The recent 60 Minutes report on the U.S. trucking industry has brought international attention to a crisis CTA first brought to light over a decade ago – the proliferation of “chameleon carriers” and predatory business models.
While the specific legal cases featured in the broadcast have yet to be decided by the courts, the issues raised—reincarnating companies to dodge safety records and the systemic misclassification of drivers—are an all-too-familiar realities here in Canada.
This is not news to the CTA, and it should not be news to any politician at any level of government (it isn’t BTW, as many we’ve spoken to over a decade have quietly acknowledged the growing problem).
For 10 years, we have provided the research, the data, and the policy solutions to address these exact problems. The allegations surfacing stateside are not a “new” phenomenon; they are a stark affirmation of why the CTA’s long-standing platform is more critical than ever.
Our 2026 Engagement: Building on a Decade of Work
The CTA is moving forward with a clear mandate. Both the Council of Ministers of Transport and our Labour Ministers have explicitly stated their intent to tackle these issues—one focusing on highway safety and the other on the scourge of misclassification (Driver Inc.). CTA is asking the following to deal with ghost fleets:
- Create a federal anti-avoidance task force to address carriers who engage in avoidance tactics (i.e., chameleon or ghost carriers, Driver Inc., etc.)
- Add a requirement to establish a formal data sharing agreement for carrier NSC registration between provinces and territories
- Create a national NSC carrier database which can be searched by provincial and territorial agencies
- All provinces and territories have searchable public carrier profiles and searchable data for increased transparency
- Real-time verification of insurance requirements
- Add requirements for National Safety Code Standard 7 (Carrier Profiles) for jurisdictions to capture:
- All corporate officer or director information
- all NSC and USDOT#’s associated to a trucking company’s registration,
- all Vehicle Identification Numbers of trucks operated by the company,
- annual vehicle odometer data from the trucks registered to the company
The good news: We aren’t starting from scratch and recommendations to address the chameleon carrier issues will be completed by provincial and territorial governments by fall 2026 to provide implementation direction to the ministers and completion timelines shortly after. We have a decade of advanced work and a comprehensive platform that provides the roadmap for government to protect law-abiding fleets and the motoring public.
Get involved to hammer home the message at Stop Illegal Trucking