Canada relies heavily on truck drivers to keep its roads moving smoothly and safely, and if you’re considering a career as a truck driver in Canada, this guide offers essential details about industry, job prospects, and starting a rewarding career behind the wheel.
Truck Drivers in Canada: Their Roles and Responsibilities
Truck drivers play an essential part in Canada’s economy by transporting goods and materials across its terrain. Their responsibilities involve driving straight trucks or tractor-trailers over long distances on urban, interurban, provincial, or international routes.
Truck drivers fall under the National Occupational Classification system as Transport truck drivers.
Job Duties
Truck drivers’ job responsibilities as transport truck drivers include many tasks. Here is an outline:
- Planning trip logistics
- Obtaining the required documentation to transport goods
- Performing pre-trip, en route, and post-trip inspections of vehicle systems, equipment, and accessories such as tires, lights, turning signals, brakes, and cold storage.
- Truck Drivers ensure cargo is secured properly in accordance with safety requirements and follow safety procedures for transporting dangerous goods.
- Short-haul and local transport truck drivers operate primarily straight trucks to transport goods and materials mainly on local routes and short interurban routes.
- They perform pre-trip, en-route, and post-trip inspections and oversee all aspects of the vehicle such as the condition of equipment and the loading and unloading of cargo.
Benefits Of Truck Driver Jobs In Canada
Truck drivers in Canada can expect to enjoy competitive salaries, with individual profits determined by factors like experience, type of work performed and location. Furthermore, truckers may qualify for benefits like medical coverage, retirement savings and paid time off plans.
Becoming a truck driver in Canada offers many advantages: not only is pay competitive, but there is also an outstanding healthcare system and overall job satisfaction is high.
Here are some advantages of becoming a truck driver in Canada:
- Competitive pay: Truck drivers in Canada earn a good salary. According to Indeed, the average salary for a truck driver in Canada is CAD$67,000 per year.
- Job security: The demand for truck drivers in Canada is high and is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. This means that truck drivers have good job security.
- Flexibility: Truck drivers have a lot of flexibility in their jobs. They can choose to work local, regional, or long-haul routes. They can also choose to work full-time or part-time.
- Opportunity to travel: Truck drivers have the opportunity to travel all over Canada and the United States. This can be a great way to see the country and meet new people.
- Sense of accomplishment: Truck drivers play an important role in the Canadian economy. They transport the goods that people need and businesses rely on. This can give truck drivers a sense of accomplishment and pride in their work.
It is worth noting that the specific benefits that truck drivers in Canada receive will vary depending on the company they work for. However, Truck Drivers in Canada may also receive additional benefits such as health insurance, dental insurance, retirement savings plans, paid time off, tuition reimbursement, fuel discounts, truck maintenance discounts, and performance bonuses.
Types Of Truck Driver Jobs In Canada
There are several types of truck driver jobs in Canada. According to the Job Bank, there are 4,374 truck driver jobs available in Canada. Here are some common types of truck driving jobs in Canada:
- Long-Haul Truck Drivers: These drivers transport goods over long distances, often across provinces or even countries.
- Short-Haul Truck Drivers: These drivers transport goods over shorter distances, usually within a city or region.
- Local Truck Drivers: These drivers transport goods within a local area, such as a city or town.
- Heavy Equipment Truck Drivers: These drivers transport heavy equipment, such as bulldozers and cranes, to and from construction sites.
- Specialized truck driver: Specialized truck drivers drive trucks that are designed to haul specific types of freight, such as hazardous materials, oversized loads, or refrigerated goods. Specialized truck drivers must have additional training and experience to operate these types of trucks.
- Professional Truck Driver: Devoted Fleet Drivers are professionals who typically transport freight for only one company during their employment period, often maintaining consistent schedules and routes throughout.
- Construction Truck Driver: These professionals transport materials between construction sites.
Truck Driver Salary In Canada
Canadian truck drivers typically earn an hourly wage of $26.19 and an annual salary of approximately $47,049. Salary levels depend upon job requirements and experience – wage levels could range anywhere between as little as $39,598 up to $63,348 annually.
Experienced truck drivers tend to earn higher earnings than entry-level ones, and those working in remote areas or driving specialty trucks such as tankers and hazardous material haulers often make more than those driving dry vans and other general freight trucks.
Here is a breakdown of truck driver salaries across Canada by province:
- Alberta: CAD$70,203
- British Columbia: CAD$69,910
- Manitoba: CAD$65,798
- New Brunswick: CAD$62,545
- Newfoundland and Labrador: CAD$61,203
- Nova Scotia: CAD$60,940
- Ontario: CAD$64,319
- Prince Edward Island: CAD$59,608
- Quebec: CAD$63,942
- Saskatchewan: CAD$66,808
Truck drivers can also earn additional income through bonuses and overtime pay.
Keep in mind that these figures are simply averages; individual truck driver salaries may differ significantly – for instance, an experienced driver working at a larger trucking company might make significantly more than an inexperienced one with lesser experience depending on his or her employer.
How to Find Truck Driving Jobs in Canada
Are You Searching for Truck Driver Jobs in Canada? Job Bank currently lists 4,3774 available truck driver positions across Canada as of September 19th, 2023 in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador as well as Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon.
Indeed.com provides another resource for Canadian truck driver jobs; as of 2023 there were 2,212 open truck driving positions and 7,756 total truck driver job listings on this platform.
