The Ontario government just set mandatory training course guidelines and hours of training for new and prospective truck drivers. The new training and minimum hours regulation will come into effect July 1, 2017. This is generally supported positively by the trucking industry.
The trucking industry needs a well trained stream of drivers coming into the system on a regular basis to keep up with growing demand and retiring drivers. In the past, the exact training new drivers had was difficult to determine due to varying standards and forced many trucking carriers to provide additional in depth training of their own. This is a costly proposition.
The trucking industry has always focused on fairness and level playing fields. This new regulation ensures all new drivers come out of the system with a similar level of training. While the response to these new regulations is mostly positive, there are those who don’t think it goes far enough. The regulation calls for 103.5 hours of training on various topics in the classroom, in the yard and on the road. There are some of better training schools that currently offer a minimum of 200 hours of training and see 103.5 hours as a downgrade to current practices.
Here at XTL we differentiate ourselves from others in the Industry by our robust training.
- Driver training is geared to their personal record. (Driver CVOR is reviewed, tailor made to the drivers experience and violation history).
- Driving skills training is included.
- Fuel efficiency training is included.
- Operations/Maintenance tasks are involved in Driver training.
- Driver engagement – Leaving the Driver alone after training is not beneficial. So, here at XTL we train, coach and mentor our drivers on the road as an extension to our in class training.
- Drivers are trained on the pressures of their Job. Drivers have one of the hardest jobs to do and we recognize that by how we treat them.
- We develop a Driver Manager/Driver Engagement code that covers working conditions for DM’s and drivers on how they engage with each other. This manages DM’s and Driver Expectations.
- We make the training more Relationship-oriented vs. process-oriented.
- In training we make them understand that they are a true Asset to the company. Drivers are respected. “Happy Drivers are Productive Drivers”.
XTL takes safety seriously and supports new and novel practices that increase the safety of our drivers and the general public.