Logistics of Canadian Shipping

Much like its southern neighbor, Canada is home to robust manufacturing industries that produce nearly everything from food and beverages to furniture to cars and kids’ toys, and beyond. It is not enough for these manufacturers and farms to produce these goods, however; commercial logistics dictate that carriers must be used to deliver goods, often by truck, all across Canada. These commercial logistics include finding warehouses to rent or even buy, along with commercial logistics such as hiring trucking companies whose vehicles can handle specialized cargo. If such commercial logistics are handled correctly, many sorts of goods can be transported across Canada safely and on time. What is more, Canada’s single largest trade partner, the United States, also has many trucks to offer, and the two nations perform a lot of truck-based trade along their expansive land border. What is there to know about Canadian shipping today?

Canadian Manufacturing Today

Canada is home to a lot of manufacturing, and a lot of these good are delivered by truck. These truck deliveries are an efficient way to track total Canadian manufacturing, and the numbers reveal a lot. Today, Canada’s food and beverage processing industry is the nation’s second largest manufacturing sector, and its shipments totaled $105.5 billion in 2014. In fact, this industry makes up 17% of all Canadian manufacturing shipments and 2% of Canada’s GDP, or its gross domestic product. Truck deliveries are crucial to this and other industries today, and the trucking industry has a size to match. The Canadian Trucking Alliance has reported that this industry is worth $65 or so, with more than 260,000 drivers and around 400,000 employees overall. Meanwhile, 2012 statistics showed that around 90% of all consumer products and foodstuffs alike were shipped across Canada on board trucks, and this includes trade goods being shipped to the United States at the land border.

Truck Carrier Companies

A major aspect of commercial logistics is the trucking companies. They may work with freight brokers to more easily arrange deals with client shippers to deliver goods, and such freight brokers may also provide geospatial data analysis. Many vehicles today have GPS trackers in them, and geospatial data analysts may track the movement and location of any vehicle they are authorized to track. This makes delivery time estimates easier to make, and it allows carriers to find and recover their expensive trucks if something goes wrong, such as natural disaster. This may also be helpful should any vehicle become lost or stolen. Some truck companies, meanwhile, may use LTL shipping. This is when several client shippers each share one truck, if they have only a small amount of cargo to transport. This way, no shipper wastes money paying for truck trailer volume that they are not using, and carriers aren’t losing money by shipping only tiny sets of cargo at a time. Straps, padding, and wooden pallets allow truck crews to secure all cargo and prevent items from sliding around or falling over. Reefer trailers, meanwhile, have refrigeration units that keep the trailers and their contents cold, such as for groceries like dairy, meats, and frozen foods. Grocery stores and ice cream parlors make frequent use of them.

Warehouses

Modern Canadian commercial logistics also factor in warehouses, as a sort of way point between the factory and a retailer. Most companies choose to rent warehouses rather than rent them, in case their factory, retailer, or client base move around in the future. Some factories may increase or decrease their volume of goods, so they will need to shift warehouses at a moment’s notice. Thus, rentals are often the best choice. A company will want to rent a warehouse that is conveniently close to their factory and their retailers, so that trucks and trains to not have to travel too far between these places. A good warehouse will be one that has adequate room for all items to be stored there, including open floor space and racks alike. Some warehouses have specialized storage accommodations, such as a refrigeration unit for cold items such as groceries. Even colder items such as dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) may be stored in colder freezers, since very cold items such as dry ice would not do well in conventional freezers.