Report says truck driver vacancies down 36 per cent

A new report released by Trucking HR Canada (THRC) Dec. 4 shows truck driver vacancies down 36 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.

The report – National Job Vacancy Update Q2 2024 – shows positive progress on total employment in the trucking and logistics sector, the unemployment rate and labour market tightness.

“While labour market pressures are easing for truck drivers for the time being, it is less the case for non-driving roles. That is why we continue advance workforce development solutions in anticipation of long-term labour challenges,” says Craig Faucette, chief program officer with Trucking HR Canada. “Our labour market forecast out to 2030 confirms that demand will continue to significantly outpace supply and we could see as many as 40,400 vacancies in our sector by then.”

Highlights from the report include:

• The number of job vacancies in the transport truck driver occupation has decreased by 8,510 positions in Q2 2024, a drop of 36 per cent compared to Q2 2023.
• The job vacancy rate for transport truck drivers dropped from seven per cent in Q2 2023 to 4.5 per cent in Q2 2024.
• In the core trucking and logistics industry, the job vacancy rate fell to 3.5 per cent in Q2 2024 from 4.5 per cent in Q2 2023.
• Transport truck drivers accounted for 89 per cent of all job vacancies in core trucking and logistics industries in Q2 2023, but only 72 per cent in Q2 2024, suggesting that labour market pressures are easing faster in the transport truck driver occupation than in non-driver occupations.

THRC’s labour market information is prepared by THRC’s team of analysts using data drawn from Statistics Canada’s Census and Labour Force Survey information, as well as qualitative and quantitative research from employers to fill gaps in the publicly available data.