In my 40-year trucking career, I’ve done every job except the most important one: driving a truck. My peers have been grinding me about it for years. It’s hard to call yourself a proud trucker if you’ve never driven an 18-wheeler.

It was time to change that.

I also wanted to see first-hand how hard it is to drive a truck. The 32 hours of mandatory road training to get a licence in Ontario seems woefully insufficient. I think you get more training on the Slurpee machine at 7-Eleven.

To make it happen, I reached out to Matt Richardson of KRTS Transportation Systems, one of the industry’s premier driver training schools. He set me up with a rig and one of its experienced instructors.

Driving was fun. But the real kick was riding shotgun with Frank, a professional trainer for decades. His unfiltered insights on driver training were a real eye-opener.

Here are a few of my observations after a day of cutting my teeth with an expert.

The driving job

I had a blast cruising up and down southern Ontario’s two-lane concession roads. To be clear, it was sunny, I never exceeded 80 km/h, and there weren’t many cars. It felt more like a carnival ride than work.

Yet I know driving a truck in the real world is no piece of cake. Even under controlled circumstances, I was terrified that the slightest mistake would cause a catastrophe. According to Frank, losing fear and gaining confidence can take “years longer than the 32 hours of mandated road training.”

Anyone who runs a fleet knows that less than a workweek of training is woefully inadequate for a new driver. But even less adequate than I imagined.

Test-passing schools

According to a report released this year by the Insurance Bureau of Canada, “New commercial drivers who have not received adequate training are putting the safety of Canada’s roads and highways in jeopardy.”

After my day on the road, I realized that MELT (mandatory entry-level training) is a big part of the problem. One hundred and three hours may be enough to teach students how to pass a driving test, but it doesn’t mean they’re ready to haul a flatbed across Canada in the winter.

It takes 6,000 hours to become certified as a cook in Ontario. I’m convinced MELT does more harm than good by making drivers think they’re qualified professionals when they’re not even close.

Enforcement woes

The only time I came close to driving into a ditch was when I asked Frank about the enforcement of driver training rules. Apparently, it does not exist.

Each province is unique, but the lack of enforcement is consistent across the country.

In Ontario, eight inspectors enforce rules at 600 or so private career colleges and the 5,000-plus programs they teach. The same people responsible for 200-odd driver training schools also audit all the hairstyling, film, aesthetics, and cooking schools.

It’s a recipe for disaster.

Professional driving

My biggest takeaway from my day on the road is that driving a truck should be a skilled trade, like other professions. Frank beamed with pride, talking about how drivers used to be respected like teachers, firefighters, and carpenters.

If you wonder whether treating driving like a trade would improve the quality and quantity of the candidates attracted to the industry, we’re about to find out. In March 2025, Alberta will launch an apprenticeship-style model where applicants will work toward obtaining a Red Seal designation and recognition as a professional trade.

This is fantastic news for our industry. More on that next month.