Alberta to mandate Class 1 driver experience records by June 1, 2026
Alberta is introducing a new requirement for commercial carriers to provide driver experience records for Class 1 tractor-trailer drivers when those drivers move to another job.
The change is intended to ensure a driver’s history follows the individual rather than staying with a company, allowing carriers to identify safe drivers and hold high-risk operators accountable, according to a news release.
A phase-in period begins Dec. 1 to give carriers time to learn the requirement and the standardized form. By June 1, 2026, full compliance will be mandatory.
“We’ve heard from Albertans that bad truck drivers are still on our roads and there seem to be gaps in accountability in the industry,” Devin Dreeshen, minister of transportation and economic corridors, said in the release. “This new measure will add transparency by having an individual trucker’s driving experience ensure a driver’s record follows them, so companies know exactly who the good and bad drivers are before they get behind the wheel.”
The province says the rule builds on its recent efforts to strengthen highway safety and clean up the commercial trucking industry. Over the past year, Alberta has shut down five fraudulent driver training schools, removed 13 unsafe carriers, revoked 12 instructor licenses, and issued more than $100,000 in penalties to those failing to meet standards.
Easier access
Insurers will also be able to assess driver experience more effectively under the new system, giving carriers an opportunity to access more affordable options through standard insurance providers.
“The driver experience record regulations will improve transparency for driver history, elevating those that operate with accountability and professionalism,” Ryan Chambers, president of Chambers Transportation Group, said in the release. “It will help experienced drivers get recognized and insured fairly while improving overall safety, and support a stronger, more competitive trucking industry in Alberta.”
The standardized record was developed in consultation with carriers and the insurance sector, and the government says it will continue working with industry on additional safety measures.
As of June 1, 2026, carriers must provide driver experience records for Class 1 drivers operating vehicles 11,794 kg or heavier.
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WHY THE HECK DON’T WE HAVE THIS IN *******ONTARIO******* TOO PLEASE! Employees and employers are beyond sick and tired of having to try to jump through hoops to prove “whatever” to insurance companies. And WHY the heck is this ONLY for tractor-trailer drivers??? Every single piece of unique specific equipment – from a front load garbage truck to the dude in a construction field operating a backhoe – should get logged. It should be automatically clocked and added to a driver/operators record. The whole inept outdated industry needs to GROW UP – FASTER.
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I agree with you, Matthew….and can’t pose the question often enough as to why the CMV-enforcement community and their bosses (read: provincial transport ministers) in Canada in general and the MTO in particular refuses to accept that trucking is not limited to Tractor/Trailers, but involves all types of CMVs with a GVWR of 4,500 kg or more (10.000 lbs)
Heck, way back in 2015, when the Ontario MTCU (Ministry of Training, Colleges and Univisities) was tasked by the government to create an AZ-TT training program, a selected few trucking-industry stakeholders (incl. your truly) were invited to participate in a number of Focus Meetings with the representatives of the MTCU to provide our input and suggestions for a useful, industry-specific training curriculum.
Right off-the-bat I was questioning why the government was limiting that new training program to tractor/trailer drivers only, i.e. why not include all 6 Ontario professional-license classes, i.e.
classes A, B, C, D, E and F?
And, to prove my point, I showed showed them comparison photos of a single-drive axle day-cab tractor hooked to a Coca-Cola local store delivery single-axle pup trailer (AZ) compared to a tri-drive road-tractor hooked to an RGN-low boy quad-axle semi-trailer loaded with an over-dimensional / over-weight piece of construction equipment, weighing in at about 69.400 kg gross (also AZ)…….meaning, a potential T/T driver could get there training on the Coke-combo, yet immediately upon passing their road-test be legally permitted to operate the 60 Tonnes heavier combo!
Moreover, I also showed them a photos of a run-of-the mill 5-ton box-truck (DZ), compared to a 7-axle, 16-Metre long Concrete Pumper, weighing some 59 Tonnes, EMPTY…..but also a DZ-license.
My questions to the meeting hosts were really quite simple:
Why zero in on training tractor/trailer drivers who will usually operate at an average loaded weight of 36 Tonnes (80,000 lbs max weight of a loaded tandem-axle general freight highway combination), when – as these photos prove – vocational straight single unit trucks can weigh easily 4x more than the box-truck a trainee learnt to drive on.
Along the same lines, I suggested that this new CMV-driver training course should consist of three main sections, i.e.
Section-A covering the theoretical-behaviour of a professional driver, which is identical no matter the class of vehicle being driven. (whether the trainee intends to drive a cab, ambulance, police-car, mini-schoolbus, box-truck, flat-bed tow-truck, fire-truck, full-size schoolbus, heavy wrecker/tow-truck, motor-coach, cement-mixer, concrete pumper or tractor-trailers…..all these types of commercial motor vehicles require professional drivers at the wheel!)….upon successfull passing of the theoretical test, students progress to the subsequent mandatory training course, i.e. Section B, which covers in-cab training of between 100 and 600 hours, depending on the type of vehicle-license class.
Finally, Section C should cover industry-specific training, such as Cargo-Securement (for both, enclosed vans and flat-decks), TDG / HazMat; Border-Crossing/Customs environment and the related paperwork (no matter how paperless everyone thinks the world is going, the CMV-industry is still very paper-intensive).Although my “on-the-fly” mini-presentation was an eye-opener for a few of the MTCU-staff, its “chair” stated quite clearly, that their mandate was to creat an AZ-TT training program….and, if that was going to be successfull, they might consider widening the program to include other classes.
Hmm…..a giant missed opportunity to do it right……to wit, 10 years later it looks to me that the Ontario M.E.L.T. program is anything successful!
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Excellent
Wow, their enforcement is worse than Quebec. That’s terrible to hear they are so far behind in addressing the problem.
Its a very simple
A retinal scan from your eye attached to your drivers liscence
And then a driver abstract can be produced at anytime
No more fraudulent drivers
Anybody can have the mickymouse paperwork they require today for “compliance”weather u can read english or not
How will Alberta Transportation ensure ALL carriers are issuing these letters?