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The Trucking Industry in NS
The importance of trucking with respect to Nova Scotia trade is hard to over-emphasize. In fact, the vast majority of goods move by truck at some point on the journey from origin to destination. An estimated 80% of Nova Scotia’s exports go to the US, with the majority of these going to New England. The largest proportion of commodities of Nova Scotia origin destined for the US travel by road (58%). In 2002, Nova Scotian truck transport industries’ GDP was $216 million and accounted for 24.2% of the GDP of the transportation and warehousing sector. The proportion of trucks on our roadways can reach as high as 24% on certain sections of Highway 104. In 2001, there were 1,310 enterprises whose principal business was providing trucking services (i.e., for-hire). In 2003, a total of 8,190 drivers were employed by companies with two or more employees. This number excludes owner-operators and drivers in the manufacturing, retail and forestry areas. The number of owner-operators in Nova Scotia is estimated at slightly over 1000. There are approximately 17,000 commercial trucks, trailers and semi-trailers registered in Nova Scotia. In 2002, average weekly wages in the truck transport sector were $598.12, an increase of 2.4% over 2001. |
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Responsibility for trucking in Nova Scotia resides in two departments. Under a new alignment, rule-making and enforcement for vehicle compliance rests with Transportation and Public Works (TPW). For drivers, TPW is responsible for rule-making whereas Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations (SNSMR) is responsible for administration and licensing. TPW is the rule-making agency for vehicle inspections and compliance whereas SNSMR audits and enforces rules around inspection stations.