Trucking firms outpaced others in marketshare growth

OTTAWA — New trucking companies since the year 2000 gained market share at a much higher rate than firms in other industries.

A new Statistics Canada study reveals that between 2000 and 2007, the nature of "firm turnover" varied widely across services industries as did its impact on the growth of productivity.

Turnover as a result of firms entering and exiting the industry was the most important contributor to the growth of productivity, says the study.

Firm turnover, explains the report, results from the entry of new firms and the exit of less successful ones others; or by shifts of market share between incumbent firms that are either growing or declining.

Statscan says that in 2007, the market share gained by companies that entered since 2000 was highest in business service (+29.6%) and trucking (+22.8%) – more than double the 10-percent average in all other service industries.

While entry processes were quite different across industries, there was much greater similarity in the exit rates. As well, the failure process was also similar across most industries.