Supply Chain Scanner - Week of February 10, 2025
Weekly blog by Emily Atkins
Trucking industry steps up with concrete plans to counter vague US threats
Canada’s trucking industry is stepping up with suggestions on how this country can deal with the rapidly shifting messaging coming from south of the border on trade issues.
While it’s proving extremely difficult to find any certainty in what the United States is actually asking for, taken at face value it appears to have a goal of improved border security. To that end, the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is offering Ottawa, the provinces and Washington the trucking industry’s assistance and recommendations in the war against organized crime, money laundering and drug smuggling in the international supply chain and cross-border trade.
“Senior US officials are calling this a drug war, not a trade war. We now have 30 days to address these issues and work together to implement tools and solutions that could help us avoid economic disaster,” Stephen Laskowski, president of the CTA, said in a statement.
“Relatedly, CTA, as well as major trade unions, have worked tirelessly for close to a decade to bring light to criminal activity in the domestic and international trucking industry. We have pleaded with Ottawa to join us in the war against the underground economy ripe with compliance and labour corruption, among other illicit behaviours, which is becoming more pervasive in our industry. The time to act is now.”
The CBSA continues to intercept illicit narcotics, such as cocaine, moving by truck and other modes at the Canada-U.S. border. The CTA believes it is possible that trucking fleets embedded in the underground market and are not complying with labour, tax and safety laws and industry regulations would also be more likely to be involved in many other illegal activities, like drug smuggling.
“As US officials look to mitigate risk from those who are involved in a wide range of illegal activities in the cross-border supply chain, it would make the most sense for Ottawa and the provinces to help out by enhancing enforcement efforts and increase scrutiny of those we already know are routinely engaged in illegal activities and gross patterns of noncompliance with Canadian laws,” Laskowski said.
“It’s time to deal with systemic non-compliance once and for all and show Canadians and our US trading partners that Canada’s truck trade moves by companies and drivers that take security and compliance seriously and follow all the rules.”
The trucking industry also recently spoke out in favour of removing interprovincial trade barriers. At the hastily organized meeting of the prime minister’s Council on Canada-US Relations on February 7, the CTA called for the trucking industry to pilot removal of these obstructions to internal trade.
“We have solutions that will dramatically improve domestic east-west supply chains. Many are easy fixes, but we need the Council to support these projects and give a strong endorsement for them being expedited,” said Laskowski.
The CTA is pushing for pilot projects that were part of the 2024 Committee for Internal Trade recommendations to be implemented immediately. These included the harmonization of long combination vehicle regulations in Western Canada and countrywide harmonization of over-dimensional load rules, as well as streamlining driver medical requirements and trip inspection information.
The trucking industry also wants to see recommendations from its 2023 trade barriers report to be implemented. These include harmonizing the movement of goods allowed to be delivered in trucks across provinces and territories; addressing the twinning of Highway 185 (New Brunswick & Quebec) that is forcing the unnecessary switching of equipment and trucks between Atlantic Canada and the rest of eastern Canada; aligning provincial winter road maintenance standards so goods can be delivered in a timely manner to customers while ensuring the safety of truck drivers; and, more rest areas for truck drivers.
“Canada moves by truck, and bringing all levels of government together to identify and eliminate trade barriers is an important step to improving the movement of trucking equipment, drivers and goods. Removing internal trade barriers and changes, as well as changes and increased enforcement tax and labour code is needed in short order to help restore competitiveness and productivity to the Canadian trucking industry and the Canadian supply chain,” Laskowski said.
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Emily Atkins
President
Emily Atkins Group
Emily Atkins is president of Emily Atkins Group and was editor of Inside Logistics from 2002 to 2024. She has lived and worked around the world as a journalist and writer for hire, with experience in several sectors besides supply chain, including automotive, insurance and waste management. Based in Southern Ontario, when she’s not researching or writing a story she can be found on her bike, in a kayak, singing in the band or at the wheel of her race car. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyatkinsgroup/