BC Trucking Association

As a small open economy, Canada is heavily dependent on trade. Based on 2008 figures, 71 percent of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) is trade dependent. This makes Canada the second most open economy to trade behind Germany among G8 countries.ⁱ Canada also ranked as the 6th largest importer and exporter in terms of the value of merchandise trade among all global economies in 2008.ⁱⁱ

The Canadian trucking industry plays a pivotal role in Canada's trade with both the US (our largest and closest trading partner) and the rest of the world by offering flexible services that other transportation modes for the most part cannot match.

If Canada's economy depends on trade, then it also depends a great deal on trucks.

Below you will find statistics about the trucking industry's role in trade at the national level and how those numbers translate locally into truck volumes at BC's busiest commercial land ports: Pacific Highway, Aldergrove and Huntingdon.

• Canada-US Trade by Truck
• Cross-Border Trade in BC
• Beyond the Border: Canada's Global Trade
• BC Truck Volume Charts (2000 – 2009)

Canada-US Trade by Truck

Trucks have an advantage in carrying certain types of goods across our border with the US. They are well-suited to transporting smaller loads of value-added goods and are often within one day's drive of major destinations in the US. Trucking's ability to ship goods quickly and efficiently door to door is of critical importance to cross-border supply chains and more generally to Canada-US trade. Here are some facts:

• Canada's trade in goods with the US totaled over $456 billion in 2009, with southbound exports accounting for almost $270 billion and northbound imports for about $187 billion.ⁱⁱⁱ
• The total value of goods traded between Canada and the US dropped by 24 percent from 2008 due to the global economic downturn.
• However, the share of goods transported by truck increased by 5 percent, from 54 percent in 2008 to 59 percent in 2009 (or about 49 percent of US-bound exports and 75 percent of imports).
• The negative impact of the recession on the value of goods traded by truck was also slightly smaller when compared to total Canada-US trade – a decrease of 17 percent from 2008.

Table 1: Trucks and Canada-US Trade Value by Busiest Border Crossing Points (2009)

Source: Transport Canada. Transportation in Canada 2009. Annual Report.

Back to top

Cross-Border Trade in BC

Most of the goods moving back and forth across the BC-Washington State border travel through the Pacific Highway, Aldergrove and Huntingdon commercial land ports:

• The Pacific Highway crossing in Surrey is the busiest in BC. It was also the 6th busiest in Canada in 2009 in terms of the value of goods moved and the 5th busiest in terms of truck volume.
• Huntingdon in Abbotsford was the 14th busiest in terms of value and the 15th in terms of truck volume.
• Aldergrove, which is located between the Pacific Highway and Huntingdon crossings, was the 13th busiest crossing in the country in terms of volume in 2009.

Between 2000 and 2009, the combined volume of trucks crossing the border at all three ports decreased by just over 27 percent:

• Truck volume peaked at 1.26 million two-way crossings in 2000, reaching a low of 918 thousand crossings in 2009.
• Cross-border truck volume decreased by 7.6 percent in 2009 alone. Not surprisingly, in light of the global economic downturn, this was the largest single drop in two-way cross-border truck volume in the last decade.
• Southbound truck volume for the three land ports decreased from 692 thousand crossings in 2000 to 485 thousand crossings in 2009; a decrease of 29.8 percent.
• Although northbound truck volume also decreased, the change was smaller relative to southbound volume. Northbound volume fell from a high of 568 thousand crossings in 2000 to 433 thousand crossings in 2009; a decrease of 23.7 percent.

Back to top

Beyond the Border: Canada's Global Trade

International trade with countries other than the US totaled over $268 billion in 2009, a drop of nearly 15 percent relative to 2008.^iv Although trucking is not the predominant mode of transportation for Canada's trade with the rest of the world (where it is outstripped by marine and air transportation), it still carried a sizeable 22 percent of that trade.

Trucks play an important role in international trade through intermodalism, moving goods on one leg of their journey to and from other terminals. Broken down by imports and exports, trucks carried 6.7 percent of the exports destined to countries other than the US and 30.3 percent of imports.

Table 2: Canada's Global Trade (US & Rest of World)

Source: Transport Canada. Transportation in Canada 2009. Annual Report.

As Table 2 shows, when Canada's trade with the US and the rest of the world is combined, trucking is the most dominant mode of transportation. On average, trucking accounted for 51 percent of the modal share during this period.

Back to top

BC Truck Volume Charts (2000 – 2009)

Figure 1: Total Truck Volume, Northbound and Southbound (2000 to 2009)

Source: IMTC Project 2010 Resource Manual
 

Figure 2: Southbound Truck Volume by Border Crossing (2000 to 2009)

Source: IMTC Project 2010 Resource Manual
 

Figure 3: Northbound Truck Volume by Border Crossing (2000 to 2009)

Source: IMTC Project 2010 Resource Manual

Back to top