OTA CALLS NEW DRIVER TRAINING DRAFT 'EXTENSIVE', 'RELEVANT'

TORONTO, ON — The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) says the province’s draft proposal to require 103.5 minimum hours of instruction before a road test — with 58 hours of “hands on the wheel” one-on-one driver training — establishes a new bar for learning that rises above the current climate of single-day assembly line style learning.

The OTA says it has written to the Ministry of Transportation’s Program Development and Evaluation Branch to chime in on the relatively new Class A draft curriculum for mandatory entry-level training, known as MELT, for which an OTA member committee played a key advisory role in developing.

“Coupled with new road and written examinations, the MELT Standard will significantly raise the competency of Class A drivers at a very early point in their occupation,” OTA president David Bradley stated in the ministry letter. “This is in contrast to the historical reality of some drivers acquiring minimal to virtually no occupational competency before seeking employment in the industry,” he added.

OTA says it will continue to work with MTO to address remaining issues integral to the MELT Standard. Some of these issues include standardized record of training, instructor requirements, jurisdictional reciprocity, advanced standing and vehicle configuration.

The final MELT standard is expected to be released in July. It will replace the current MTO Driver Certification Program Training Standard and the Ministry of Training, Colleges & Universities’ 2010 Tractor-Trailer (AZ) Driver Standard.

“The lack of a MELT Standard also perpetuated the perception that truck driving is a low-skill occupation – something the industry must overcome if it is to resolve the long-term, chronic shortage of drivers,” Bradley stated in the OTA letter.

OTA says it’s willing to work with other ministries and industry groups to set standards for Private Career Colleges that deliver comparable training and will also be subject to MELT requirements.
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