The importance of the trucking industry can not be overstated. Both consumers and businesses of all sizes depend on truck drivers to deliver goods and services to be manufactured and consumed every single day. They play a part in delivering the food we put on our table, the toys, trinkets and leisure goods we enjoy, and the roofs under which we live. They are the #1 transporter of goods in the world, more than trains, ships or planes, and without trucks, goods and services would never reach their destination and our economy would more than likely grind to a screeching halt. But don’t take our word for it, let’s look at some facts!
In Canada in 2011 there were over 300,000 people employed as a truck drivers, including both in the for-hire trucking industry and those drivers employed in the private trucking industry. As a percentage of Canada's population, that accounts for nearly 1% and over 1.5% of the active work force. If we include the indirect jobs created by the trucking industry, the number is even higher: 477,600 jobs in 2011! With a total personal income of $23.6 billion and an annual gross domestic product (GDP) of $17 billion, the impact on the Canadian economy of the trucking industry is huge, and becomes even higher when we again consider the indirect jobs relating to the trucking industry. We said earlier that almost everything you deal with on a day-to-day basis is because of the trucking industry, but let's look at the actual number: nearly 90% of all consumer products and foodstuffs within Canada and about 60% of our trade with the United States, our largest trading parter, is due to the trucking industry.
The fortunes of the trucking sector are tied to the domestic economy, with performance in the manufacturing and retail and wholesale trade industries being the key driver of demand for truck transport services. The trucking industry are the wheels of the economy and a healthy trucking industry is a key factor in a healthy economy.
A healthy trucking industry has a number of benefits: they increase access to producers, allow for greater specialization in manufacturing by creating bubbles of specialization, and create greater concentration of highly productive economic activity of "like" firms. To put it in clearer terms: they shrink the distances between companies and people, allowing markets to work efficiently and smoothly, where ever they are.
We hope we were able to shed some light on the importance of the trucking industry to Canada's well-being!
Fox Oilfield is a construction, equipment, and oilfield hauling, trucking, and transportation company servicing a multitude of locations that includes Nisku, Leduc, Beaumont, Dawson Creek, High level, Fox Creek, Drayton Valley, Lloydminster, Fort McMurray, Sundre, Edson, White Court, Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, Fort Liard, Alberta, and Western Canada.