Transportation

Viewpoint: National Truck Week 2015 preview image Viewpoint: National Truck Week 2015 article image

Viewpoint: National Truck Week 2015

National Trucking Week, celebrated September 6 to 12 this year, is a good time to consider the truck driving occupation and what we can do to encourage the best candidates to enter a demanding and essential career that requires judgment, planning, know-how and a host of other skills. Unlike autonomous vehicles, drivers may be called upon to react quickly to unexpected incidents on the road, bringing all their varied experience about their equipment, the load they're hauling, and road conditions into play. The question is, is the trucking industry appealing to enough quality candidates to meet our needs today - and in the future? Planners of large-scale projects in Northern BC are realizing the pool of available drivers is diminishing at a time when they need it to grow. A report developed by a liquefied natural gas (LNG) provincial working group identifies "truck driver" is the 7th most in-demand occupation to complete these projects. Today, there are about 300,000 truck drivers in Canada - that's 1 percent of the population and 1.5 percent of the labour force. In BC, most truck drivers are male (96 percent), and nearly half (47 percent) are between the ages of 45 and 64. With less interest in the career from young men, the traditional labour pool for trucking, governments are funding programs to train women and Aboriginal candidates to be competent for the occupation.