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'Anyone with a pulse' can pass: Semi-trailer driving tests in Canada too easy, instructors agree
- Thread starter dontgetit
- Start date
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Lots of people go through the current training and go on to be excellent drivers. I don't know what the training is like in SK, but in Ontario it is quite rigorous. Not just anyone with a pulse can pass the road test here. And I'm not sure the accident in SK can be tied to poor training.. all indications are that the truck ran the stop sign. How much training does one need in order to understand what a stop sign is?
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I have heard plenty of stories here in Ontario, Freight Broker. You might be surprised. But I do agree about the stop sign. 
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I blew a red light one time in my car last year and I took graduated licensing in QC, also I've taken all 3 M licensing tests including courses through RTI. Human error can happen even with an extremely skilled driver.
I was out driving to a truck scale (Milton) at 11:00PM to prove a carrier wrong (he told me his driver was at the scale for several hours and I called his bluff).
I was so tired and driving home, I only realised a light was red when I was half way into the intersection. Got lucky that there were no cars coming through. Extremely lucky. There easily could have been a pedestrian, car, buss, etc in this intersection and I would have caused a serious accident, I was doing about 90 Kmph.
It wasn't my time.
I was out driving to a truck scale (Milton) at 11:00PM to prove a carrier wrong (he told me his driver was at the scale for several hours and I called his bluff).
I was so tired and driving home, I only realised a light was red when I was half way into the intersection. Got lucky that there were no cars coming through. Extremely lucky. There easily could have been a pedestrian, car, buss, etc in this intersection and I would have caused a serious accident, I was doing about 90 Kmph.
It wasn't my time.
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Mandatory or not training schools are only teaching how to pass the test. All new drivers know when they graduate is how to drive an empty truck on a flat road. I have had many new drivers come through with little to no experience with a loaded truck, so how are they supposed to know how to gauge stopping distance or gear selection on a hill.
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I've only been able to get out of the office to visit with about 150 carriers we work with, to be honest, the large majority of them have their own re-training classrooms and perform road exercises with new drivers, and they retrain all the bad habits out of their new employees.
We train sales people, customer service people, dispatchers and admin people as part of our on boarding process, why wouldn't an employer like a carrier who allows a driver to operate company equipment ensure that they have competent drivers - the truth is most carriers are are already doing this to protect their assets and show their new employee they are investing in their future.
Agreed, it's sad that driving 'school' doesn't truly prepare a person for life on the road...
Keep well,
Mike
We train sales people, customer service people, dispatchers and admin people as part of our on boarding process, why wouldn't an employer like a carrier who allows a driver to operate company equipment ensure that they have competent drivers - the truth is most carriers are are already doing this to protect their assets and show their new employee they are investing in their future.
Agreed, it's sad that driving 'school' doesn't truly prepare a person for life on the road...
Keep well,
Mike
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The road test and AZ license are only a starting point. Maybe the schools need to emphasize that. Passing the road test does not make one a professional driver.. only experience, and lots of it, will do that. I took my road test in 1991.. went to work for a carrier that ran mail between Toronto and Montreal. For me it worked out well, and the carrier I went to work for started me off in steps.. at first I travelled with others in the same lane.. and then, after a few weeks.. I ran unaccompanied.. but I was never allowed out of that lane. Only after about a year or so was I given a run that involved a thousand miles, most of them on skinny two lanes. And even at that, it was a learning curve..But one shouldn't expect fully proficient drivers right out of the school.. no way that 28 hours or even 50 hours behind the wheel can accomplish that. At best the training schools let you get to the starting point of eventually becoming a pro.
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Totally agree that driving school and passing your road test are a good starting point. But the problem comes down to the small companies that don't have the time or people available to continue training new drivers. Freight Broker, starting in steps as you described is a great way to get started.
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Training in ON can't be that rigorous if these guys failed in MB, got their licenses in ON "after a short time" and are nervous about being retested in MB,
https://globalnews.ca/news/3799350/...-discrimination-by-manitoba-public-insurance/
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Maybe MB is more rigorous.. I don't know. All I can tell you (unless things have changed since 1991) is that the training and road test here was fairly comprehensive. At the end of it I was able to hold a job as a driver in a beginner type position. Over time I was able to handle more challenging assignments. It' slike that with any profession.. A doctor who is fresh out of medical school can't perform a delicate heart operation or brain surgery. Likewise a newly minted driver can't be expected to run a loaded B-Train through the Rockies in the middle of winter. That doesn't mean the training was bad or somehow difficent.. it just means that training in any vocation can only take one so far.. the rest is experience.
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Such a misleading story every province should and does have you go for a physical/eye/written test on a regular basis. Global should be asking why are you complaining when they circumvented the system because they could not pass the test in their province? It also sounds to me they have had their licenses for sometime before Ontario put in the mandatory testing.