CASTLEGAR, B.C. (July, 12, 2004) — The Mountain Transport Institute in Castlegar, B.C. has just introduced a week-long mountain driving training program for licensed commercial drivers.

Students will learn proper procedures for ascending and descending long mountain grades, including methods to complete difficult downhill downshifts, methods for identifying sharp curves ahead of time and proper procedures for dealing with them, and techniques for choosing the correct gears for downgrades and anticipating grade changes.

Certified instructors take students through four hours of classroom instruction, two hours in a simulator, and more than 20 hours of driving and observation time in loaded tridem and super B-trains on some of the longest and steepest mountain grades in Canada. Students will complete a written test on the theory of driving mountains and hills. There is a three-hour evaluation on the final day. Successful candidates will receive a certificate.

To qualify, prospective students must have a valid Class 1/A licence, a copy of their current driver’s abstract, and must be competent at up- and down-shifting a non-synchronized multi-speed transmission. The cost of the program using loaded tridem trailers is $2650, $3100 for loaded super-Bs, plus travel, meals, and accommodation.