US vs Canadian truck drivers

[hkloss1]

Hi Chaps

Which truck drivers have it better US or Canadian truck drivers across the pond when it comes to pay terms and conditions?
What about cabotage, is it working in favour of US or Canadian truckers?
Would it be better if cabotage was lifted in N America between Canada and the US?

Just curious

[Carryfast]

Looking at most of the North American topics it looks as though there's an in balance in traffic in Canada's favour ?.So it would logically follow that Canada would also gain more from the lifting of cabotage restrictions.Which leaves the big question what about allowing Mexican cabotage operations in both Canada and US and also hauling US-Canadian traffic.Bearing in mind that both were keen enough on us staying in the EU.

[kyk]

on youtube videos they - canadian and us drivers, all say US pays more and better truckstop services and coverage etc...

[Pat Hasler]

It depends what you want in life ? In the USA the pay seems a bit higher and you may be home more often but you have virtually no job security, the health care system is a disgrace, the taxes you pay are astronomical and you get basically nothing in return. I live and work in the USA but have more friends who are British ex pats driving in Canada who seem far better of than me, I find life in the USA a struggle and although my pay is mostly far higher than my Canadian counterpart they seem to far better off financially.

[russjp]

I can't comment on the USA as Pat is the only driver I know there but here in Canada if you can find the right job you can make good money and also the healthcare is a lot better than the states too. We have a good standard of living but are far from rich, that said, our material goods and housing is of a lot higher standard than we could afford living in the uk


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[hkloss1]

So, who do you guys think would benefit if cabotage restrictions between Canadian trucking companies and US trucking companies were lifted.
I've seen recently an article about Canadian drivers complaining about US taking Canadian loads and delivering them within Canada, and being sent by their companies from the US to do this particular job.
From what I'm seeing on YT it looks like US drivers are better paid per mile, and have more choice of getting the right loads as the US is a much larger country than Canada in terms of population, more densely populated, there would be more jobs that would allow the driver to plan his home time more efficiently, or am I wrong?

@rsjjp Are these good trucking jobs readily available, or are they difficult to find, especially now when the oil patch no longer employ as many drivers and doesn't pay as well as it used to, due to the low oil prices and all the fires that engulfed Fort Mc Murray a few weeks ago, probably destroying a lot of infrastructure ( I could be wrong here)?

[ChrisArbon]

The big thing that is hitting my wage packet at the moment is the exchange rate. $200 US costs me $270 Canadian. So my 44 cents per mile earns me 34 cents per mile in US currency. It hardly makes it worthwhile to go South. Things are a bit cheaper in the US but not that much.

[Pat Hasler]

I don't think I know many who don't reload in the US for Canada ? I do know that in all the times I have delivered to Canada I have always returned empty.

[JIMBO47]

on the lifting of cabotage rules....that instead of a lot of USA drivers that wander around the country for months on end before getting home ,,Canadian drivers just go down south tip and load back for Canada now imo and speaking to Canadian cradles they like this way as they can have a "home"life rather than roaming around north America ,now if you were single you might love this idea but the so called driver shortage in Canada would probably get worse as most young yins don't want this life and to be honest some "coolie carrier" companies take the p as it is without lifting the rules.

[Pat Hasler]

on the lifting of cabotage rules....that instead of a lot of USA drivers that wander around the country for months on end before getting home ,,Canadian drivers just go down south tip and load back for Canada now imo and speaking to Canadian cradles they like this way as they can have a "home"life rather than roaming around north America ,now if you were single you might love this idea but the so called driver shortage in Canada would probably get worse as most young yins don't want this life and to be honest some "coolie carrier" companies take the p as it is without lifting the rules.

Been there, done that, away from home for a month at a time, I was self employed, got a call from Foodliner and quit, got out of the truck in Albany NY and the other English guy carried on, I made more money working 5 days a week and getting home all weekend and twice a week than a week self employed.

[newmercman]

Cabotage could be useful in some cases, you often have a 500 mile deadhead from delivery to pick up, so a load between those points would bring in extra revenue. However for an employed driver that could be a pain as it would add time to a trip and only pay them the extra for another pick up and delivery as they would be getting paid the miles anyway.

Personally I'd like to see it stay as it is, we all know how bad the UK and Europe have become since the relaxation of Cabotage rules, we don't want any of that malarkey over here thank you very much.

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[Carryfast]

we all know how bad the UK and Europe have become since the relaxation of Cabotage rules, we don't want any of that malarkey over here thank you very much.

It's not so much the issue of all out unrestricted cabotage ( yet ).It's more like the analogy of Mexican operations being able to haul USA/Canadian traffic.With that situation then extended to allowing them to do unlimited internal US or Canadian work too in the near future.

[newmercman]

There was a pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to run into the US, the same as Canadian trucks, in and back out.

Only a handful of trucks actually entered the program and none of them were hire and reward operations.

