Sept. 3 to 9 is National Trucking Week, a time for the industry to celebrate its workforce and take a brief bow for the efficient and reliable service it provides to everyone who makes a purchase, visits a hospital or clinic, or puts their garbage out weekly at the curb. We all take part in activities that are made possible or easier because of trucking companies and their employees.
Despite the hype around automated trucks, the nuts and bolts of this industry haven’t changed much over the years. However, trucking companies are facing ever-increasing costs, which means even though transportation is a small component of the price of most goods, consumers should expect somewhat higher prices. “Free shipping” is good marketing, but the cost of transportation is buried in the overall price.
For trucking companies, costs fall into three broad categories: equipment, fuel and labour. All of these categories are experiencing increases:
• The cost of equipment is rising as truck engines become more technologically advanced and emissions-reduction features add additional complexity and weight. Because a truck’s weight is regulated, heavier equipment means it must carry less cargo, which lowers a truck’s productivity and revenue. Maintenance on more advanced equipment is also more time consuming and therefore costlier.
• Diesel fuel costs continue to increase, although price alone is not the only reason fuel costs add up. Any idling time due to both planned (e.g., construction) or unplanned (e.g., highway closures) delays raises the cost of transport. Congestion in major centres, where more and more Canadians are choosing to live, is also adding to costs.
• Many trucking companies are spending greater time recruiting and training workers, which requires resources. And, electronic logging devices, which are required in the majority of trucks by year end in the U.S. and projected for 2019 in Canada, will record truck drivers’ time more accurately, accounting for every minute of their work day. Even though truck drivers have a generous allotment of work time (14 hours per shift, maximum, in Canada) and driving time (up to 13 hours within that shift), unproductive time like waiting to load or unload or unexpected delays will shorten a driver’s day. As a result, more drivers and more equipment will be needed to do the same amount of work.
Costs are going up for many industries, not just trucking. But trucking is a highly competitive industry that operates on very low margins. In order not to lose business, companies have been poor at communicating cost increases and, historically, have simply handed over any efficiency gains they’ve made to shippers — their immediate customers — and, finally, to us, the end consumers of their services and the goods they carry.
Louise Yako is president and CEO of the B.C. Trucking Association.
