Truck drivers literally move the economy, so it’s imperative they have a say in how the government addresses highway infrastructure challenges and potential improvements across Canada, which are needed to bolster the supply chain and ensure economic growth for all Canadians. 

The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) recently conducted a major survey of commercial truck drivers and fleet operators to gauge their opinions on improving road safety on highways in Northern Ontario.

Not surprisingly, the nearly 1,000 drivers who responded to the survey echoed (pretty much unanimously) many of those common concerns and told us how improvements need to be made. So, now it’s not just talk – we have data – and that matters to governments and decision makers. 

The results of this survey made a significant impression on provincial and municipal officials. The responses will help impact change and improve road safety, driver safety and expand professionalism among the truck driver community. 

The survey was so successful and made such an impression with government, that the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) board of directors is taking the concept nationally. CTA has just launched its own national commercial truck driver survey, which we believe will positively impact future provincial and federal investments and policies dealing with rest area infrastructure, highway safety and winter highway maintenance, poor road construction, as well as cellular network coverage throughout Canada.

But we can’t do it properly without the first-hand knowledge and input from those who drive along these highways every day.  

The survey will help identify to all levels of government what aspects of the highway system and infrastructure is efficient and where improvements are needed. Feedback is essential to help CTA determine positions that can help us work with government to shape policy and develop solutions that will improve highway and truck driver safety across Canada. 

Over the years, the CTA and its provincial association partners have compiled a list of infrastructure investments that the alliance believes should receive priority investment from a trucking perspective. Moving forward, we need to ensure that any future list compiled by CTA includes direct input from commercial drivers. This is what we are setting out to do in 2024.

CTA is asking all TruckNews.com readers to take the survey and encouraging fleets to circulate it to their drivers and encourage participation. 

To help, CTA created a QR code poster that can be printed and presented around workplaces. Participants just need to snap the code with their mobile devices to link directly to the survey.  

No personal or corporate information is required to participate in the survey, and all results will be presented generically. It’ll just take a few minutes.

The more commercial drivers participate, the more powerful the information will be. Let your opinion be known. Your voice matters, so make it heard. 

There is also a lesson here for all associations and governments: We need to reach out to commercial drivers far more regularly to ensure their expertise and informed opinions are taken seriously. It’s essential that those behind the wheel have a say into the types of policies and government decisions that ultimately affect them the most.