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[Carryfast]

There was a pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to run into the US, the same as Canadian trucks, in and back out.

Only a handful of trucks actually entered the program and none of them were hire and reward operations.

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I'm not surprised I wouldn't want to upset the teamsters on their own turf either. But there's obviously more to it behind the scenes than the bs headline government misinformation.

https://teamster.org/magazine/2015/wint ... can-trucks

While to be fair Mexico-US traffic only isn't exactly the same freedom which East Euros have under EU regs.Which as I said would also include US/Canadian traffic.

[newmercman]

A Canadian truck can pick up and deliver in the USA, as long as the load is for a destination outside the USA.


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[JIMBO47]

kin trigger finger lol

[JIMBO47]

A Canadian truck can pick up and deliver in the USA, as long as the load is for a destination outside the USA.


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also if the driver is a united states citizen in a canadian truck.,and also status card native American of over 50%bloodline with bloodline card from band (works boths way USA native can do this in Canada.)... this is 100% correct. as I used to team drive with USA citizen ,I could drive Canada -USA drop,but not allowed to be behind wheel on an internal move only the load back north.Was 2 native drivers at firm as well that spent most of the time on USA internal work in Canadian motor.

[newmercman]

US trucks are also allowed to do a couple of internal shunts in Canada.

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[robinhood_1984]

US trucks are also allowed to do a couple of internal shunts in Canada.

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Indeed. A US company just over the border from us over in Maine often load at McCains in Florenceville, NB for Portage la Prairie and Carberry, Manitoba.

[Pat Hasler]

US trucks are also allowed to do a couple of internal shunts in Canada.

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My company have run shuttles from Niagara (on the Canadian side) to Toronto for up to a week to keep a bakery supplied with sugar.

[hkloss1]

Hi Robinhood

Haven't you ever thought about moving west, since there are so many more jobs for truck drivers, and the money is better, and runs are probably better not more east coast US deliveries?

[robinhood_1984]

Hi Robinhood

Haven't you ever thought about moving west, since there are so many more jobs for truck drivers, and the money is better, and runs are probably better not more east coast US deliveries?

Yes, I've thought about it a thousand times but the money isn't really all that much better, especially when other costs are factored in such as the cost of a house etc. I know many people in Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta who are on the same or even less money per mile than I'm on in New Brunswick. I'm on 43cpm, $20 for each pick and drop (some trips are as much as 20-25 picks and drops at certain times of the year) and with all the other little add-ons I averaged 58cpm last year and I can probably count on one hand the number of times I worked on either a Saturday or Sunday. A decent family house in NB is at least half the price here, if not less than the likes of Ontario and Alberta and perhaps Manitoba as well.

Whilst the boys out west in some cases get more miles than I do because they have consistently longer trips, I'm married with a one year old child and don't wish to go chasing the miles over 7-14 days away down the road as I value my family life so the relatively high pay I'm getting in NB, combined with the relatively low cost of living, especially a cost of a house/mortgage and the working schedule I have with my current company means that I think I'm better off where I am for the time being.

[hkloss1]

Hi Robinhood

I've never been to Canada, so can't really contribute anything of much value regarding life in Canada, I only know what I have learned from watching various Canadian/ US trucking channels and reading some posts on here and on some Canadian forums, so that's the disclaimer done.

Wouldn't you prefer to get a local job in one of the western provinces, so drivers claim they got jobs that allow them to be home every night, and are being paid good hourly rates, which would be ideal for you and your family
Would you be at all allowed to move and live in another province providing you are not yet citizen?

[robinhood_1984]

Wouldn't you prefer to get a local job in one of the western provinces, so drivers claim they got jobs that allow them to be home every night, and are being paid good hourly rates, which would be ideal for you and your family
Would you be at all allowed to move and live in another province providing you are not yet citizen?

Maybe so but those sorts of jobs don't pay enough to be starting a life from scratch. Many of those who came from Britain and can afford to do a local hourly paid job in Winnipeg or Calgary came across with a huge amount from a UK house sale. I came here at 25 years old and am starting from scratch and cannot match what some of the older guys can financially. For me, I think I'm in the best place to get things going plus its where my wife is from and we're settled here so going to Calgary for example to struggle like fark financially to pay for a house that costs $350,000 for what would be $120,000-150,000 in NB doesn't appeal to me at all to be honest. But that's just me.


I am able to live wherever I want in Canada, I'm not a citizen but I am a permanent resident and have been for several years. Applying for citizenship is next on the list for me. I've been eligible for a couple of years now but just haven't gotten around to doing it.

[newmercman]

Those hourly paid jobs are not what they once were. The bloke that drives my other truck came off city work as he was struggling to pay the bills, the hourly rate was still decent, but work is on its arse since oil prices hit the floor and the western province's economies took a big hit. My man has doubled his take home wages and his money is close to Robinhood's set up.

