Tag: trucking

Instructor Certification in Our Industry

It really is time is it not, I wonder how many people know that as long as you hold a class AZ licence in Ontario you can instruct people how to drive a tractor trailer.  No official instructor certification for some of the biggest and heaviest units on our highways.

In Ontario, when Mandatory Entry Level Driver Training (MELT) was signed off on by all the industry stakeholders,  the TTSAO said we would sign off on it and support what was proposed with a caveat, the Government and the Ministry of Transportation would ensure instructor qualification and DZ MELT implementation would be on the table and dealt with in a year, that was 3 years ago.  Many industry stakeholders have been pushing for instructor certification all this time. Yes, there are industry and Government round tables and way to much lip service being paid to date, nothing.

It saddens me, other groups and association that the Government and MTO continue to drag their feet on this. Road safety is suppose to be paramount with our Provinces leadership and it took a tragedy like like Humboldt incident to bring our industry incompetency to the front lines. Do we need another catastrophic incident to get something done?

The majority of the industry and stakeholder groups want properly developed instructor certification programs for the trucking industry. I will leave you all with a thought to ponder. Someone teaching a kid to drive a car at 16 MUST be certified and pass a course to be qualified but someone teaching someone to drive an18 wheeler does not need to be certified. Somethings not right, you be the judge.

Attending Industry Events Will Improve Your Business

As many others in the industry I invest a ton of time at industry events. Setting my calendar early for the my “don’t miss” events in the industry, I believe is very important to the success of our businesses.
Selling what you do and how you do it is not always done at the boardroom table or in someone’s office. Many deals are initiated on the trade show floor, conference event, golf course, ski hill, fishing boat and for some (including me) tipping a pint with someone at a watering hole. Sometimes it is a combination of all of these.

It’s a Dogs Life, or It Should Be

My family are dog lovers, all of us, they have been such a big part of our life since day one. Lisa and I grew up with dogs, she says her first love was an over protective boxer when she was a little girl. For me my pal was a huge German Sheppard who loved playing hockey with me on the creek, he would chance that puck for hours and he was tough to stick handle around.

It’s Here! Mandatory Entry Level Driver Training (MELT)

Years ago when MELT was first being kicked around I was fortunate enough to meet with one of Minister Del Duca’s assistants at an industry function. She asked if we could meet the next day so she could get my opinions and thoughts about the announcement the Minister made the night before about pursuing MELT in the Province. Two hours later we were still talking about the Pro’s and Con’s, who the players should be at the table and what the goals and objectives would be.

The Value of Attending Industry Events

There are so many events happening in our industry, it’s impossible to get to them all. For myself and our people, it is really important that whatever events or conferences we attend that there is an opportunity to bring value back to our businesses.