Did you know? The size of the Canadian truck fleet

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Truck freight in Canada is carried on a fleet of more than 700,000 trucks (vehicles with a registered weight of at least 4,500 kg/10,000 lbs), according to Statistics Canada’s Canadian Vehicle Survey. Almost half of these are Class 8 vehicles (15,000 kg/33,000 lbs or more).Most Canadian fleets (35%) are on 4-5 year trade-in cycles for their heavy-duty trucks. A greater percentage (42%) of owner/operators are also updating their heavy-duty iron every 4-5 years. Those cycles were likely extended for those carriers who used a pre-buy as a strategy to avoid the 2007 round of engine emissions standards.

The predominance of the largest trucks, called Class 8s (15,000 kg/ 33,000 lbs or more), has been growing in recent years. Their annual sales are commonly used as a barometer of industry health – 2006 was a record year for Class 8 sales with 2007 and 2008 showing significant drop-offs. The 12,871 Class 8 trucks sold by the mid-point of this year reflects the impact of the pre-buy, depressed freight volumes and an anticipated economic downturn. However, it should also be noted that Canada’s economic downturn won’t be as deep as that in the US and that the trucking industry historically tends to be one of the first out of economic slumps.

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Truck News is Canada's leading trucking newspaper - news and information for trucking companies, owner/operators, truck drivers and logistics professionals working in the Canadian trucking industry.


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