95% Of Canadians Think Truck Drivers Should Be On Duty Only 14 Hours Or Less

Toronto, ON - According to a new Ipsos-Reid survey conducted on behalf of Teamsters Canada, 95% of Canadians think that a truck driver should only be available to drive a truck a maximum of 14 hours or less in a 24-hour period. Specifically, 17% indicated 14 hours, 48% prefer 10 hours, and 30% say 8 hours or less. Just 5% say 17 hours or more/no maximum.

Further 90% of Canadians disagree with the Federal Governments proposal to allow truck drivers to be on duty up to 18 hours a day --71% "completely" and 19% "somewhat."

When asked why they agree or disagree, responses were varied. Two-thirds (65%) of those who disagree volunteered that it is because of safety issues/higher danger levels on the road. Other reasons for disagreeing include: too long/too many hours to be on the road (31%); fatigue/drivers become too tired (26%); and not good for the driver's health/too stressful (5%).

Of those who agree (10%), reasons include: Let the driver decide how long to drive each day (25%); to earn a living/they need the money (14%); they're not driving all the time/they can take breaks (11%); deliveries have to be made on time (10%); more profitable for truck drivers/transport businesses (9%); safety issues/higher danger levels on the roads (5%); and good for the economy (4%).

Finally, when asked "what impact would there be on road safety if truck drivers are allowed to be on duty up to 18 hours a day", nine in ten (88%) Canadians say roads will be "less safe."

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Teamsters Canada poll conducted from November 23rd to November 25th, 2004. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1000 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

The vast majority (95%) of Canadians think that a truck driver should only be available to drive a truck a maximum of 14 hours or less in a 24-hour period. Specifically, 17% say "14 hours", 48% say "10 hours", and 30% say "8 hours or less." Just 1% says the maximum number of hours should be "17 hours," another 1% says "18 hours" and 3% say there "should not be a maximum number of hours." Another 1% "doesn't know."

• Quebecers are most likely to think the maximum should be 8 hours or less (41% vs. 30% nationally) and residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba are most likely to think the maximum should be 10 hours (64% vs. 48% nationally).

• Canadian 55 years of age or older are more likely than those 18-54 years of age to think the maximum should be 8 hours or less (37% vs. 26%).

• Women are more likely than men to think the maximum should be 8 hours or less (37% vs. 21%), while men are more likely than women to think it should be 14 hours (21% vs. 13%).

• Canadians with an annual household income of less than $30,000 are more likely than others to think the maximum should be 8 hours or less (38% vs. 26%), while those with an annual household income of $30,000 or more are more likely to think it should be 14 hours (20% vs. 9%).

Respondents were then read the following statement: "As you may know, presently, the Federal Department of transportation allows truck drivers to be on duty up to 14 hours a day. Now the Federal Department of Transportation proposes to allow truck drivers to be on duty up to 18 hours a day." When asked whether they "completely agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or completely disagree with the Federal Governments proposal," a total of 90% said they disagree--71% "completely disagree" and 19% "somewhat disagree." Just one in ten (10%) agree with the proposal--3% "completely agree" and 7% "somewhat agree."

• Residents of Quebec (94%) are the most likely to disagree, followed by residents of British Columbia (91%), Alberta (89%), Ontario (89%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (86%), and Atlantic Canada (82%).

• Canadians 35 years of age or older are more likely than those 18-34 to disagree with the proposal (92% vs. 85%).

• Women are more likely than men to disagree with the proposal (93% vs. 87%).

• Canadians with at least some post secondary education are more likely than those without to disagree with the proposal (92% vs. 86%).

When asked why they agree or disagree, responses were varied. Of those who disagree, the top reason was safety issues/higher danger levels on the road (65%). Other reasons for disagreeing are: too long/too many hours to be on the road (31%); fatigue/drivers become too tired (26%); not good for the driver's health/too stressful (5%); 4% give some other response; and 2% don't know.

• There are no demographic trends apparent for this question.

The reasons volunteered for agreeing with the proposal are: Let the driver decide how long to drive each day (25%); to earn a living/they need the money (14%); they're not driving all the time/they can take breaks (11%); deliveries have to be made on time (10%); more profitable for truck drivers/transport businesses (9%); safety issues/higher danger levels on the roads (5%); good for the economy (4%); 18% give some other response; and 10% don't know.

• The sample size for this question is too small for demographic analysis.

Finally, when asked "what impact would there be on road safety if truck drivers are allowed to be on duty up to 18 hours a day", nine in ten (88%) say roads will be "less safe", 9% say it will have "no impact on road safety", and just 2% say roads will be "safer."

• Canadians 18-34 years of age are more likely than their elders to say it will have "no impact on road safety" (13% vs. 8%).

Please open the atatched PDF files to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900