We believe the trucking industry is made up of many trucking companies and training facilities that proudly adhere to the highest professional standards and produce some of the safest professional truck drivers in Ontario, while also maintaining the safest commercial vehicles on the road.
However, it is categorically undeniable that an increasing number of companies, training schools, and drivers do not rise to even the minimum professional requirements – and in many cases, disregard complying with laws and standards, altogether.
As a stakeholder representing those who are committed to highway safety, it is distressing to admit the standards of safety and compliance are eroding rapidly in our industry. Over the past few years, we have called on governments at every level to address many forms of noncompliance in the trucking industry, which has likely led to a deterioration of road safety and other serious problems.
Consequently, we believe the Ontario trucking industry is being dominated by carriers whose operating model is built on widespread noncompliance and who have little to no commitment to vehicle and driver safety and the environment; no respect for labour standards and mandates; contempt for employee and contractor classifications, and willfully neglect their obligation as corporate citizens to contribute to Canada’s social systems.
One sign of this decay is the recent closing of the Humber Polytechnic Commercial Truck Driving Program. Although it is just one facility out of nearly 300 commercial truck training schools in Ontario, the demise of the institution points to how companies with a steadfast commitment to high training and compliance standards are undermined by those who face no consequences for refusing to adhere to the same standards and rules.
An official statement from Humber Polytechnic cited “market conditions”, along with a “significant increase in program delivery costs”, which made the commercial training program “no longer feasible.” As stakeholders who have watched this happen to many other accountable companies that have made the proper investments in safety and compliance, we can read between the lines of this statement and firmly believe the school had no choice to close its doors because it was unable to compete with countless schools that offer substandard training at a fraction of the cost.
And although most reputable carriers would recognize that the drivers coming out of these schools are not road-ready, the sad truth is there are many others who hurriedly put them in a truck and send them on the highways.
While we are encouraged that Minister Sarkaria has committed to reviewing training in our sector, we need this process to be prioritized and expedited. Our industry simply cannot afford to see more high-quality schools close their doors and replaced by those involved in fraudulent and substandard training practices.
As an industry that directly shares its workplace with the public, the stakes are extremely high when it comes to training. We are confident that the provincial government will do the right thing and act to protect the trucking industry and Ontarians we share the road with.
Signed by:
Ontario Safety League
Ontario Trucking Association
Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario
Private Motor Truck Council of Canada
Professional Truck Training Alliance of Canada
Teamsters Canada
Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada