Minimum rates to increase for container truck drivers in B.C. next month
Container truck drivers operating to and from the Vancouver ports and within the Lower Mainland will see their minimum rates increase on July 1, following a formal rate review and consultation process conducted by the Office of the B.C. Container Trucking Commissioner (OBCCTC).
“The 2025 rate review was part of my commitment to engage with the industry to continue to maintain a balance between the need for fair compensation for drivers and the realities facing many stakeholders,” Commissioner Glen MacInnes said in a statement to trucknews.com.
“Automatically adjusting the minimum rates paid to drivers based on the inflation rate ensures fair compensation for container truck drivers who service our ports and predictability and stability for company owners and other stakeholders in the drayage sector.”
For company drivers and indirectly employed operators, the minimum hourly wage will increase to $33.85 for those with under 2,340 cumulative service hours, and $35.29 for those above the threshold. These rates are inclusive of benefits and apply to container trucking services performed for any licensee under the Container Trucking Act.
Independent operators who are paid hourly will see their rates increase to $71.54 (under 2,340 hours) and $73.51 (2,340 hours or more), while trip-based compensation remains guided by origin-destination charts included in the rate order.
The order also sets a callout rate of $341 or the applicable trip rate, whichever is higher, for independent operators who agree to be available for four or more continuous hours within a 24-hour period.
Overtime rules remain in effect for company drivers and indirectly employed operators. Drivers working more than nine hours in a day or 45 hours in a week — from Sunday to Saturday — will be entitled to 1.5 times the applicable hourly rate.
Fuel surcharges will continue to apply when diesel prices exceed $1.05/litre, based on a formula tied to Kalibrate’s (formely the Kent Group’s) average Vancouver retail diesel prices, including taxes, or discounted purchase rates, whichever is lower.
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As a representative of the importers,
I am deeply troubled by the fact that the dray industry, alongside Commissioner Glenn McInnes, has consistently raised rates over the past five years. I urge this news publication to undertake a comprehensive analysis comparing past and current rates paid by importers. Such transparency is essential; providing evidence of inconsistencies in compensation for dray companies could help justify these rate increases and make them more palatable.
Commissioner McInnes must engage with the importers burdened by escalating costs imposed not just by dray companies, but also by ports and steamship lines. Consumers must have a voice in these discussions. Furthermore, there is a pressing need for dray companies to clarify how much of these increased rates actually trickle down to drivers and lease operators.
Without this accountability, the system remains unjust and opaque.. Some visibility and accountability would make these rate increases a little easier to swallow if there were proof that there were inequities in the ways these dray companies are being compensated.
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I agree these rates to lease ops and drivers are more than fair but a full investigation into. Profits and margins need to be look at but the same time the crash rates and treatment of TFWs in Canada and their pay structure and lack medical care.
This should be the industry Standard with 2 or more yrs exp for all trucl drivers with overtime and medial on payroll and then we can outlaw Driver Inc