There was an advert for a city owner operator last week for a fair sized firm in Winnipeg, it was paying $37ph and that's with your own tractor unit which you have to buy, maintain and put diesel in! I have no idea how anybody could make that pay, but I've noticed that the company in question seem to have a lot of new owner operators recently and they're running some proper scruffy plant. I couldn't possibly comment on their country of origin as it could be construed as bigotry.

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[hkloss1]

"The bloke that drives my other truck"
Hi NMM

Are you an owner operator, or am I confusing things, as you said this: "The bloke that drives my other truck" in your last post?
So, things are not looking rosy for those wanting to be home every night and be paid hourly, then? At least not in Manitoba.
Alberta might be a better place for good hourly paying jobs, but I guess since oil prices collapsed things are not looking good there neither, as all those made unemployed in the oil patch drive south looking for jobs in Edmonton and Calgary.

Is there anything else worth mentioning about Alberta industry wise apart from oil extraction and related services?

[wire]

Nearly all the expats in Manitoba have become owner operators. Nearly all the ones I know anyway. NMM differs from the rest of us in that he has more than one truck.

[flat to the mat]

"The bloke that drives my other truck"
Hi NMM

Are you an owner operator, or am I confusing things, as you said this: "The bloke that drives my other truck" in your last post?
So, things are not looking rosy for those wanting to be home every night and be paid hourly, then? At least not in Manitoba.
Alberta might be a better place for good hourly paying jobs, but I guess since oil prices collapsed things are not looking good there neither, as all those made unemployed in the oil patch drive south looking for jobs in Edmonton and Calgary.

Is there anything else worth mentioning about Alberta industry wise apart from oil extraction and related services?

Most of the oil patch guys live in the Edmonton and Calgary region , they fly/drive North for their shifts . Something worth a mention regards the patch is Suncorp , one of the biggest players . When the prices fell they told staff there would be no lay offs , there haven't been . During the fire at Fort Mac ,camps were opened to any and everybody needing food and shelter , workers were paid full salary whether working or not , plus a cash handout of $2500 repayable at the end of 2017 to help with immediate costs , well done Suncorp .
There are decent paying city jobs but it's all own account stuff , dead mans shoes etc , no money to be made dragging empty van trailers from one loading dock to another

[newmercman]

"The bloke that drives my other truck"
Hi NMM

Are you an owner operator, or am I confusing things, as you said this: "The bloke that drives my other truck" in your last post?
So, things are not looking rosy for those wanting to be home every night and be paid hourly, then? At least not in Manitoba.
Alberta might be a better place for good hourly paying jobs, but I guess since oil prices collapsed things are not looking good there neither, as all those made unemployed in the oil patch drive south looking for jobs in Edmonton and Calgary.

Is there anything else worth mentioning about Alberta industry wise apart from oil extraction and related services?

I am an owner operator plus one, I had an opportunity to put another truck on the turnpike fleet at the carrier I'm with, at the same time the salesman I bought the first truck off called me to tell me about this truck that "was too good to miss out on" and that weekend a driver I rate highly told me he was going back OTR, so I bought the other truck. So far the truck and the driver have lived up to and passed my expectations, however the promised spot on the turnpike fleet has not materialised due to the economic downturn, so it hasn't gone as well as I had hoped. It's early days yet as my driver had to do 6months on the normal fleet to prove he was good enough to go on the turnpike, that has only just passed, so we will see what happens, the way work is at the moment I doubt anything will change in the near future though.

The introduction of elogs will help things pick up I think, a lot of older drivers will hang up the keys for good, the ones running false logs will have to straighten up their act and together this should mean that there are more loads needing to be covered, the industry needs a cull, there are too many trucks out there now, which is hypocritical of me I know, having put an extra truck on the road, but I'm speculating to accumulate, well that's the plan at least!

As FTTM said, the good jobs are, like anywhere, dead man's shoes and because they're good jobs elogs won't have any effect on them at all, so they will always be dead man's shoes jobs. In Alberta most transport is oil related or groceries to the big cities, other than that it's logging, which I imagine is difficult to get into, livestock, again not something anybody can or wants to do. About the best thing you could hope for if you want regular hours is trunking between Calgary and Edmonton or Saskatoon or running groceries up to Ft McMurray for one of the big box carriers.

As an aside, I was in Ft McMurray today, I never saw much evidence of the devastation caused by the fire, but the little I did see was shocking, whole streets of houses are just a pile of ash now.



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[hkloss1]

So, is there any hiring still going on around Forth McMurray, considering producers need oil at USD 44 / barrel to break even? Is money being paid still roughly the same?

It looks like in not too distant future, if things go well, we are going to be asking NMM to get us LMIAs to fill seats in some of his trucks.
What type of trailers do you operate NMM, are these refers and products mostly do you haul?
That's if you don't mind me asking such questions.