The provincial government is launching a new curriculum for training commercial vehicle drivers.
Training centers will need to offer at least 103 hours of instruction, covering topics like fatigue management, driving in northern and rural areas, and mandatory air brake training.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sakaria says this initiative addresses issues highlighted in a recent Auditor General’s report.
“What we see right now is curricula based on each individual school that are approved through the colleges and universities, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and their program planning,” says Sakaria.
“What this will do is it will standardize each curriculum, and it will standardize each school to train the exact same way. This allows us to have a higher standard across the province. It allows us to have better enforcement when those plans are not being followed.”
The Auditor General’s report found that many training centers were falling short of minimum requirements, resulting in some students graduating without adequate training.
Sakaria expects the new curriculum to be fully implemented by early next year.
“You’ll see some of the work that we’ll be conducting through the next couple of months, whether it be better awareness and training around fatigue, better awareness around rural and northern Ontario,” he says.
“Those are all going to be components of this in conjunction with the record number of transportation enforcement officers on our roads conducting roadside inspections.”
The Transportation Minister adds that this new curriculum complements other recent measures affecting commercial vehicles and their operators.
These include stricter penalties for distracted driving as well as for operating vehicles without functioning speed limiters.
Additionally, the government has hired over 130 Ministry of Transportation enforcement officers, focusing more resources in northern Ontario.
Sakaria mentions nearly 130,000 inspections of commercial vehicles took place last year.
“Truck drivers are the backbone of Ontario’s economy, but we must ensure trucks are driven safely.”
Randy Thoms is a veteran news broadcaster with over 40 years’ experience. He is based in Fort Frances and covers stories across northwestern Ontario. Contact Randy at thoms. randy@radioabl. ca.
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