Quebec’s newest truck drivers are at the greatest risk of leaving the trucking industry in their first two years on the job — largely because of concerns about poor pay and unpaid waiting time. But those in the career for at least five years are most likely to stick with the job.

The findings come from 1,138 licence holders surveyed by Camo-route, a council that focuses on the trucking industry’s labor issues in Quebec.

“We know that there is a labor shortage,” said Camo-route executive director Chloe St-Armand, when releasing the results during the organization’s annual meeting. “Employers have lowered their hiring criteria. We also see that vacancies for truck drivers have increased by 54% between 2020 and 2021, from 3,410 to 5,235 vacancies. That’s huge.”