 30% are over 55 years old.3 Flexible work arrangements, reduced physical work, and enhanced benefits are just some of the examples of employee perks catered toward older drivers.

The total number of vacancies for transport truck drivers may have hit record highs, but as an industry we have the ability to make it as enticing of a career as candidates would like. While no catch-all solutions exist, embracing innovative recruiting and retention tactics to attract workers from largely untapped labour pools will be critical. Potential employees are in the driver’s seat, and companies will need to listen to what candidates want in order to be successful at finding new drivers and keeping them satisfied in their jobs. For more information on BCTA’s MELT grant opportunity and the TFW Program, visit www.bctrucking.com.

 References

1. Fraser Institute. (2021). The Implications of Slowing Growth in Canada’s Labour Force. By Philip Cross. www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/implications-of-slowing-growth-in-canadas-labour-force.pdf.

2. Trucking HR Canada. (2021). The Road to Recovery: Reassessing Canada’s Trucking and Logistics Labour Shortages. Ottawa: Trucking HR Canada.

3. Trucking HR Canada. (2019). Our Current State. www.truckinghr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/THRC-Fast-Facts-.pdf