Trade status for Drivers.

As I had said in the other post, you hadn't stated that the info you gave was pertaining to Canada only. However, other than that, I can see what you're saying.

I just don't believe that being classified as a Trade would help to clear up things like this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that being a trade wouldn't offer some sort of benefit. But, as I said earlier, a trade normally requires years before you're at Journeyman status. So, what qualifies as Journeyman status in driving? Hazmat? Super-Bs? Oversize loads requiring pilot cars? And if people are happy to not do these "specialized" things, do they never advance in pay, or to Journeyman status?

Trucking is a unique creature, and as such requires unique ideas to try and further it along as far as educating new drivers, and making all driver training a standardized training. I'm just unsure how this could be done, with OR without Trade status.

 

IMO, it already has some trade status, in the sense you need a license to drive. Lower number categories for bigger trucks require various years of training.

 

How many know bad plumbers? Trade certified plumbers? I know I do. So there goes the argument that a trade union will make us all better drivers. I recently had a truck into a shop to get some work done. I just started driving this truck. The day I got it I added 14 liters of oil and changed 5 lights on it. So this should tell you what sort of shape it was in. I told the mechanic that the clutch was WAY out of adjustment. There was ZERO freeplay. He told me after having it for 3 days that he could not adjust the clutch. It was seized. He did not depress the cluth to adjust. I don't know much about mechanic of trucks but I did know that you need to depress the clutch in order to adjust. He did not know that. Certified diesel mechanic.

Currently there are 5000 dental assistants working in Ontario. Only 1800 are part of the association. Ontario is the only province that does not require dental assistants to be certified. When interviewed this morning the representative from the Dental Assistants Association stated that the annual fee is one of the reasons people did not want to become part of the association. Once you pay your membership they need to have you write a test (which I am sure they charge for) which then makes you certified.

It is all about money.

In order to improve the quality and training of the drivers it will begin with who hires them. Making the employer accountable for the training or lack thereof will force the training standards to improve.

I too paid for my driving lessons, not the government. Only one in my class who did. They taught me how to get my license, not how to drive. I learned much from that course but learned way more after that.

I think a mentoring program should be mandatory. 3 months with somebody riding shotgun with you. Won't work for long haul, but would for regional or local driving. Many many companies provide this but have a very limited number of spots at each company.

Having incentives for these companies to open more of these spots may improve the quality of the drivers out there.

But I digress this has little to do with wages and quality of life issues. Those will only change when the demand for drivers goes up. I recall times you could not get a job if you had anything on your abstract. Then things got crazy and it was as long as you weren't under suspension.

 

In Canada, which is where you and I are from, all you need to get your class 1 with air, or AZ, depending on the province, is to be 18 years old, pass the written, then pass the road test. After that, you can go straight to running super-Bs, or hazmat(if your company has you write their test).

Anyone can get the license, which is one of the problems to begin with. There needs to be a mentoring program, as eotr suggested. A time of running super single for the otr driver would go a long way in making safer drivers, as long as the one training was a quality driver to begin with.

 

Needs to be like most of the TRADES , 4 year graduated process with SCHOOLING included. Start off as helper , co driver , limit the distance / weights , have REAL testing procedures ( not Old Bill or Fred in the yard decide )

Sad to see some of the NEW drivers , they can hardly do basic math , read anything they ATTEMPT to write is next to impossible and I am not pointing the finger at NEW CANADIANS , but drivers I have met / dealt with from Ontario that have roots back to 1800's.