TORONTO — Ontario Transport Minister Tony Clement said the province will start making good on its promise to raise commercial driver’s licence standards in 1999.

In interviews last week, Clement told reporters that a tougher written test has been developed and that a revamped, more demanding road test will follow. He added that some form of graduated licensing for truck drivers, most likely a system of endorsements to the Class A licence, will be pursued in legislation this spring.

“Part of the graduated system for truckers that has been proposed is that there be different levels of licensing depending on whether the cargo is dangerous or not and on the weight and the length of the truck,” Clement said.

More stringent licensing requirements “are the simplest and most effective way to raise the level of minimum training some schools provide,” said Kim Richardson, president of the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario and owner of Kim Richardson Transportation Specialists in Caledonia, Ont. Richardson met with Clement last week to discuss licensing and training standards.

Richardson said a tougher test would at the very least put market pressure on so-called licensing mills, which provide only enough training to help a driver pass the provincial exam. “If [the province] can increase the minimum proficiency to pass the test, the bad apples won’t have a market anymore and they’ll go out of business, or at least they’ll have to raise the level of instruction they provide,” Richardson said.

In addition to tougher training guidelines, improved licensing standards was among the key planks put forth by Target ’97, the government-industry task force which more than two years ago issued 79 recommendations to improve truck safety in the province.

“The Class A licence test in this province is a joke,” said Ontario Trucking Association president David Bradley. “When you can take your test in a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer, then turn around after you’ve gotten your licence and get behind the wheel of a heavy truck, where’s the integrity in such a system?”

The association has recommended that, as a minimum requirement, drivers being tested for a Class A licence be required to use a tractor that has a diesel engine, tandem axles, and a multi-speed transmission. The trailer should also have a tandem axle and a minimum length of 45 feet.

The OTA also said the duration of the road test should be increased and redesigned to incorporate more elements of normal driving conditions. Currently, there is no testing on a multi-lane highway at highway speed up to the maximum allowed.

The association also said the written test should address the variety of legislative requirements a truck driver has to be aware of, such as hours of service and North American Commercial Vehicle Out of Service Criteria.