The trucking industry plays a large role in Canada's economy, accounting for significant revenues and jobs. Roughly 700,000 of these trucks are estimated to be large trucks, that is, trucks with a registered weight of 4.5 tonnes or more. An additional 280,000 trucks are used in non-commercial trucking, including farming, government operations, and a wide variety of utility and service functions.
Trucking is a highly diversified industry.
There are also small private carriers, as well as organizations such as farms, utility companies and municipalities that own and operate trucks. Figure 13-1 shows trucking industry structure and revenues for 1997. The federal Minister of Transport issued a Position Paper in February 1998 outlining a series of proposed changes intended to establish a regulatory framework which focuses on carrier safety performance and ensures consistent regulatory treatment of extra-provincial motor carriers. Both the federal government and the provinces have constitutional jurisdiction of some aspects of motor carriers operations in Canada. The proposed changes being considered would maintain the existing framework for provincial regulation of extra-provincial motor carriers.