BCTA partners with high school to deliver professional driver training

Avatar photo

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — The B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) has teamed up with the Kamloops/Thompson School District to help promote careers in the trucking industry to young people and to develop their skills for a career in trucking.

The partnership will result in the creation of a Professional Driver Training Program through NorKam Secondary School’s new Trades Centre of Excellence. Grade 10 students will be able to enroll in the new program beginning in September 2014, the BCTA announced.

The program, dubbed the first of its kind in B.C., joins three other technical trades training programs at the NorKam Trades Centre of Excellence, which is currently in the design phase.

“Thanks to the vision of the Board of Education and senior administration, students with the interest and aptitude to pursue a career in trucking will have a head start in high school, mastering a curriculum endorsed by the industry, and they’ll be job ready upon graduation,” said Greg Howard, district principal, Trades N’ Transitions.

Louise Yako, president and CEO of the BCTA, added: “Trucking companies across Canada are facing a shortage of from 25,000 to 30,000 professional drivers by 2020, largely due to retirements in the industry. BCTA has been aware of the shortage for some time, but the challenge was to find a way to engage youth and promote their interest and entry in the industry. We’re extremely excited to be taking part in this program.”

For its part, the BCTA will work with School District 73 to develop a training curriculum suitable for youth. It will include introductory modules for Grades 10 and 11 students, followed by a full semester of driver training in Grade 12, including use of a simulator.

“Increased opportunities for all types of trades training are important for BC students,” said Howard. “By offering high-school level professional truck driver training at the Trades Centre of Excellence, we’re making training more accessible and affordable for those who want a career in trucking. We’re also meeting the needs of BC’s industry at the same time. It’s a terrific opportunity for both.”

Avatar photo

Truck News is Canada's leading trucking newspaper - news and information for trucking companies, owner/operators, truck drivers and logistics professionals working in the Canadian trucking industry.


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*

  • Someone must have read my mind !
    I have had this very idea for some time and now there it is, almost exactly
    as I imagined it should be.

    My idea came from reading about airline pilots spending hours training in a flight simulator.

    This new program should be rolled out through schools across Canada with a simulator travelling to selected schools. As soon as the cost of producing a truck simulator is reduced, there could be several of them operating in
    areas of driver shortage.

  • I Gary Ball of Hammer Down Truck n Trailer / Road Reference Manual. Agree with the B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) and the Kamloops/Thompson School District to help promote careers in the trucking industry to young people and to develop their skills for a career in trucking industry.There will be a shortage in drivers to come. This why I have put together my reference manual to help the new students looking into the trucking industry. This will help them do there job in a professional matter. Please visit my sight @ http://www.hammerdowntruckntrailer.com My best to the up and coming new students.

  • An excellent idea whose time is long overdue. I attended a vocational school. I grew up around trucks. I was moving them around the yard at 12 years of age. I had my class 5 at 16 and got an airbrake endorsement on my class 5, this enabled me to legally bobtail trucks to the truck wash and wash them. I also was interested in aviation and had my student pilots permit at 16 and routinely flew light aircraft. I had my Pilots licence at 17 and my class 1 at 18.
    There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t use our education system and tax dollars to start young people into a profession. For those enrolled in the system the government should also consider a class 1 beginners that begins at 16 and let the students ride along with industry sponsored participants and gain experience in the real world for a few years before getting their licence.

  • They should make it so they get time in real trucks not just simulators if they get three years pre grad training I would remove the age limit on acquiring your class one as long as they are in a team driver setting