2025 Greening Freight Programs Industry Survey

Executive Summary

Prepared for Natural Resources Canada

Supplier Name: Phoenix SPI
Contract Number: CW2378697
Award Date: 2024-11-12
Contract Value: $75,400.38 (including applicable taxes)
Delivery Date: 2025-03-21
Registration Number: POR # 065-24

For more information, please contact: nrcan.por-rop.rncan@canada.ca

Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français.

2025 Greening Freight Programs Industry Survey
Final Report

Prepared for Natural Resources Canada
Supplier name: Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc.
March 2025

This public opinion research report presents the results of a 16-minute telephone survey of 301 representatives of the Canadian freight transportation industry who were involved in or knowledgeable about the management or implementation of trucking fuel efficiency programs and policies within the business’ fleet of vehicles. The fieldwork was conducted from January 14 to February 7, 2025.

Permission to Reproduce

The information in this publication may be reproduced, in part or in whole and by any means, without charge or further permission from Natural Resources Canada, provided that due diligence is exercised in ensuring the accuracy of the information reproduced; that Natural Resources Canada is identified as the source institution; and that the reproduction is not represented as an official version of the information reproduced or as having been made in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of Natural Resources Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Natural Resources Canada at: nrcan.por-rop.rncan@canada.ca.

Catalogue number:
M144-294/2025E-PDF

International Standard Book Number (ISBN):
ISBN 978-0-660-75905-0

Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Sondage de 2025 sur les programmes de transport écoénergétique de marchandises mené auprès de l’industrie.

Related Publication (Registration Number: POR #065-24):
Catalogue number: M144-294/2025F-PDF
ISBN: 978-0-660-75906-7

Executive Summary

Phoenix Strategic Perspectives (Phoenix SPI) was commissioned by the department of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to conduct survey research with Canadian freight industry representatives to assess awareness and uptake of fleet energy assessments, truck and trailer retrofits and engine repowers, as well as awareness and participation in green freight programs.

1. Background and Objectives

The Greening Freight Programs (SmartWay, SmartDriver, and the Green Freight Program) are three programs administered by NRCan that provide training, tools, and resources to help Canada’s fleets lower their fuel consumption, operating costs, and harmful vehicle emissions. Specifically:

The SmartWay program helps to reduce fuel costs and emissions and to increase efficiency in the transportation industry. The SmartWay Transport Partnership is a program designed to help businesses benchmark their operations and reduce fuel costs while transporting goods in the cleanest most efficient way possible.
The SmartDriver training series offers free online courses, including in-classroom and on-road instructor resources, to help professional drivers of medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles reduce fuel consumption, operating costs and harmful vehicle emissions.
The Green Freight Program (GFP) helps fleets reduce their fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through fleet energy assessments, fleet retrofits, engine repowers, logistical best-practice implementation, and the purchase of low carbon vehicles.

The purpose of the research was to assess perspectives on reducing fuel use and improving energy efficiency in freight transportation among the industry. The Department has previously conducted surveys on this topic in Fall 2018, Winter 2022, Fall 2022/Winter 2023, and Fall 2023/Winter2024.

The results of this study will help inform future public policy to help Canadian fleets lower their fuel consumption, operating costs and vehicle emissions.

2. Methodology

A 16-minute telephone survey was conducted with a random sampling of 301 representatives of the Canadian freight transportation industry who occupy a position of owner/operator or senior level manager.

The sampling frame was purchased from Dun & Bradstreet (D&B Canada) and drawn from NAICS code 4841 (General Freight Trucking)—specifically: 48411 (Local) and 48412 (Long Distance) and NAICS code 4842 (Specialized Freight [except Used Goods] Trucking Local—specifically: 484220 (Local) and 484230 (Long Distance).

All respondents were involved in, or knowledgeable about, the management or implementation of trucking fuel efficiency programs and policies within the business’ fleet of vehicles. Forty-four percent (44%) of respondents described themselves as very knowledgeable in this regard and 56% as somewhat knowledge.

The results were weighted to reflect the actual distribution of businesses operating in this sector in Canada and can be considered accurate to within ±6%, 19 times out of 20. The margins of error are greater for results pertaining to subgroups and smaller samples within the total survey sample.

The fieldwork was conducted from January 14 to February 7, 2025. More information on the methodology can be found in the Appendix: Technical Specifications.

3. Summary of Findings

Company and Fleet Profile

A total of 301 representatives of freight transportation companies participated in this survey, with companies distributed regionally as follows: 8% have their head office in Atlantic Canada, 22% in Quebec, 31% in Ontario, and 39% in the West.^{Footnote 1} Most companies have fewer than 100 employees: 32% have up to 4 employees, 10% 5 to 9 employees, and 36% 10 to 49 employees. Twelve percent of companies have 50 or more employees.

