Changes to air brake endorsement renewals are flawed

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation recently unveiled a proposal to change the way Z endorsements for air brakes are renewed on a driver’s licence — introducing new learning modules and altering the way knowledge is verified.

Drivers must currently visit a Drive Test Center before a licence expires, and then write and pass a knowledge test to maintain their Z endorsement. That process is the same for those who have a commercial licence, such as a Class A or D, among others.

The knowledge test allows drivers to demonstrate they have the basic knowledge required to operate and inspect a commercial motor vehicle and its air brake system.

But knowledge of the air brake system — and a driver’s ability to inspect the underlying parts and operation — continues to be an issue in Ontario and across Canada.

Brake defects are common

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) completed 48,966 Level 1 and 2 inspections in Canada and the U.S. during the 2022 Roadcheck inspection blitz. A total of 22.8% of vehicles were taken out of service for defects. Of the vehicles taken out of service in the U.S., 36.9% had defects in the braking systems. In Canada, the numbers were even worse, with 48.4% of out-of-service vehicles having brake defects.

Brakes represented the highest percentage of defects found by far, and this continues to be the case year after year. These numbers indicate a major issue with air brake system maintenance and failures, as well as issues with the inspections being conducted prior to a day’s work.

While these numbers indicate we need to change the way things are done, the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada (PMTC) believes removing the knowledge test could reduce driver knowledge of air brake systems and reduce highway safety.

New online learning modules represent a good opportunity to increase driver knowledge, but removing the knowledge verification is a concern.

Allowing a driver to complete learning modules at home — with no other checkpoints or verification in place — opens the opportunity for fraud.

How will the ministry verify that the person completing the module is in fact the licence holder? How can you verify that they are reviewing the information and taking the knowledge in, and not just going through the motions and advancing through the program? No matter what type of secure online system you have in place, their will be no fool-proof way to ensure the person required to take the modules is in fact taking them, short of having a staff member sitting online with the person and verifying the person on the screen is the licence-holder.

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The only true way to verify the licence-holder has the minimum required knowledge is to have them attend a Drive Test Center and perform the knowledge test in person. Adding the knowledge modules is a good step, but it should not come at the expense of a knowledge verification process.

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s argument that this is removing a barrier simply does not hold water. The driver is still going to be required to go to Drive Test to renew their licence and do the written test if they have any other commercial class of licence.

The only burden this is removing is the requirement to pass a Z endorsement knowledge test. With many of our members holding all classes of commercial licences, if you are unable to pass the basic requirements of a knowledge test, we really don’t believe you should be on our highways because you do not have the basic knowledge required to inspect and operate a vehicle with an air brake system.

The PMTC is encouraging the province to reconsider this proposal, and we encourage you to comment on the regulatory posting to ensure your views are heard as well. The posting can be accessed here and is open for comments until March 16.