WINNIPEG, Man. – The Manitoba Trucking Association (MTA) is partnering with a Winnipeg high school to help develop future trucking-industry operations and non-technical staff.

The St. James Collegiate Senior Years Truck Transportation Management and Technical Education Program is the first of its kind in Canada, according to Bob Dolyniuk, general manager of the MTA.

“It’s quite an in-depth program,” Dolyniuk says of the eight-class curriculum.

Classes range from Truck Transportation Enterprise and Software App-lications to two separate co-op education classes that see students spending time learning on the job from their future employers: Winnipeg-based carriers.

“We’re still developing the CD software for the classes,” adds Dolyniuk, explaining that course material will cover everything from developing employability skills to the reams of legislation governing the industry.

While the non-technical portion of the trucking industry has yet to feel the critical shortage of workers experienced by other sectors of the industry, Dolyniuk is quick to point out that the aging population will create a demand that can’t be filled if nothing is done today.

“All industries are vying for these same perspective employees,” he says.

These types of training initiatives are a necessity if fleets hope to attract the quality people they need given the competitive nature of the recruitment market, he concludes. n