When Jared initially began trucking over two decades ago, he never thought he’d be touring with a country music artist, transporting guitars, amps, and other on-stage equipment.
“It just kind of worked out, right place, right time,” the Canadian driver, who wishes not to give his last name, says behind the steering wheel of his massive truck. I’ve worked 5,000 miles in half a month, but there are so many breaks this year.”
But when he’s off between driving to concerts in New Jersey, New York, Toronto and Nashville, Jared will be searching several screens in his cabin – a laptop, tablet and two smartphones – for more work. All thanks to new technology.
It’s a far cry from his early days, when he was shipping fruit and wine, he says. Years ago, you had to sit next to a payphone if you were driving around and begin to call everyone that you’ve worked for, and then you’d have a pager.
“Now, you just turn on your equipment and browse through potential work. It’s all electronic, and you get paid immediately. It’s much improved for business.”
The shift has been sparked by “Uberised” platforms, linking truckers with firms which require the transport of freight online. The term was used because the model is similar to the ride-hailing app.
While Jared concurs that it has simplified things, the truck driver indicates that it has caused wages to decline. During Covid, the average was $3 (£2.24) per mile; today, on some loads from Toronto to Los Angeles, that is $1.10 per mile.”
Eight big platforms in Canada, such as Uber Freight, have come up to digitalise the freight market. Similar to the taxi app, they are taking advantage of a market fragmented by the small players, with 2023 figures showing that over eight in 10 Canadian trucking and freight companies have fewer than five employees.
Teamsters Canada’s Christopher Monette said that the Canadian Trade Union, representing over 130,000 members, among them truckers, has “deep concerns regarding the attempts to ‘Uberize’ the trucking industry”.
“Wages in Canada have remained largely stagnant for the past 25 years, and the rise of gig-style work stands to make things even worse,” he argues, adding that “larger, often unionised carriers who operate responsibly by investing in safety, training, and decent working conditions are most at risk”.
“Truckers don’t need another app. We need stronger protections and bigger paycheques. When pressed, Uber Freight did not go so far as to explicitly mention wages and prices. Rather, a spokesperson stated: “Flexibility, transparency, and choice are designed directly into our platform.
“Carriers can browse for loads according to their needs, including lane, equipment type, commodity, and schedule, and either book right away at a price listed or make a bid for a rate that more closely meets their requirements.”.
In the trucking business, a lane is a routine travelled route. Our platform also leverages real-time market data and AI-driven recommendations to assist carriers in optimising their on-road time,” said the spokesperson.
