GUELPH, Ont. — Meet Mike Yeo and Tim Atkinson.

The two Hamilton men are both are new to the trucking business, and both have recently signed on with Guelph, Ont.’s MacKinnon Transport.

Nothing out of the ordinary right? Just a couple of newly minted AZs on the road, learning the ropes as they go along for one of Canada’s top trucking outfits.

In fact, these guys represent what will hopefully be the standard in new drivers in Ontario and across the country before too long. Both Yeo and Atkinson are the first two drivers to sign on to Ontario’s new Voluntary Apprenticeship Program for Professional Truck Drivers – a program two-and-a-half years in the making that will set the standard in how new drivers are trained in Ontario and that will hopefully fill a lot of empty seats for trucking companies desperate for new — and educated — talent.

Yeo and Atkinson both formally signed on as apprentices with MacKinnon Transport yesterday in a ceremony that marked the program as an officially “done deal.” After two-and-a-half years of meetings with all industry stakeholders, the program is now a reality.

“We’ve been working for some time to get an apprenticeship program going for truck drivers, and to get some recognition and standardized training to ensure the industry gets the people they need and the quality they need and try fill some of the empty seats we’ve got,” says program chair Ray Haight, president of MacKinnon. “This is a huge day for the industry. We’re very fortunate to be here today to see this thing come to fruition.”

Tim ‘n Mike say Ontario’s apprenticeship program will give new
drivers like them the ‘finishing’ they need

The Ontario Ministry of Education and Training lent their support to their program in an announcement last fall, but didn’t officially move forward with it until Minister Chris Bentley signed off on a Grade 10 requirement that allows participants to enroll in the apprenticeship if they don’t have their Grade 12.

Kim Richardson, president of KRTS truck driving school has been a stakeholder in the process and feels the wait has been worth it. “We needed to make sure there was a provision for people who want to get into the apprenticeship and do not have a Grade 12 diploma. We also needed to ensure this provision would not encourage our youth to leave school prematurely,” he said.

The process for apprenticeship will take an apprentice up to a year to complete. There is also a provision for existing drivers to obtain a similar certificate called a Certificate of Competency.

The program is based on “accredited” driver curriculums like CTHRC’s Earning Your Wheels and the Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI).

The “finishing” program will train on a voluntary basis apprentice tractor-trailer drivers for about 12 weeks with a mentor and 40 weeks of on-the-job training. Drivers will learn to plan trips and inspect equipment, safely handle cargo, conduct routine vehicle checks, and prepare documentation, including bills of lading, border crossing security and custom forms.

Participants will also learn other critical skills, such as developing a deeper understanding of the life-style adjustments of long-distance driving, application of appropriate laws, customer service, safety regulations and the principles of the trucking business.

Human resources personnel at Ontario fleets hope the program could act as a bridge between young drivers and a good cross-border job in trucking. Currently, drivers must be 21 to qualify for U.S. service, but Canadians allow 18-year-olds, which would give them a few years experience to qualify them for U.S. runs.

The Ontario Trucking Association and the Owner-Operator’s Business Association of Canada threw in their support in 2004. And the program also has the backing of unions. “With the number of drivers in the workforce that are retiring and the shortage of skilled drivers, it is of the utmost importance to replace these drivers and hire additional drivers,” assistant freight director at Teamsters Canada said Bud McAulay said recently.

Yeo’s quite happy with his apprenticeship status: “I decided on the apprenticeship because I didn’t feel I had all the skills necessary to be able to be a professional driver right out of the AZ course. It gave me the basics and I got my licence; but the apprenticeship route is going to give me the overall knowledge of being a driver and the experience to move on.”