foreign-truck-drivers-canada

How will they navigate new insurance requirements of 3 years AZ qualified. On top of that my last few deliveries arrived on rolling scrap. I don't judge anyone on their nationality or an upstart but why are these companies with under trained drivers and junk equipment not under constant audit and heavy fines. Are they running without insurance? And shame on the shippers for loading these rolling piles.

 

I checked out that story it is about 3 years old although I understand the concern, since that time though that's why you'll find all new truck drivers are required to undergo a thorough driving test and training, my only argument is that some foreign drivers do have the experience and are still required to undergo this training which does seem like a total waste of time and money. In other words prior experience is not recognized.

 

Actually it is - I have a Ukranian driver and he didn;t have to go thru MELT - got his Class 1 .. however he says that the winter here is not like any winter driving in Europe ... sooooo

 

The Government sucks at everything they put their mark on. This was supposed to stop another Humboldt crash and it might have to some extent. However, it has successfully scared off new talent or young people interested in trucking as a career choice. Who wants to spend $10,000.00 to get a $22.00 an hour job? There is no glamour in this job, no blonde twins and a monkey, no Trans Ams to bird dog for you. Just hours of driving your life away and manual labour with little or no respect. Add the HOS salary cap and it really is indentured servitude or outright slavery.
Anyway, it is sunny out right now! (Always end on a good note)

 

Many of the foreigners are not trained,,,just rushed through a course to get rubber stamped for drivers license and hired immediately among their own.
Its not a new trend,,,back in the 70’s lots of folks would just pay someone to get them a drivers license,, we did not get photo ID license until ‘87? Only info was height, colour of eyes and nobody was checking..I knew a guy who acquired many licenses for folks back when. $20 for a “chauffeurs license”

 

Can confirm, part of my new job in the office, is to help with Road Tests. A lot of these guys, claim to have MELT and 2 years experience, 75% cannot slide the tandem's on a van, some can't hookup or unhook, backing is non-existent. I know what MELT entails, and I'm 100% sure they've never done it. However, like you said, someone rubber stamped their ticket, they have a class 1A, and that 2 years experience was as a second long book on a team truck.

When one group of people controls the driving schools, registries and local elected offices, they're gonna setup a cash based, back door fast track; just how it is.

Anyway, the company is not going to lower the standards, if the government won't filter then, then I guess we will. Huge waste of time and diesel and man hours on our part, but it has to be done. We just turned over the tractor fleet, so almost everything is a new 2020-2022 Highway truck, I'm not letting those get smashed up, after the nightmare it was to get them all going.

 

Aussiejosh. You mentioned that 3 years experience is required for insurance. That may be true for some insurance companies but it could not be a normal requirement. There would be no new drivers if they needed 3 years.

 

You Canadians are funny , how then you can be a truck driver if you need 3 years. Of experience to be a truck driver

 

It really is a joke, this is now the requirement for carriers, if they are not self insured. So really all this is doing, is funneling all the new drivers into the scabby PR scam outfits, or the Mega Carriers like Bison/TransX/ArnoldBro's/Day and Ross/Lightspeed. Also if you're a new driver, there is a good chance you will be driving TEAM for the first 2 years.

Mind you, I'm referring to General Freight (Dry, Reefer, Deck) No idea how vocational, logging, LTL or tanker works, with these ridiculous rules.