|
|
|
 Twenty-four
hours a day, everyday, along the arteries that link Ontario communities,
trucks are moving the essential ingredients of modern living. Virtually
every person in the province – whether or not he or she realizes
it – depends on trucks to keep the products we use every day
moving and conveniently available. As the old adage goes –
if you got it, a truck brought it!
- If
You Got It A Truck Brought It! - The old saying has never
been truer than it is today. Presently about 90% of all consumer
products and foodstuffs used and consumed in Ontario are shipped
by truck at some point in the distribution chain.
- The
Vital Role of Trucking in Trade - Trade is the engine
of Ontario’s economic prosperity. More than 40% of the province’s
Gross Domestic Product depends on trade. 90% of Ontario’s
total exports are destined for the United States. At least 80%
of the value of Ontario’s trade (75% exports, 83% imports)
with the United States moves by truck. Approximately 60% of Ontario’s
trade in motor vehicles and parts, 80% of its trade in machinery
and equipment, 35% in forest products and 72% in provincial trade
in petroleum products are shipped by truck. Trucking hauls a higher
share of high value-added manufactured goods and finished products
than any other freight transportation mode. Since 1991, trans-border
truck movements have been growing at 9% per year. Ontario carriers
presently enjoy about 60% market share.
- Transportation
Costs & Competitiveness - An important factor in
determining the competitiveness of Ontario’s exports is
the cost of transportation as a proportion of the delivered price
of major export products. Typically, transportation costs in Canada
can account for 5% to 40% of the delivered price, depending on
the commodity. An efficient trucking industry is essential to
ensuring Ontario’s competitiveness and to attracting direct
investment in the province. The fact that most shipments of Ontario
exports are within one day’s truck drive to the US industrial
heartland is a major factor in direct investment in plant and
equipment in the province.
- It’s
Our Service That Counts - The reason trucking is the
mode of choice is the industry’s ability to provide the
reliable and efficient time-sensitive service that manufacturers,
retailers and other shippers operating with just-in-time inventory
systems require. Only trucks provide door to door service. Trucks
and freight trains are not interchangeable services. Trucks dominate
in the short-haul, small shipment of time-sensitive freight. Rail
dominates in the shipment of large bulky commodities over long
distances where time sensitivity is usually not a factor. The
two modes overlap on only about 10% of the market and in that
portion there is growing co-operation as opposed to competition.
But the fact is that the railways are generally as much as 15%
cheaper than truck, for what they do. The reason that most shippers
use trucking boils down to service and in that regard the trucking
industry consistently out-performs the other modes.
- Jobs,
Jobs, Jobs - The commercial trucking industry in Ontario
employs over 200,000 people directly and at least another 15,000
jobs in related businesses. The Census of Canada found that the
occupation “truck driver”, is the top occupation amongst
Canadian males at over 225,000 jobs nation-wide.
- Soon
to Be Smog Free - By law, heavy trucks meet North American
emission reduction standards. (Indeed, trucks are the only mode
of freight transportation to have emissions from its engines and
diesel fuel regulated). New engines introduced on October 1st,
2002, are required to produce about 50% less emissions of nitrogen
oxides and particulate matter – both contributors to smog
and respiratory illness. In 2006, the sulphur content of truck
diesel fuel will be reduced – again by law – from
500 ppm to 15 ppm. (By comparison rail diesel fuel has a sulphur
content of 1500-2500 ppm). This new fuel, combined with even more
restrictive standards for the model year 2007 engines, will virtually
eliminate smog causing emissions from heavy trucks.
- The
Safest Drivers & Vehicles on Our Roads - Trucks are
involved in less than 3% of the collisions that occur on Ontario’s
highways each year. And, in the fatal accidents in which trucks
are involved in, Ontario government reports show that the truck
driver was driving properly, or in other words not at fault in
75% to 80% of the time. Vehicle defects also show up as a minor
contributing factor and the incidence of alcohol – still
the major killer on the highways -- is virtually non-existent
amongst truck drivers.
- Paying
Its Fair Share - The trucking industry pays $850 million
in provincial fuel taxes ($600 Million) and vehicle registration
fees ($250 million) annually. In recent budgets, the Ontario government
has invested about $1 billion per year in highways under the Provincial
Highway Management program. The trucking industry is paying upwards
of 85% of the provincial highway program. The federal government
takes in about $2 billion in federal diesel fuel taxes, but puts
virtually nothing back into the highways.
If
you would like to download brochures about the trucking industry,
please visit our OTA
Publications page.
© 1995 - 2009, Ontario Trucking Association
555 Dixon Road, Toronto, Ontario
M9W 1H8
Tel: (416) 249-7401 | Fax: (416) 245-6152
Email: info@ontruck.org
|
|
