OTTAWA — Economic activity among the three major transport modes increased substantially for the second year in a row.

According to a annual transportation review by Stats Canada, economic output, from trucking, rail and aviation, as measured by GDP, rose 4.5 percent in 2005 following a 4.6 percent jump the year before.

These back-to-back increases halted three years of decline in economic output in the air industry. Output in 2005 amounted to nearly $4.2 billion, just below the peak of $4.3 billion in 2000.

Over the last decade, trucking has grown at
a faster rate than the overall economy

More than one-third (35%) of the GDP generated by the transportation sector in 2005 came from trucking, says Stats Can.

Air, water and rail transportation combined contributed another 25 percent. The remainder was generated by transit, pipeline, and scenic and support activities for the industry.

Output in trucking rose 4.4 percent last year, a slight slowdown from 2004. Over the last decade, trucking experienced an average annual growth of 5.2 percent, a faster rate than the 3.4 percent average for the overall economy.

Last year, the approximately 3,360 for-hire trucking companies generated $27.1 billion in revenues, up 7.9 percent from 2004 — an indication carriers are keeping their pricing firm. An important shift occurred in the source of growth for trucking, as domestic traffic increased three times faster than international traffic, notes Stats Can.

Trucking is a large consumer of energy, so rising fuel prices have created some concern, although overall profitability for the industry has remained positive. The number of jobs in the trucking industry has shown steady growth over the past several years.

The rail sector also posted strong growth in GDP for the second consecutive year. Last year’s 5.0 percent increase was a slightly faster pace than the 4.3 percent gain in 2004.