DONOVANS TRAINING CENTRE EDMONTON

Srbin, sorry to hear about your situation sounds like you were being taken advantage of. Best of luck

 

We remember this student very well and we've kept all of his paperwork. He has been harassing us since 2012, you'll notice he won't mention the trucking company who sponsored him but he has not hesitated to speak badly against our school and Robert Price. Mr. Price has been a road test examiner in Alberta for many years and has an impeccable record with Alberta Transportation. I believe what this person is doing is committing libel against us and Mr. Price. We are not even sure that he is still in Canada. This individual spent a total of $1,500.00 (not $3,000.00) with us in attempt to pass his class 1 road test, our instructor let him know that he needed more hours but he refused. He then went to another truck training school and finally passed on their automatic truck. Even the person in charge of HR at his company here in Edmonton tried to get him to stop this harassment to no avail. With regards to his comments about the landing gear, the student who road tested right after him had absolutely no issues with the landing gear. Donovan has been training class 1 & 3 students for almost 30 years and has always put safety first. Many thanks to the person who alerted us to this posting.

 

If thats the case Srbin maybe its time to move on, dragging up old resentments when you tried to short cut your training to save money isn't right. If you still live in Canada the sooner you learn that the better for you and anyone who has to work with you. If you feel hard done by I would look at those who got you into Canada in the first place without saying what was actually required to do a proper job of re-training.

 

I just came across this CTV news article.
How online reviews could lead to lawsuits

 

This isn't really new; laws dealing with libel (written) and slander (spoken) defamatory statements have been around since Christ was a lance corporal. What is new is the number of people that have access to a wide-spread public via the Internet, and the permanent record of such statements.

However, as has always been the case, any true statements, regardless of how negative they may be, are protected. That doesn't mean that the subject of such a statement won't try to sue (as bullies and unscrupulous people/business are apt to do), it just means that they won't prevail. Also note, that any statements or reviews based on an individual's experience are going to be extremely hard to refute.

 

There are scant few Canadians willing to work OTR long haul. Living in a tin can all week sucks! The immigrants once again are taking jobs Canadians don't want.
Labourer jobs get plenty of applicants because no skills required,,,none.

 

I'm in driving school right now, just started the fourth week. My lifes work is as a carpenter, I finished a four year apprenticeship in Alberta almost 40 years ago. I have done work at almost every thing a carpenter can possibly do, I've been a superintendent on almost $20 million worth of construction. I am tired of being a carpenter and desperate to change careers. As far as I can tell OTR and just about any other form of professional driving is under valued and under appreciated, especially in larger urban areas.
I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person and I have driven a variety of vehicles and equipment in my life but the responsibility of driving or navigating a 100 plus thousand pound machine safely through traffic is a real eye opener to say the least. One aspect keeping more Canadians from pursuing this type of work is the sneaky underhanded behavior of some of the industries participants. I have already experienced lying recruiters and persons trying to have me alter my log book and I don't even have a license yet. Trying to figure out some of the pay rates for some of the companies I've applied to is ridiculous. I agree that pay by the mile is a good way to ensure that trucks keep moving but payment for loading and unloading, crossing the border and any other non moving time consuming event needs to be taken care of in a more uniform and standard way so drivers aren't abused. Of course thinking this way I am still going to see this through, I think I will enjoy doing this type of work, its challenging and I hope each day will be rewarding with opportunities to see more places and meet new people even if only for a short time lol. Anyway I disagree about the unskilled part of your comment, if the only reason that immigrant workers are coming into truck driving is to keep wages or working conditions sub standard then its time to call a spade a spade to anyone who will listen. One thing I will say, and I don't know if things have changed in the last 30yrs is that people in Alberta were regarded much higher than people in Ontario regard each other.

 

Hate to say it but truck driving isn't all it's cracked up to be... it pays almost minimum wage when you figure out how much you worked for your pay. Being gone days on end, truckstops are terrible in Canada, being pushed to get stuff done. I wouldn't reccomend it to anybody and I even have a good job in the trucking field. Somedays I wish I never went this route

 

After doing carpentry for 40 years it's probably something you will enjoy for a few years. I loved the first probably 4 years of over the road trucking. Seeing all the new roads and going to places I've never been before. Now it is repetitive and monotonous and the time away from home is tough. The problem for me is I have no clue as to how else I would make what I make trucking. And that's not to say I am killing it out here. I do well and run the areas I prefer to run and make my own schedule. Even with pretty well everything under my control it is still a struggle as to "why am I doing this?" some days. The most difficult times are when I have been home and slacking/partying for a couple weeks and then figure I should get back at it. Takes a few days to see that I do prefer to work for a stretch and then be home for a stretch. No thank you to M-F 9-5.

I love to hate it.