National Trucking Week has come with one of Saskatchewan's most common transportation options in the spotlight.
As a landlocked province, Saskatchewan depends greatly on the work done by truckers to move products and commodities across the country.
Saskatchewan Trucking Association Executive Director Susan Ewert talks about how the industry is a key contributor to Saskatchewan's success.
"We always refer to ourselves as the 'supply chain value-adding piece' to our economy. You know the majority of goods finished that mile from sort of wherever they come from to our store shelves, the majority of goods move through Saskatchewan to our stores on a truck and so they play a very crucial and vital role within our province and across the country."
There have been a couple of issues to work through for the industry over the years, starting with labour problems.
"I think right now some of the labour challenges are a bit stable, but definitely that seems to be an ongoing challenge. We definitely need to see more people coming into the industry and be interested in those professional driving careers. That's something we work on here at the STA is to show the importance of the industry to our economy here in Saskatchewan, so you know that's a continual challenge."
In addition, there's a misclassification problem which Ewert says means some trucking companies are operating incorrectly.
"A big thing that we're dealing with is something that we call Driver Inc. It is the misclassification of employees under the Labour Code and when a carrier does this, they treat them as an independent contractor when they're not. But what happens, the end result is they then don't pay CPP, EI, Taxes, or WCB, and you know that creates a disadvantage to other carriers who are operating correctly."
"So it is something we've really been working on with both the federal and provincial government to make sure that those regulatory bodies are making sure that companies are operating within the proper regulations and try to combat some of that fraud that's happening. So that definitely is causing the industry some challenges as we talk about it more and bring more light to it."
Ewert says that to help out with the industry people should give them respect while on the road.
"They are great people and they are passionate about the work that they do and when you see them on the road, give them space. Don't be crowding them, don't be cutting them off. If you see someone needs to make a left-hand turn or a right-hand turn and it's a little squishy maybe don't come up on their blind side or give them a little bit of space at that intersection to get through some of that, especially in the different centres across the province with all the construction going on, those types of things. Just being courteous, I think goes a long way."