The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) has made achieving this its top priority, and the effort will address five key issues to reach its goal.<\/p>\n
CTA president Stephen Laskowski recently underscored the five areas that need to level to playing field in the trucking industry while addressing the Alberta Motor Transport Association\u2019s (AMTA) 80th annual Leadership Conference and AGM in Banff, Alta.<\/p>\n
For starters, Truck West reported Laskowski as saying that Driver Inc. \u2013 when a truck driver is hired by a company and then incorporates him\/herself without any equipment (unlike an owner-operator, with no source deductions \u2013 is a practice CTA is working with governments to end.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no free lunch, everybody pays taxes,\u201d said Laskowski, adding that labour is currently the trucking industry\u2019s biggest struggle and there are no consequences for those participating in Driver Inc. \u201cThis is the biggest issue we need to fix and it\u2019s fixable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delete kits \u2013 which have stemmed from frustrations with cold starting and breakdowns \u2013 was the next issue raised by Laskowski.<\/p>\n
The CTA president said the industry should be proud that it is the leading freight transportation sector investing in environmental equipment, and carrier cannot pick and choose their principles.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t play that game as an organization,\u201d Laskowski said, adding that the CTA has brought this issue to the federal government.<\/p>\n
Hours-of-service (HOS) and electronic logging devices (ELDs) is another issue.<\/p>\n
Underscoring that ELDs do not change HOS regulation but rather moves them from paper to electronic platforms, Laskowski said in the past it was the customer that benefitted from non-compliance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we can be defeated by the past, but we can learn from it,\u201d he said, confirming that the industry does not want drivers who are fatigued and non-compliant.<\/p>\n
Fleet safety compliance is another area that will help level the playing field for the industry.<\/p>\n
Laskowski said the industry\u2019s dedication to safety is evident, in that since the mid-90s there has been a 66% decline in the fatality rate from large truck collisions despite a 75% increase in truck traffic.<\/p>\n
Labor compliance was the final aspect of the CTA\u2019s five leveling the playing field effort.<\/p>\n