Stop abuse of Driver Certification Program: TTSAO

by Truck News

TTSAOHAMILTON, Ont. – The Truck Training Association of Ontario (TTSAO) has called on the provincial government to take immediate measures to stop the abuse of the Driver Certification Program (DCP).

In December, Ontario’s auditor general said in a report that the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) was allowing some partners of the DCP with a poor history of collisions to test their own employees for commercial driver licences.

The TTSAO also noted that community colleges in the program were testing their own students who are not going to be employees of those colleges.

“The TTSAO would like a full audit on all community colleges, government organizations, safety organizations and private businesses who offer the DCP,” the TTSAO said Thursday.

“Additionally, the TTSAO believes a moratorium should be put on all community colleges who offer AZ testing and those students until an official investigation and audit can be facilitated.”

It said community college first-time pass rate is over 90% compared to 60% at the government-licensed DriveTest Centres.

“The TTSAO believes the program is flawed,” it added.

Mike Millian, president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada (PMTC), said his organization had been vocal over the years in its disapproval of the program.

“The PMTC believes it is a massive conflict of interest to allow anyone to test their own drivers and/or students.”


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  • A number of large trucking companies do this have high shared risk insurance or like celadon that self insured companies. I see a number of new drivers to Canada like the one who hit me at 60 mph when was stopped. This why myself has been camped out at queens park for a week now as when a accident happens and the truck driver becomes homeless nobody wants to look after his medical care in Ontario Canada

  • So what they are really saying is it the people administering the test at community colleges are cheating, faking, crooked liars. Sounds like a defamation civil action in the making to me. And I’ve seen some of the people these truck training organizations have sent on the road, and I assure you they have nothing to write home about.
    Just another self interested article.

    • I think they are saying that it is akin to the fox guarding the henhouse. Examiners should be separated fro m the training facility.

  • One thing to consider, The Ontario drive test center is a for profit business. If you fail you have to retest. For additional fees.
    I’ve known some to have a reputation of failing first time students out of course. Just so they can charge additional fees.
    Don’t get me wrong the standards for a professional driver should be raised and maybe an apprenticeship program put in place.
    I got my license thru a school. Was fast and training was minimumal. Didn’t prepare me for the hazards of the road. Had to learn on the fly. Thank God I never had an accident or law shift during my days behind the wheel.

  • Drive Test fail rate is so high because they can and will fail you for reasons that are ludicrous. How can you fail a person who has not done something unsafe and has not broken an HTA rule? Yet Drive Test does it on a daily basis. This is why their pass rate is less than 60%.

  • I am totally against the Certification Program for Colleges and for trucking companies. The Gov’t should scrap the whole thing and have drivers tested by a third-party Gov’t approved organization like Drive test. To have a DCP at a local college is not good because dishonesty creeps in very subtlely. How can a trainer at a College fail his student after being “buddy-buddy” with him for 4 weeks? You can’t. Therefore you pass him/her knowing deep inside of you that you should have failed him/her. And the same thing goes with an employer having a signing authority. The signing authority will eventually be pressured to make sure the driver passes all tests because they need that driver to hit the road asap. Favoritism starts to creep in as well and deals are made if the signing authority passes the driver. The only way to keep it legit is to send the driver to write his/her test to Drivtest and also have Drive test roadtest test the applicant. Keeps things honest.