Canadian Trucks Heading South

Canadian Trucks Heading South
July 28, 2008

Halfway between Detroit and Toronto, in southwestern Ontario, is the town of St. Thomas. It is a pastoral town of approximately 50,000 residents. In the mid 19th century, St. Thomas became famous as the "Railway Capital of Canada" as two major railways, the London and Port Stanley Railways, began operating from the town. This was the beginning on a new transportation era for the town. By 1914, eight different railways were operating from St. Thomas with more than 100 trains passing through the city daily. St. Thomas, Canada's Railway City, benefited from unparalleled growth, socially and economically.

Until the 1950's, the Railway was the dominant employer in St. Thomas. However, the end of the steam engine marked the end of the economic boom as the railways greatly downsized. Facing a massive employment crisis, the City aggressively pursued new businesses and successfully attracted other transportation ventures. Several major manufacturers opened new factories in St. Thomas including Ford's "Crown Victoria" assembly plant and Freightliner Truck's Sterling Manufacturing plant.

Almost 5 percent of the St. Thomas population is employed at Sterling, or so had been the case. Although the transportation industry saw a boom in 2005 and 2006 due to the huge demand for hauling goods, a major slump began in early 2007 with the slowdown caused by rising fuel prices. In the U.S., the major market for Freightliner trucks, fleets are downsizing and many vehicles sit unused, greatly reducing the demand for new trucks.

The Sterling plant was producing 75 trucks a day. They predict that production will be cut in half by the fall of this year. Sterling already has 600 workers on layoff and announced that an additional 720 employees will be cut from the payroll by November of this year. Adding to this situation is Freightliner's Mexican operations.

The cost of living in Mexico is below that of Canada. Unionized automotive workers in Mexico recently agreed to a new two-tier wage package. New workers will earn $2.25 an hour compared to $4.50 an hour for existing workers. Freightliner currently operates one factory in Mexico and a second is under construction, slated to open in early 2009.

Workers at the St. Thomas plant are extremely worried. In addition to the extensive layoffs of fellow employees, the current collective agreement is due to expire in March 2009. The union is concerned that they may have to make extensive and painful concessions, lest Freightliner decide to move its operations entirely to Mexico.

The end of the steam engine saw the end of the railway industry in St. Thomas. Will high fuel prices see the demise of its transportation industry?