April 09, 2018 | Category: Compass Leader Survey

 

WESTAC convenes stakeholders to discuss issues that impact the competitiveness, safety and reliability of western Canada’s transportation network. We initiated the Compass survey to represent business, labour and government perspectives on the most pressing risks and opportunities in the industry today. This inaugural survey benchmarks key business indicators and provides insight into business sentiment related to Canadian transportation.

I was encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive sentiment coming out of the survey results in terms of business and employment outlook as well as the ability of businesses to compete. For example, more than 60 percent of shipper respondents said they felt confident about their organization's production capacity; similarly, carriers, ports and terminals are all increasing capital investment to handle increases in demand.

That said, there are some concerning undercurrents. For example, more than 40% of respondents gave a neutral response when asked to rate the competitiveness of western Canada's supply chains; some responses suggested the system may be losing some of the momentum and collaborative vision that was built through The Gateway program. The survey also speaks to a fear of retribution and lack of trust in supply chain partners that hamper the open dialogue that might solve some of our most significant challenges. And as always, there is ongoing concern about all things data.

At WESTAC, on our 45th anniversary of celebrating collaboration, we continue to appreciate the foresight and insistence of our founders to address issues from a system-wide perspective. As external pressures and politics increasingly challenge us, our industry is keen and ready to cooperate for optimal performance.

A compass’ singular purpose is to tell us what direction we are heading in and prevent us from getting lost. WESTAC provides these insights to help keep us on track to innovate, optimize and collaborate.

We thank everyone who took the time to participate in the survey and look forward to continuing to build the respondent pool for the 2019 outlook.

 

Regards,

Oksana Exell

President & CEO

WESTAC

View the Compass Report