When disruption hits, workers carry the system
By Angela Splinter, CEO, Trucking HR Canada
Ottawa ON (May 12, 2026) — Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to speak at the International Transport Forum (ITF) Summit in Leipzig, Germany alongside leaders from across the global transport sector.
The ITF Summit brings together international leaders annually to discuss transportation policy issues shaping the future of mobility and supply chains. The theme of the 2026 Summit was Funding Resilient Transport.
I participated in a session with government and business leaders focused on financing resilience in the face of multiple, overlapping disruptions. There were important conversations about infrastructure, financing, and managing system-wide risk — all critical topics.
But throughout the discussions, I kept coming back to one question: Are we paying enough attention to the people who keep these systems running?
In my mind, there is no system resilience without workforce resilience.
When disruption happens, people adapt
Trucking and logistics businesses are operating in an increasingly unpredictable environment. Extreme weather, cybersecurity threats, geopolitical instability, and supply chain disruptions are no longer rare events. And while these often begin as system-level problems, they quickly become workforce challenges.
When businesses are forced to deal with labour shortages and skills gaps, or employees are asked to operate under new and often unfamiliar conditions, it is not infrastructure that adapts first — it is people.
It’s impossible to design systems that anticipate every possible disruption. Systems continue functioning because workers adapt in real time — often going above and beyond what anyone planned for.
Yet workforce resilience is still too often treated as a secondary consideration.
If we are serious about building resilient transportation systems, we need to start treating the workforce as a core part of the conversation — not simply as an operational requirement.
What needs to change?
That means rethinking resilience in a few important ways.
1. Workforce planning needs to be part of long-term planning
We invest heavily in physical infrastructure using long-term forecasting, data, and financing strategies. Now we need to bring the same level of focus to workforce planning.
That means better labour market data, stronger forecasting, and including workforce considerations in infrastructure and resilience discussions from the beginning.
Too often, systems are designed with the assumption that workers will simply be available when needed.
Increasingly, that is not a safe assumption.
2. Adaptability matters as much as capacity
Resilience is not only about having enough workers. It is about having people with the skills and flexibility to respond when conditions change. That means investing in skills development, cross-training, and creating more flexible career pathways across roles and sectors.
Our systems rely on people who can solve problems, make decisions, and adapt quickly under pressure.
Adaptability is becoming just as important as capacity.
3. Collaboration matters
Another strong theme throughout the Summit was the importance of coordination — across sectors, across borders, and across organizations.
Workforce challenges are no different.
In Canada, we are increasingly recognizing that labour shortages and skills gaps cannot be solved by one organization working alone.
That is why initiatives like the National Transportation and Supply Chain Workforce Alliance are so important (more on that in my next blog). They help create a broader view of workforce pressures across the transportation and supply chain system and improve coordination around emerging challenges.
At the same time, Trucking HR Canada is leading a new National Workforce Strategy Council that brings industry leaders together to identify workforce pressures and help shape more responsive workforce solutions.
Both initiatives reflect an important shift away from fragmented approaches and toward more coordinated, system-level collaboration.
Expanding how we think about resilience
We have made important progress in strengthening how we manage system risk.
But if we focus only on infrastructure and financing without giving equal attention to the workforce, we risk building systems that appear strong on paper but struggle under real-world pressure.
Workforce resilience is not a “soft” issue.
It is essential to a system’s ability to adapt, recover, and continue functioning during disruption.
Designing for reality
One of the most valuable parts of the Summit was hearing perspectives from different countries and transportation systems.
While every context is different, the common factors are obvious: disruptions are becoming more frequent, more connected, and more complex.
And in every case, people remain at the centre of how organizations respond.
When we invest in our workforce, we build teams that can adapt, collaborate, solve problems, and lead through uncertainty.
Because ultimately, resilience is not delivered by infrastructure alone.
It is delivered by people.
Stay in the loop!
Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest data, updates, stories, and event announcements delivered to your inbox every week.