A new white paper from the Traffic Injury Research Foundation says it is essential to improve the safety, performance and professionalism of commercial truck drivers in Canada.
The research is motivated by a cyclical and persistent shortage of qualified drivers – the average job vacancy rate in the truck transportation industry in 2022 was 8.5 per cent, compared to the national average of 5.4 per cent. The paper’s analysis also includes a discussion about the insurance implications for trucking carriers. The concerns outlined in the paper are likely enlightening for insurance carriers, as well.
Main barriers to hiring
Entitled Addressing the Driver Hiring Shortage: A Trucking Industry Blueprint, the paper summarizes information obtained during a national consultation with 20 organizations in the trucking industry including non-profit organizations, federal authorities and organizations focused on licensing, driver training and insurance. It contains a discussion about the prevalence and scope of the driver hiring problem and the main barriers to hiring. Notably, insurance is listed and discussed as one of the barriers to effective hiring in the trucking industry.
“At present, a confluence of events within the transportation sector, and across related sectors such as driver education and licensing, insurance, immigration, the proliferation of the underground economy and workplace safety have substantially limited the ability of law-abiding trucking companies to attract qualified, professional drivers,” they write.
Inconsistent standards
Notably, the paper discusses jurisdiction shopping in matters of licensing and in insurance. “Most recently in Canada, those jurisdictions which have been slower to tighten up regulatory requirements for companies to operate are seeing a spike in registrations,” they write. The paper also discusses the inconsistent standards for competence and qualifications among instructors across jurisdictions, and the tendency of many schools to teach drivers to pass the test, rather than excel in the job itself.
They also say there is considerable variation across commercial driver training schools in Canada. In regulatory matters too, multiple provincial government agencies play a role in the delivery of programs. “This can often lead to divergent practices, inconsistencies and inefficiencies as a result of either overlapping authorities for similar functions or miscommunication.”
Insurance requirements
As for insurance, they point out the disparity in insurance requirements from province to province, some of which have public insurers while trucking carriers in other provinces depend on private insurance. “Commercial vehicle insurance is more accessible and affordable in public insurance jurisdictions and it may not necessarily reflect their actuarial risk,” they state. They also point out that the trucking industry generally allows drivers who’ve simply passed the requisite driving test without demonstrating competence. “Trucking follows a somewhat inverse pattern in which candidates are licensed and obtain full unrestricted privileges after having demonstrated some skills, but this test is a one-time measure based on an independent examiner without necessary evidence of actual competence.”
Meanwhile, rising insurance costs and insurers’ reluctance to insure young or inexperienced drivers are cited as hiring barriers. “Strong leadership and coordination are needed to overcome long-held industry misperceptions, to raise standards for driver training and licensing and to create an insurable talent pipeline from which (trucking) carriers can recruit and retain qualified and diverse employees in the industry,” the report states.
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