OTA boss spreads the word on rates, freight outlook

PICKERING, Ont. — The president of Ontario’s largest trucking group told a group of shippers and retailers that the cheap rates they’ve come to expect in this softened freight market are not sustainable.

"Capacity will adjust," Ontario Trucking Association president David Bradley told the Ajax/Pickering Chamber of Commerce as part of a recent speaking tour to business groups. "We are starting to see signs of the potential for tight capacity in some lanes already; and when it does rates will be under upward pressure again."

Bradley acknowledged that the economy has shown signs it has hit bottom, but things are still fragile. "Meaningful growth is still a ways off and depending on what happens in the U.S. there are still wild cards in terms of the economic outlook."

While the industry continues to shed capacity, "up until recently at least the decline in volume appears to have outpaced the decline in capacity."

But the truck lane wars and the slashing of rates that resulted over the last 18 months won’t last. And when things do bounce back, Bradley predicted shippers will need to pay more balanced rates for efficient and dependable freight transport services.

Bradley also continues to hammer home the industry’s latest key talking point that his members’ "economic goals are as aligned with society’s safety and environmental goals as they have ever been."