In Canada, we work with what we have and sometimes forget that our supply chain infrastructure is not so great.

Truckers hauling freight across the country are used to delays. They are also used to not finding a safe place to park or a meal along their route. It is considered part of the job when a road is shut down or a ferry is cancelled or delayed. They may mutter under their breath but will get the load delivered.

As the saying goes, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

A loud squeak from Prince Edward Island got me thinking about the precariousness of our supply chain system that includes one main highway — the Trans-Canada — and ferries. From coast to coast, goods mostly flow and sometimes get stuck along the way.

A report on the Wood Islands–Caribou ferry’s economic role stated that declining reliability on the service is driving up transportation costs for carriers serving Eastern P.E.I. and straining supply chains across the region’s export-dependent industries. Repeated disruptions, berth limitations and dredging-related weight restrictions were affecting a vital commercial trucking service.

A couple of days later, a trucking company owner in Newfoundland added a squeak by calling for additional ferry service to the Rock. Marine Atlantic is replacing the Leif Ericson that has been in service for 35 years. The A Napita, which is being leased for five years, is 25% larger and will be operational this fall.

Here is my little squeak.

Majority of Trans-Canada Highway is still two lanes

The majority of the 7,800-kilometer Trans-Canada Highway is still two lanes, especially through parts of British Columbia, Ontario, P.E.I. and much of Newfoundland and Labrador.

In comparison, the U.S. has 70 primary interstate routes. We have a slightly larger land mass, but the U.S. has eight times more people.

During a recent visit to Spain and Portugal, I admired well-maintained highway systems in Europe.

Canada is about 20 times larger than Spain, and about 108 times the size of Portugal. Spain has a larger population than Canada, while Portugal’s population is about 25% that of Canada’s 40 million.

This is not an apples-to-apples comparison to the U.S. and EU countries, but the question remains as to why we can’t do better. We are a resource-rich country that is begging for better infrastructure.

More rest areas, truck stops needed

As you roll along American and European highways, service areas and truck stops appear at regular intervals.

I’ve hauled freight on Highway 11 in Northern Ontario, which is part of the Trans-Canada, and you can go hours without a proper place to park a truck, fill up on diesel, find something decent to eat or use a washroom.

In these winter months, bad weather and resulting crashes can shut down this vital roadway for days on end. Truckers waiting for the highway to reopen huddle in their cabs with their engines running while the temperature sometimes hovers at -20 C.

For consumers rolling through a Tim Hortons drive-thru for their morning cup of coffee or waiting on a package ordered online, trucks stuck in the mountains of B.C., along a deserted stretch of Northern Ontario highway or at a dock in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia do not come to mind.

Highway twinning

If no one speaks for us, we must speak for ourselves.

It is 2026, the slate is clean and I am allowed some wishful thinking while some questions arise.

Will the entire Trans-Canada ever be twinned in both directions? Will there be rest areas and truck stops at regular intervals as big rigs buzz along the busy highway? Will more ferries with ice-operational capability be pressed into service?

A few more squeaky wheels could hopefully get the grease flowing. Please join in the chorus.