Labor market tightness is easing with 13,600 jobs added to the trucking and logistics sector in the second quarter of this year.

Job gains were marginal for transport truck drivers, up just 0.1% or 200 more drivers in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023, according to the latest labor market information snapshot from Trucking HR Canada (THRC).

“The latest report shows our sector added 13,600 jobs in Q2 2024, mostly in positions other than transport truck drivers,” Craig Faucette, chief program officer, THRC, said in a release. “We are expecting the need to recruit and train new workers into non-driver roles to increase.”

The report showed that employment in the trucking and logistics sector increased by 1.8% in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023. 

In Q2 2024, there were 10,400 more delivery and courier service drivers employed, up 11% from Q2 2023 and an additional 4,300 shippers and receivers, a 4.4% increase over Q2 2023.

Employment among managers and supervisors was up 13%, general administration was up 17% and accounting/HR occupations was up 19% between Q2 2023 and Q2 2024.

Job losses occurred some sectors, including dispatchers (down 31%) and material handlers (down 19%), compared with the same period last year.

Labor supply

The total supply of labor (both employed and unemployed workers) increased steadily through 2023 and into 2024. At just over 801,000 workers in Q2 2024, the sector’s labor supply declined by 6,000 workers compared to the previous quarter but is 2.8% higher than in Q2 2023 — up 21,800 workers.

Following a spike in the first quarter this year, the number of active job seekers in Q2 remains almost 25% higher than it was in Q2 2023. Occupations experiencing the highest increases in people seeking employment were shippers and receivers (5,100) and material handlers (1,600).

According to THRC’s 2023 employer survey, 40% of trucking and logistics sector employers expect that recruiting and training workers in non-driver occupations will continue to be very or extremely challenging.