Carriers endorse truck driver apprentice proposal

GUELPH, Ont. (June 7, 2004) — A number of high-profile Ontario trucking carriers are backing a lobbying effort to make to truck driving one of Ontario’s 144 apprenticed trades.

A group of trucking, driver trainers, and insurance stakeholders who are in talks with the Ministry of Education and Training about establishing a formal, “unrestricted” apprenticeship or finishing program” for graduates from Ontario’s 300 to 350 trucking schools.

This week, several trucking officials endorsed the plan. “There is no doubt in my mind that a professional driver apprenticeship program in the province of Ontario will be essential to the continued success of our organization and the trucking industry as a whole,” says Tom Phillips, vice-president and GM of TST Truckload.

“Our entire management team is excited about the opportunities this will present for the industry,” added Ray Haight, COO of Guelph, Ont.-based MacKinnon Transport. “The motoring public will benefit by knowing that the bar will be raised for the skill level of commercial drivers, making our roads a safer place to drive. This effort passes the “smell test” at all levels. We need this to happen.”

Kim Richardson, president of Caledonia, Ont.-based KRTS is in part leading the drive toward apprenticeship. The driver trainer says Ontario should follow the lead of Britain and the U.S. in establishing a provincial apprentice program, which he says will help lure high-school graduates that opt out of College or University.

Richardson has already conducted a similar pilot projects on his own, including Next Gen, a program that partners KRTS graduates with experienced “driver finishers” from trucking carriers for a month before being hired.


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