Dear Editor:

Re: Regulation of truck training schools.

The article by Mr. Rosen in the May issue of Truck News was good reading, and explains clearly a piece of legislation that was long overdue.

Too many ‘graduates’ of truck training schools don’t have the skills required by the industry, and there have even been examples of schools issuing accreditation to people who hadn’t even taken training. Now there is legislation to protect those that may be considering truck driver training from those types of schools, as well as other users of the roads.

Consumer protection and highway safety are paramount. Those who pay for training deserve to get their money’s worth, and until now students who felt under-serviced had little recourse. The Private Motor Truck Council of Canada brought this to the attention of the then Minister of Transportation for Ontario years ago but received only an acknowledgement that there was a problem.

It is the other side of the training business that gets little press and deserves credit. Schools accredited by the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council, the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario, and other reputable training associations invest heavily in providing legitimate training. They fight a continuous and uphill battle against unregulated, cut-rate schools that under-deliver. We need to protect the good guys for the long-term good of the industry.

The trucking industry needs qualified drivers and if this legislation puts some licensing mills out of business, so much the better. Let’s hope the initiative spreads to other jurisdictions.

Bruce J. Richards President,

Private Motor Truck Council of Canada