Over the course of the past year, company drivers and owner/operators were invited to participate in our third annual national Driver Satisfaction Survey in a variety of ways. E-mail invites were sent to a subset of the circulation of Truck News and Truck West. Invitations to participate were also provided at leading industry shows. The survey was made available in both French and English.

In total, the responses of 425 professional drivers are included in this survey. Fifty two percent of our driver sample consisted of company drivers and 48% of owner/operators. Sixty two percent worked in the for-hire fleet sector; 22% in the private fleet sector; 1% worked in a government fleet, 3% in a driver service, and 12% worked for an owner/operator. While 55% were based in Ontario, the survey included representation across the country. Ten percent were from the Maritimes; 6% from Quebec; and 29% from Western Canada.

The average age for company drivers was 48, while the average age for owner/operators was 51. Company drivers had been driving professionally for 22 years on average and owner/operators for 27. Both company drivers and owner/operators had worked for six different companies on average during their time in the industry.

The vast majority of company drivers (94%) drove solo as did the majority (97%) of owner/operators.

Pay by the hour and pay by the mile/km were the two most common forms of payment for company drivers. Thirty three percent of company drivers were paid by the hour and 51% by the mile/km. More than a quarter (29%) of owner/operators were paid by the trip while 46% were paid by the mile/km. Other forms of payment included by the hour, by the tonne, and by salary.