For as long as anyone can remember, the only merit-based graduated licensing system truck drivers have had to abide by was governed by the better judgment of fathers and uncles. That’s not to say governments aren’t trying to formalize the process. The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, whose job it is to co-ordinate regulatory efforts among the provinces, has been working for more than five years to develop standards for graduated licensing that jurisdictions can adopt, with the intent to encourage a uniform system of licensing across Canada. With so much trucking across borders, after all, it would be utter chaos if provinces were to develop their own versions of graduated licences for truck drivers.

But that appears to be happening anyway. After members of a CCMTA project group decided last October that more research was needed before finalizing a model, a month later Ontario Transport Minister Tony Clement promised to reveal details of a graduated licensing plan for commercial drivers sometime this spring. And on the recommendation of a provincial industry-government task force on truck safety, the Insurance Corp. of British Columbia is considering several models and, assuming legislative changes can be made, could have commercial graduated licences in place by the end of 1999.

It won’t be easy. The concept of commercial graduated licensing for truck drivers borrows from the process for car drivers in place in five provinces and 25 states. Drivers must successfully proceed through several stages of restriction (the steps vary from two to three depending on the jurisdiction) before having their driving privileges fully extended. Restraints vary, but include limiting whether drivers can operate at night, which highways they can travel, whether they must be accompanied by a fully-licensed driver, or must be accident-free for several months.

Extending the concept of graduated licences to truck drivers, though, is complex. For one thing, there already is a series of classes in truck drivers’ licences that relate to the size or type of vehicle drivers can operate. For example, only a Class 1 (Class A in Ontario) allows a person to drive an articulated vehicle. And a person can’t get a Class 1 without holding a licence to drive a car. Further, many jurisdictions require endorsements designed to reflect competence on certain types of vehicles, such as vehicles with air brakes or vehicles that carry dangerous goods. In the United States, an “N” endorsement is needed to drive a tank vehicle, and a “T” endorsement to operate a double or triple trailer unit, although American authorities recognize the Canadian Class 1 as acceptable for these operations.

But ideas being discussed go further. One model developed by the CCMTA project group would see a “learner’s licence” for large trucks given to drivers of 18 years or older who have had a “fully privileged” licence to drive a car for at least two years. A number of tests and standards would have to be met, and conditions would apply: for example, the driver could not handle dangerous goods or liquid-bulk tankers. After a number of months and more tests, the driver would advance to a second-level licence. Again, certain conditions would apply. For instance, the driver could only handle dangerous goods, liquid-liquid tankers, or double-trailers when accompanied by a fully-licensed driver; finally, after another 12 months and an advanced road test, the driver could obtain a full commercial driver’s licence.

Trucking industry groups favor the idea of graduated commercial driver’s licences, at least if their position on recent task forces is any indication. Ontario Trucking Association president David Bradley was co-chair of Target ’97 in Ontario, a task force on truck safety that recommended graduated licences. Other industry representatives-private carriers and driver associations-sat as members. Ditto on the West Coast where Paul Landry, president of the British Columbia Trucking Association, co-chaired a similar government-industry task force that recommended graduated licences.

Dave Marson of the Calgary office of the Owner Operator Independent Driver Association says professional truck drivers want graduated licences because they’re not impressed with the quality of drivers coming out of training schools. Also, if graduated licences make it more difficult for just anyone to get behind the wheel of a big truck, they might help put upward pressure on driver pay, something OOIDA would like. Insurance companies, highway safety advocates, and training school operators also have supported the idea.

However, there are concerns about whether a tiered licensing system is practical, especially in remote areas or industries where there are few obvious intermediate steps a driver can take. When asked how loggers and other far-flung operations in his province might accept a graduated licensing scheme, former Alberta Trucking Association general manager Bob Drinnan once said, “There aren’t too many package-vans in Rocky Mountain House.”

For Pierre Deschamps of Teamsters Canada in Montreal, the problem with graduated licensing is that so many other issues must be resolved first in order to lay the foundation of an effective system. “You see,” Deschamps explains, “it’s complicated. The question of graduated licences is so related to other issues-training requirements, endorsements, tests for new Class 1 licences, and so on-that you can’t consider it by itself.”

Roger Clarke, executive director of Transportation Safety and Carrier Services at Alberta Transportation & Utilities, agrees. While he admits that Alberta is “looking at [graduated licensing],” Clarke adds, “Everything-entry-level tests for licences, training programs, monitoring of drivers, driver profiles and licensing systems-has to be tied together before we can proceed.”

The problem is that each province has its own ideas about what would make graduated licensing succeed. For example, David Bradley says the CCMTA model falls short of meeting Ontario’s goals outlined in Target ’97, which would require a driver to attain a series of endorsements before he can drive certain types of equipment. For instance, drivers should have to attain 500 hours behind the wheel of a standard tractor-trailer before they can apply for an endorsement to drive a liquid bulk tanker or a train configuration, Bradley says. Drivers would have to pass a second road test using the type of equipment for which an endorsement is being sought. This system of endorsements-where driver skills are matched to the equipment-is quite different from the CCMTA model with its series of levels, restrictions, and conditions.

And in Canada, different approaches to trucking regulation often result in regulatory disharmony. Suppose one province introduces a system whereby a new truck driver with a learner’s permit is required to have a fully-qualified driver in the cab while handling dangerous goods. Or suppose one province says learners can’t drive at night. Enforcing this patchwork of licensing rules would be a nightmare. And no matter what model of graduated licences is ultimately chosen, with so many trucks moving from province to province, or from one country to another, it’s difficult for one jurisdiction to change the way it licenses drivers without putting a spanner in the works. While the CCMTA continues to work on a plan that all provinces might accept, two-Ontario and British Columbia-are about to go it alone.