The Driver Inc. companies are raising their head in Atlantic Canada, warned Chris McKee, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association (APTA).
This business model, where trucking employers misclassify employees as independent service providers, “is not good for our industry, illegal, not a level playing field, and detrimental to carriers that go by the book,” he said during APTA’s conference in Charlottetown on Oct. 19.
CTA has developed social media tools to help members draw attention to Driver Inc. practices. (File illustration: CTA)
He explained that these companies offer to take loads under cost in some cases. He claimed they are using the money saved to grow their business, buying infrastructure, property, and equipment.
Trevor Bent, APTA’s past chairman said it is increasingly important to squash the practice to maintain a competitive balance within the marketplace. He added that carriers that have been in business for decades are going to have to make tough decisions.
Skirting responsibilities
Bent slammed the corporate misclassification saying, “The practice of creating corporations to skirt your responsibilities – payroll, tax remittances – is not lending to an overall healthy environment within the trucking industry nor is it lending to a positive sustainable one socially.”
Seeking additional enforcement
Geoffrey Wood, senior vice-president, policy, Canadian Trucking Alliance said the Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) are doing a lot of work but more needs to be done. “That’s all we are asking for, we want the law enforced,” he said.
He added that a third of the industry is engaged in the Driver Inc. model of business.
McKee said, “Even if they end up going legit, they have built their business on the back of an illegal business model.” He added that he had held a meeting with ESDC auditors, asking them to add teeth to enforcement.
Bent noted that Nova Scotia welcomed 12,000 new residents in the last three months. He said this puts pressure on the health system, infrastructure, roads and schools. “It’s moving beyond a trucking issue, it is now a social issue,” he warned.
