Alberta’s new Class 1 training: More in-cab training hours, Red Seal certification
As of next year, new Class 1 drivers in Alberta will require 103.5 hours of mandatory training as a part of broader goal to make truck driving a Red Seal certified job three years from now. This will make Alberta the first province to officially recognize truck driving as a skilled trade.
The existing mandatory entry level training program (MELT) requires 113 hours of training, which includes 57 hours of in-cab training.
“While the new learning program will reduce barriers to Class 1 licensing, it will also require more hours of in-vehicle training than the current MELT system, and opportunities for ongoing competency training will continue throughout a driver’s career, increasing safety,” said Jesse Furber, press secretary of Alberta’s Transportation and Economic Corridors Ministry, in an email to TruckNews.com.
Amid the shortage of truckers in Alberta, only 31% of 149,000 certified Class 1 licence holders are employed as truck drivers.
In response, the province worked with stakeholders to understand industry needs and identify the barriers stopping drivers from joining the industry and staying in it, said Devin Dreeshen, Alberta’s Minister of transportation and economic corridors, during last week’s press conference.
Cookie-cutter approach proved ineffective
This led to the re-evaluation of the current MELT program, which provides “some” training, but does not go far enough, Dreeshen said.
“It was structured in a way that did not meet the industry’s need.”
This is why the government is making changes to Class 1 driver training and licensing in favor of a new learning pathway for professional drivers.
“A cookie-cutter-based pre-licensing approach to adult learning simply does not work,” said Dreeshen, adding that the new apprenticeship style model will also provide the opportunity for prospective new drivers to learn about the profession without having to pay a $10,000 fee to do so.
New training
The changes are focused on developing driver competency throughout a driver’s career while ensuring road safety, said Furber.
Drivers will proceed through five phases while training as a Class 1 driver: exploration, apprentice driver, interprovincial driver, advanced driver, and Red Seal certified phase.
Truckers will receive a restricted licence in Phase 2, which will require them to complete approximately 50 hours of training, in addition to air brake training.
The interprovincial Phase 3 will require drivers to receive at least 53.5 more hours of training. After that, truck drivers will receive a full Class 1 licence.
According to Furber, Phases 1 to 3 of the new pathway will be in effect by March 1, 2025. Phases 4 and 5 are estimated to be implemented by 2026 and 2027, respectively.
In its 2024 budget, the province designated $41 million for the new learning pathway and a grant program to support Class 1 drivers for on-the-job competency training. Of that, $5 million will be allocated in 2024-2025, and $18 million will be invested annually from 2025 to 2027.
AMTA welcomes the changes
Robert Harper, the president of Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA), said during the press conference that the new program is a major step forward for the transportation industry. He also thanked the government for treating the commercial driver shortage seriously.
“A new made-in-Alberta learning pathway will help train more drivers while securing safety on the province’s highways,” he said.
“Getting the right people with the right training behind the wheel is critical to the province’s commercial transportation industry and economy because nearly 52% of Alberta’s GDP moves on the back of a truck.”
Enhancing training, safety oversight
In addition the training changes, Dreeshen announced last Wednesday that the province is contracting 26 more commercial examiners who will be deployed throughout Alberta starting April 5.
Alberta is also enhancing the monitoring and oversight of driver schools, instructors and examiners that ensure the instruction and examination of commercial drivers are aligned with the curriculum.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misreported the number of required training hours. TruckNews.com regrets the error. The story was corrected on April 4, 2024.
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Thanks for your comment. The story has been updated with the correct number of the training hours.
Class 1 drivers are not staying in the trucking industry because they are paid low wages , they are treated like crap by employers and customers and the public and towns . I am presently working by the mile which means no overtime long hours and an a**hole manager hired by his best buddy who dosnt even have a class 1 . After 16 years of driving I’m thinking of walmart as a happy substitute to this misery . Don’t become a class 1 driver , it’s horrible.
