CASTLEGAR, B.C. — Mountain Transport Institute has inked a driver training partnership with one of the more innovative carriers in Canada.

Andy Roberts, president and CEO of MTI says that a joint effort with Coastal Pacific Xpress to co-create a new Professional Driver Development Division in Surrey, B.C. takes both companies’ driver development practices “to the next level.”

“This initiative will allow us to provide a superior quality professional driver development service not only to CPX but to other commercial enterprises throughout the greater Vancouver area as well,” Roberts said in a press statement.

A precision motion platform on the Mark III provides six degrees
of freedom and the realistic training experience available.

The new driver facility will offer a series of Professional Driver Development programs, which the companies say will help to “alter the culture within the industry and prove to be financially rewarding to those who embrace them.”

The centerpiece of the new endeavor is the world’s finest full motion-based driver training simulator. The Mark III, produced by MPRI in Salt Lake City, will be used to train professional commercial drivers in the Lower Mainland and the American Northwest.

Industry statistics show that when simulation is incorporated into a professional driver development program along with classroom and computer-based training, the students’ ability to retain knowledge and to implement it into their driving habits are improved tremendously, Roberts says.

Although the primary focus of a simulator is training and safety enhancement, it has also proven to increase profitability by reducing accidents, fuel usage and training time.

“It has become evident in the industry today that the modern day professional driver requires a broader range of skills than ever before,” says Roberts. “The industry now has an ever growing need to deal with issues like driver retention, fuel management, skills assessment and safety. The carriers that deal with those issues most effectively will be the survivors in the future.”