Trucking industry

In 2003, the roughly 2,200 long distance for-hire trucking companies based in Canada that had annual operating revenues of $1 million or more generated $16.8 billion in revenues, an increase of 7.5% from 2002. These long distance carriers hauled 305 million metric tonnes of freight in 2003, up 4.0%.

Domestic shipments accounted for 72% of this total tonnage and 53% of revenues. Carriers hauled 32 million shipments within Canada, weighing 219.8 million tonnes. Domestic shipments generated $8.8 billion in revenues.

Trade between Canada and the United States continued to be dominated by road transportation. In terms of revenue, over 53% of Canadian exports and 79% of imports were moved by truck in 2003.

Transborder movements accounted for 22% of total shipments and 47% of revenues. Carriers hauled 8.7 million shipments across the Canada–US border in 2003, with freight totalling more than 85 million tonnes. These transborder shipments generated $8.0 billion in revenues.

The most frequent commodities moved to or from the United States, other than miscellaneous transported products, were vehicles including parts and accessories.

In total, the transportation and warehousing sector employed over 610,000 people in 2003. The trucking industry was by far the largest employer accounting for almost 27% or 165,000 of the people working in the sector.

Data showed that carriers were generally profitable in 2003. For-hire trucking companies generated $20.5 billion in total revenues and had $19.6 billion in total expenses. The overall operating profit margin was lower in 2003 at 4.4%, compared with 5.1% in 2002. However, operating profit margins for carriers with annual revenues between $1 million and $2 million and those with annual revenues greater than $25 million increased between 2002 and 2003.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey numbers, including related surveys, 2741, 2742 and 2748.

The 2003 edition of Trucking in Canada (53-222-XIB, $42) is now available.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Ron Chrétien (613-951-8774; fax: 613-951-0009; ron.chretien@statcan.gc.ca), Transportation Division.