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You are 100 percent correct. Good companies that truly care and adequately compensate otr drivers, are rare. Long hours, poor facilities, especially in Canada and low pay for hours spent working, do not make this a viable career choice for many young people. I do know what it’s like to have dispatch constantly pushing you while that ELD has the time running out. Then they pretend to care about safety and you need a clean license, while running against the clock.
To sum it up, all of the above points and more, do not attract prime talent in today’s world. When will it ever change? Glad that I am done.
The interest and concern of the minister towards a better trucking in Alberta is really appreciable. Is there any government or private sponsorship available for class 1 driving licence aspirants so that they do not pay to a driving school from their own pocket especially when they cannot?
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Borrow the money.no more hand outs
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Borrow the money.that’s what you do when you want it bad enough,no more free handouts
In 1999 I paid $500 for my class 1 license, I drove all over the US and Canada without any accidents or issues with the law. The amount of money to get drivers trained nowadays is sureal, and still the quality of drivers that come out of it is ridiculous. It seems like the government has its way to squeeze every dollar from everyone. The drivers can hardly afford it and are always away from their loved ones. How long do the drivers have to work with the low wages to even pay for it. The corrupt government is just adding more taxes upon taxes, making it more difficult to even want to stay in this beautiful land, shame on you for making it so hard for the real hardworking Canadians. Very concerning
This is fantastic, I’ve been saying since I got into the industry that this should be the way it is taught. The best advice I got in the beginning was to spend a year in the city figuring out how to back up and operate in traffic. New drivers should spend at least 3 months backing up in a yard before hitting the road.
My big question is how will this affect us old guys, will we be grandfathered into red seal?
Money grab, all started with a bus full of hockey players. Paying >$10k to be a truck driver is insane. You used to learn by swamping or as the jr driver running team then move to your own truck if you were ready and trustworthy. Classroom training beyond some mechanical knowledge and law review isn’t necessary.
And drivers don’t make money anymore because they can’t fudge log books.
So will current drivers automatically receive a red seal designation or?
The low pay for drivers needs to be addressed. They can receive a heavy sentence for wrongful actions but they’re paid so little.
What type of Grandfathering will there be for experienced drivers to get red seal
Wondering if the insurance industry is on board with these changes? The Alberta only license appears to be issued to drivers with less training than the MELT program. The on going training seems to be available only to those drivers working for the large self insured carriers
A total rethink is needed here. MELT has a need improvement but this new approach does nothing for road safety especially in Alberta.
This is a good start. After that training a new driver should have to drive for 6 more months with a qualified driver who has at least 5 years experience. I’ve been a truck driver for 55 years and have seen a lot of mistakes due to improper training. IE the Humbolt crash. Also being fluent in speaking and writing English so they understand.
What is the actual total time spent in training. 103. hours for first phase??? or what. Comment was “Not needing to spend $10.000.00 ” for training. what now is the cost and how is it financed.
The MELT program is a joke. There is way too much emphasis put on theory and not enough put on actual over the road training. An example of this is the air brake course. You don’t need to know how to disassemble the entire system on the side of the road. This is way too complicated for a new driver. Just show a new driver the basics. And they just drive around till they can pass their test after a certain amount of hours of on the road training. Then if they fail the driven just take it again and again till they pass. And then they are good to go to BC with a fully loaded super B with no mount experience. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong
I truly believe that this is a step in the right direction just as long as the trainers have had more than 5 years of driving in wide variety of situations not just local position and with the red seal certification the wages need to reflect that certification and not just over minimum wages.
I’ve been driving truck for over 10 years and really love to see this structure put into place, but that being said the minimum hours to be done in each phase is way too low, should be more like 200 hours for each phase, there’s so much to learn to be a good driver and you can’t pack all that into one week of training
This is factually wrong! There is no discussion to increase the hours. It’s the opposite. Alberta after all Cut the red tape and make it easier to do business not make it harder.
The author should have done more research!