OTTAWA, (Jan. 10, 2005) — A recent study in Western Canada has established a direct link between petroleum drivers’ literacy levels and the likelihood of having safety incidents.

It was conducted by the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council (CTHRC) and the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute – Western Distribution Task Force (CPPI-WDTF). And it’s controversial.

The results from the report, Essential Skills as a Predictor of Safety Performance, also indicate a spectacular failure rate among drivers to meet literacy standards for reading and document use. Taken at face value, this suggests that petroleum drivers are nowhere near as literate — therefore as safe — as the industry thought they were.

The dramatically poor results raises questions about the suitability of the TOWES test (Test Of Workplace Essential Skills), and of the standards drivers are expected to meet.

The study tested 231 CPPI-certified drivers in Alberta and is at the root of a CTHRC initiative, the National Essential Skills Strategy. Ninety-five percent of the drivers tested failed to meet standards for document use, while 50 per cent didn’t meet the standard for reading. In all, 247 drivers sat for the test, but 12 didn’t finish in the allotted time and were disqualified, and the results from several others were dismissed for other reasons.

Kelly Stead, safety supervisor and driver trainer at Wheeler Transport in Port Moody, B.C, was blown away. “I find that very hard to believe,” he says. “In this business, you have to be literate, have strong communication skills, and understand the English language very well.”

Larry Spence, a Nova Scotia-based driver for Seaboard Transport, was also shocked. “That bar must be awfully high,” he says. Spence says not being able to perform tasks such as reading charts or paperwork and understanding documents would be a tremendous roadblock for any driver — especially in the fuel business. “You just can’t fake that stuff,” he says.

Both Stead and Spence expressed concerns that the poor results reflect terribly on drivers in general. “I just don’t know what kind of standard they’re expecting us to meet,” Stead says. “I mean, is it really possible that everyone is no good?”

Andrea Webber, the programs and services manager at the CTHRC in Ottawa, says the results — especially the whopping 95 per cent failure to meet the standard for document use — were “a big surprise”. But she says that no one conducting the study considered it necessary to re-evaluate either the standards or the test itself — even in light of the dramatic failure rate.

“There is no pass or fail on the TOWES test,” Webber insists, “We set the benchmarks high because they’re hauling dangerous goods.”

In the end, Stead’s hands-on expertise might not mean much. Currently, there are no drivers or owner-operators on the CTHRC’s steering committee for the Essential Skills Strategy, despite the fact that the proposed assessments and follow-up curriculum are intended, in large part, for drivers.

“It’s always important to get drivers’ perspectives,” Webber says. “But we felt we needed a strong HR focus on our steering committee,” adding that it’s HR people, not drivers, who make the key decisions about assessment and upgrading strategies.

While much of the research and testing has been directed at fuel haulers, freight haulers could well expect to see the strategy, standards, and TOWES tests at a carrier near them. The CTHRC is focused on addressing what it perceives to be low skills in reading and document use across the industry.

The Council is advocating the TOWES assessment and is currently preparing its own upgrading products. Webber says the cost would be borne by the carriers and driver training schools, and possibly by drivers themselves.

Larry Spence says if carriers or the oil companies require drivers to write the TOWES test and take on more training in skills such as reading and document use, he’d be happy to comply. “We’re used to all kinds of training,” he says. And when it comes to the test, he just hopes he can make the grade.