The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) is celebrating 100 years of industry leadership this year. The organization’s longevity is rooted in its ability to evolve and adapt to ever-changing market realities, emerging technologies, and government priorities.

This ensured not only the organization’s survival and its ability to thrive, but also propelled its unique position to generally strengthen the industry for all trucking carriers throughout the last century, whether they are members or not.

Building on this ability to evolve, OTA plans to shift how it communicates its policy positions with the government and the public in 2026. Gone are the days when associations engaged exclusively with Ottawa and Queen’s Park.

Connecting with the people

Today, successful policy advocacy requires taking the pulse of the people – especially voters and taxpayers. It is critical to listen to the public’s concerns and champion their causes if it’s the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, much of society has become detached from the political process – perhaps from a sense that our voices no longer matter. In a world crowded with competing narratives, countless stakeholders, and governments that often feel distant from public sentiment, participation can seem almost pointless.

The result is a populace that is comfortably numb, emotionally disengaged, and shrugging at the latest scandal. Whether this detachment is engineered, incidental, or simply inevitable in an overly saturated, often sensationalized media culture is probably a discussion for another day. The fact remains, though, that the public is losing its faith in institutions like governance and, consequently, its voice.

Such an atmosphere can cause the public to become largely indifferent to issues that affect us all. Take trucking, for example.

Trucking has gotten less safe

If packages arrive on time and trucks pose no obvious physical or emotional threats, the industry is barely on the public’s radar. Historically, this is not an industry that sought much attention. If our industry wasn’t in the news, it was usually because it was safe, productive and we quietly did our jobs delivering the goods Canadians and Ontarians needed every day.

But things have changed drastically in our industry over the last 10-15 years. There isn’t a soul who drives on our roads and highways who honestly believes this industry is as safe as it was a decade ago. That’s because it isn’t.

We all see daily evidence of a growing number of unsafe, noncompliant carriers putting unqualified drivers on the roads with our families. We also know very well the general response from governments at every level has not matched the problem — a firehose to put out an inferno.

What’s becoming increasingly clear is that relying on traditional approaches like formal letters and organized diplomatic exchanges is no longer enough to move certain policies.

There was a time when being on the right side of the moral equation would ultimately push change forward. We believed logic, common sense, and sound policy in the public interest would eventually prevail. But in an era defined by public disengagement and changing political lenses, that assumption no longer holds.

New social media campaign

Although it’s a distasteful reality, it doesn’t mean our ability to influence change is lost. Starting next month and continuing throughout 2026, the OTA will launch a social media awareness campaign, modeled after the Canadian Trucking Alliance’s Stop Illegal Trucking initiative from 2023–2025.

The campaign will spotlight the growing lawlessness threatening Ontario – the epicentre of this problem – and demand governments take policy action proportionate to the safety crisis facing our industry. The CTA campaign was a resounding success, recruiting more than 21,000 Canadians to our cause. We expect relative results in Ontario.

OTA fully expects headwinds throughout this campaign. Those who oppose our stance on enforcement and truck safety will inevitably deploy predictable and convenient narratives, continue to utilize their political leverage, and release trivial media soundbites to try to marginalize OTA; or at the very least, use these methods to attempt to shut down the conversation about the critical issues plaguing our sector.

They will attempt to obscure and distract from the complex web of illegality and unabashed culture of noncompliance that has gone unchecked for far too long.  

OTA will not allow baseless soundbites and ad hominem attacks to distract us or the public from calling for change and having the important discussions that are urgently needed. OTA is committed to driving meaningful policy change for the betterment of our industry, the public, and the people who make it what it is. We will not settle for fringe solutions.

While every association must navigate political realities, common sense and pragmatism cannot come at the expense of public safety. We are launching this initiative with eyes wide open and an unwavering commitment to ignite real change. The time to act is now — stand with us, raise your voice, and let’s shape the future of our industry together.