The type of fleet reported by companies varies, with 37% exclusively operating for-hire fleets and 38% exclusively operating private fleets. Among the rest, almost one-quarter (23%) operate both for-hire and private fleets. In terms of ownership, 63% of companies exclusively own the trucks in their fleet, while 5% exclusively lease. The rest (32%) have trucks in their fleets that are both owned and leased. The median number of trucks in the fleets of responding companies was 10 trucks, and approximately four in 10 companies (42%) have between one and nine trucks that are less than five years of age.

More companies use their trucks for short (62%) or long (63%) hauls than for regional hauls (55%). Ninety-seven percent of companies operate trucks powered by diesel, with the top three types of trucks being dry vans (42%), flatbeds (24%), and specialized (20%).

Government Funding Programs

The majority of freight industry representatives surveyed believe government funding programs that support fleet retrofits are important, with 25% saying they are somewhat important and 32% very important. Familiarity with federal green transportation programs is growing, with a little over two-thirds (68%) of respondents saying they are familiar with at least one program (compared to 57% in 2024). Approximately two in 10 companies participate in a green transportation program, such as the SmartWay Transport Partnership program (7%), the Green Freight Program: Stream 1 ‘Assess and Retrofit’ (5%), and Quebec’s Programme Écocamionnage (3%).

Fleet Energy Assessments

One in 10 (11%) companies have had a third party conduct an energy assessment of their fleet. Among companies that have not had an energy assessment, two in 10 (20%) attributed this to lack of awareness. Other reasons for not considering a fleet energy assessment related to lack of need, lack of value, and cost.

Retrofits

Approximately one-quarter (24%) of surveyed companies have implemented truck retrofits in the past year. Among those that completed retrofits, 65% installed cab heaters, while just over four in 10 adopted telematics (46%), route optimization technology (44%), cab coolers (42%), and low rolling resistance tires (42%). Cost remains the primary barrier to retrofitting, with over half (59%) of respondents citing it as a challenge—an increase from 39% in 2024 and 29% in 2023.

Refuelling/Charging Infrastructure

When asked how their company charges or refuels its fleet, 37% of respondents reported using on-site fuel tanks, while 34% cited public CNG stations. Only 8% utilize on-site charging stations, and 2% recharge at dealerships (e.g., for hydrogen). Additionally, 10% of freight representatives indicated that their company is considering installing charging or refueling infrastructure for zero-emission trucks at their depot. Cost and perceived lack of need were the primary reasons for not pursuing this infrastructure.

Fuel Efficiency Measures

The vast majority (91%) of companies monitor at least some aspects of their fleet’s fuel efficiency. The most commonly tracked metrics include total kilometers travelled (91%), fuel consumption (85%), driving habits (71%), average speed (67%), and idle time (64%). To track these efficiency metrics, half (50%) of the companies use electronic logging devices, while 26% rely on telematics devices and 24% use manual calculations.

4. Notes to Readers

All results are expressed as percentages, unless otherwise noted. Throughout the report, percentages may not always add to 100 due to rounding and/or multiple responses being offered by respondents.
As noted, the total number of survey respondents is 301. At times, however, the number of respondents changes in the report because questions were asked of sub-samples of the survey population. For example, the series of questions about retrofits was asked only of the 71 companies that implemented retrofits to their truck fleet in the last year. Accordingly, readers should be aware of this and exercise caution when interpreting results based on sub-samples of the 301 survey respondents. The question wording, the number of respondents, and the target population is show under each figure in the report.
This report discusses differences in survey responses by selected segments, or subgroups, of the survey sample, including location of company headquarters (Question 4), company size (Question 5), fleet size (Question 27), type of fleet (Question 25), awareness of Provincial and Territorial programs for greening freight transportation (Question 9), and familiarity (Question 8) and participation (Question 10) in green transportation programs.
- These differences are reported, where applicable, on a question-by-question basis immediately following the graph presenting the question results. If subgroup differences are not discussed for certain questions, it can be assumed that there were no significant differences of note.
- Only subgroup differences that are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level, pertain to a subgroup sample size of more than n=20 are, or are part of a pattern or trend are discussed in the report.
Where relevant, results are compared to similar surveys conducted in Fall 2018, Winter 2022, Fall 2022/Winter 2023, and Fall 2023/Winter 2024. For ease of reference throughout the report, the survey conducted in Winter 2022 is referred to as “2022”, the survey conducted in Fall 2022/Winter 2023 is referred to as “2023”, and the survey conducted in Fall 2023/Winter 2024 is referred to as “2024”.
The survey questionnaire is appended to the report.
The contract value was $75,400.38 (including applicable taxes).

Statement of political neutrality

I hereby certify as a Senior Officer of Phoenix Strategic Perspectives that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not contain any reference to electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the electorate, or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leader.

(original signed by)

Alethea Woods
President
Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc.