While the freight recession and changing political climate are forcing fleets to navigate many challenges, Trucking HR Canada (THRC) research shows rising costs are the top concern across the country, while finding qualified drivers continues to be critical.
In Alberta in particular, trucking and logistics companies are adapting to the shortage of qualified drivers by putting more effort into attracting new drivers — offering better pay, stronger perks, and investing in strategies to keep drivers on the road.
Alberta has a higher vacancy rate for truck drivers than the rest of Canada, so THRC surveyed Alberta employers to better understand the ways new drivers are being hired, and how they are being supported and compensated.
The findings shed light on how employers are adapting:
- High hiring rates for new drivers: Most of the employers surveyed hire recently licensed drivers, although the cost of training and insurance for inexperienced drivers creates challenges.
- Investment in training: Employers who hire new drivers typically invest in substantial training programs, with most providing around 90 hours of training, including mentoring and onboarding.
- Rising incomes and incentives: Annual incomes for drivers are increasing, with 18% of companies reporting over a 10% pay rise in 2023. Most employers offer a variety of incentives, particularly for full-time employees.
As part of THRC’s labor market information work, we regularly gather data on provincial and national labor trends in the trucking and logistics sector.
More insights from the survey:
- Seasonal hiring challenges: While 84% of companies filled all driver positions in the past year, many find hiring seasonal workers challenging. They used strategies like offering incentives and ways to improve work-life balance to attract drivers.
- Getting drivers road-ready: Nearly two thirds of companies feel they are expected to do too much to train new drivers (65%), and just over two thirds (67%) indicate that hiring a new driver (one with fewer than two years of experience) is more expensive than hiring an experienced one. Methods used to help new drivers become road ready include: mentoring (73%), onboarding (65%), and/or finishing programs (60%). One in five companies offer more than three weeks in-house training. But training them on the basics adds up: company policies, routes, safety protocols, as well as driving on remote roads or hauling specialized products.
- Insurance: Insurance providers won’t always insure drivers with limited experience, or they charge higher rates (based on the industry’s claim history of new drivers and the wide variety of driver training programs — which insurers often assess).
- Annual pay: Annual pay varies based on experience, the type of driver, and the company. On average, newer drivers are paid less than more experienced drivers; short-haul drivers are paid, on average, less than their long-haul counterparts. When the results were reviewed for the highest paying companies, the average annual income was almost double for long-haul drivers.
The survey was conducted online from Oct. 4 to Nov. 5, 2024. Senior executives from 133 trucking companies in Alberta representing 5,149 truck drivers completed surveys. The companies surveyed serve various industries, with food retail, manufacturing, and agriculture being the most represented sectors. This research was partly funded by the Province of Alberta and produced with the support of the Alberta Motor Transport Association.
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