Trucking Offers Benefits and Opportunity

Manitoba is a great place to be in trucking

“If you bought it, a truck brought it!” It’s not just a popular cliche. It’s absolutely true. Everything we buy has traveled on a truck and the parts, and the raw materials, of everything we buy traveled on a truck. Our entire supply chain would stop if it were not for the trucking industry.

Trucking is extremely important to the Manitoba economy. Approximately 425 trucking companies are located in Manitoba and for-hire trucking contributes directly, and indirectly, $1.47 billion to Manitoba’s GDP. Trucking directly and indirectly employs 4.6% of the Manitoba labour force.

The jobs the trucking industry creates are not minimum wage jobs either. Professionals in accounting, sales, logistics, dispatch, mechanics, IT, business development, management, and communications are in demand. Of course the first thing you think of, when you think of trucking, is drivers. These are higher paying positions and are secure. You cannot export most trucking jobs over seas.

The best part is quality people are in demand. There is strong demand for freight being moved via truck which opens up opportunities in the industry. Plus the trucking industry has, for a long time, been dealing with a driver shortage.

The difficulty with driver levels is two fold. First, it’s a life style and not a job. A career in which you’ll be away from home 300+ days per year is a tough sell. The second is an aging population is retiring. The Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council says that 64% of Canadian drivers are between the ages of 30 and 55 and 18% are 55 or older. This creates a need for qualified people on the front lines of trucking.

A career in trucking is rewarding. There is plenty of opportunities in trucking in or out of the truck and there’s plenty of opportunity to advance your career.