Ontario standardizes Class A truck training after AG report

Ontario is introducing standardized entry-level training for commercial truck drivers, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said Sept. 21, after Auditor General Shelley Spence’s spring special report found the province was not effectively monitoring training and licensing.

The new curriculum would require more than 103 hours before a Class A licence, Sarkaria said. Subjects under consideration include fatigue management, northern rural and remote driving, human trafficking awareness and mandatory air brake training. It takes effect next year and will be mandatory for training organizations.

Spence’s undercover probes at two career colleges found both short of the 103.5-hour minimum, with students missing fundamentals such as left turns, emergency stops and reverse parking. The province had never inspected 54 of 216 colleges offering the training. Commercial trucks are a small share of vehicles but a disproportionate share of fatal collisions, with the problem acute in northern Ontario.

The province accepted the recommendations, launched a college blitz, and has added a wait before Class A road tests, 131 enforcement officers and higher distracted-driving fines for commercial drivers. It will work with industry and career colleges on the curriculum — a freight and insurance story as undertrained drivers raise crash risk on corridors that move Canadian goods.