What technology would make our industry better? What is the right amount of training in the trucking industry for new drivers that would give enough experience that a driver could have a safer roadways? What does the trucking industry have to do to rebound and raise the image of the professional driver? These are the questions in the forefront of the transportation industry in 2026 and many have suggestions, but not the answer.
The World in general is in a very strange place from a political standpoint and even more unstable from an industry viewpoint. Our roads are getting more dangerous and experienced truck drivers have had enough and are leaving the industry in droves. They are fed up with the low pay, unsafe conditions, and regulation oversight that seem to help the people working underhanded and punish the ones playing by the rules. Three areas seem to be the problem with the pendulum always swaying too far on one side or the other. Those are training, technology, and trucking industry issues, but they all work together.
Let’s start with the trucking industry issues; Driver Inc as it’s known is still a big problem in the trucking industry along with road safety in general, professionalism of the industry, and wages for drivers. Those are four big areas that need addressing that keep getting talked about but we haven’t seen much movement on but are told are being addressed. Wages may not go up for a while in the uncertain political climate currently in the Country and while Driver Inc is being looked into it has also swung the other way and are dragging traditional owner operators into the tax issues because technology is putting everyone into the same working pot with CRA. This will really change the way owner operators work in the future, but meanwhile they are hurting a lot of the good drivers we have in the industry.
Training in our industry is a mess and there doesn’t seem to be a strategy to improve it. We have some good schools going out of business because bad actors are training for less money and offering sub par training. That results in unsafe roadways and unprofessional drivers which looks bad for all of us. A recent announcement from the Minister of Transportation of Ontario did very little to combat the issues of our industry showing it will be up to industry to police themselves for the future. I am not sure how that’s going to work, but I believe we should have been doing long before now!
Technology is good and bad depending on how you use it and need it. Technology has helped us all become more efficient in many ways, that’s good! On the other hand it has helped unscrupulous actors take advantage of drivers through issues like chameleon carriers and bad load brokers. On the recruiting side technology is being used to accept resumes and hire drivers, but because it just goes by basic content good applicants can’t find a job. While we have more technology in the trucks to be safer we still have more road accidents. Maybe our technology should be training drivers as they drive along instead of waiting until they have a crash. Since tech can determine lane avoidance maybe it could say something like, “ You’re driving in the wrong lane, you should be driving in the right lane.” Sorry lane management is one of my pet peeves.
I don’t have the answers to these issues but I will be covering these issues this month on the podcast from attending training and industry conferences to talking with industry professionals developing technology to help the drivers. Maybe they will have some answers to these problems and if not, I expect there will still be some entertaining conversations. I invite you to join us for the conversations and hopefully we can all make our industry better.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a veteran of the trucking industry with over 40 years of experience. Starting in the moving industry in his teens he spent 25 years behind the wheel before becoming a fleet supervisor and now media entrepreneur. Bruce produces and hosts The Lead Pedal Podcast focusing on business and careers for the trucking industry as well as producing live radio shows on Lead Pedal Radio focused on the music and nostalgia of the industry. You can find him performing and covering industry events in trucking under Lead Pedal Media. Did you know he is also a professional cartoonist? To learn about Bruce and his shows visit www.LeadPedalMedia.com
