The Canadian Trucking Alliance had the opportunity to be part of a panel discussion on Thursday at the inaugural Canadian Policy Forum of the Global Cold Chain Alliance in Ottawa.
Front and centre in the discussions was the need to address Driver Inc – and that it will be up to responsible supply chain partners to get the job done, said Geoff Wood, Sr. VP, Policy, CTA.
“It is critical members of the supply chain understand the negativity associated with Driver Inc., its impact on workers’ rights, road safety, and on legitimate, law-abiding trucking companies,” Wood told attendees. “And it’s even more vital that all supply chain partners do their part to stop funding the practice.”
Members of the Global Cold Chain Alliance in attendance, like other groups CTA has been addressing, will be provided a toolkit to assist them in identifying Driver Inc companies among their transportation supplier base, which will help protect their operations from exposure to the types of illicit practices proliferating throughout the underground economy.
Additional items discussed included the need for supply chain partners to assist CTA in advocating for infrastructure resiliency, like additional rest areas to support drivers on our national highway system as well as improved winter road maintenance – both of which are key components of CTA’s interprovincial trade barriers report.
Additionally, Wood touched on long-standing Canada-US trade issues, including the need to expand US in-transit allowances and to address the ability for the repositioning of foreign empty trailers.
CTA welcomes the opportunity to educate associations and individual corporate entities on these issues important and how they can be addressed within their supply chains.