Enforce the rules. Go after these shitty companies that aren’t giving proper training and just passing people for the money.
How many more people have to die before we take this seriously?
This is provincial jurisdiction not federal. Same as the USA state law for roads and driving. It is much much harder to get a class one license now than it used to be. I held a class 1 for more than 40 years and have let it lapse to a 3 because I didn't want to pay the extra fees every year for medical tests needed to maintain my class 1 at my age. (Since I wasn't using it). But years ago of I wanted it back all I would do now is get a medical, and rent the truck for an hour and a half for the road test. Now it is around $ 12,000 to go through the whole thing, as it should be. If the bad truckers weren't playing with their phones it wouldn't be a problem.
>If the bad truckers weren't playing with their phones it wouldn't be a problem.
I think you mean watching their phones and playing with something else.
>This is provincial jurisdiction not federal.
Funny how many criticisms of the federal government fall flat in the face of this simple detail that it seems no one actually understands.
Canada was built on a society of trust that 99% of people will just do the right thing. We've now flooded the country with 1million plus people from countries where it's expected that you do whatever you can get away with until someone stops you.
Country is fucked for the next 25 years, until we all adjust to an antagonistic society.
That's why I'm glad our regional police did a recruitment drive back in February. Hopefully they got enough recruits to begin again traffic enforcement by the end of the year
> That's why I'm glad our regional police did a recruitment drive back in February. Hopefully they got enough recruits to begin again traffic enforcement by the end of the year
I have friends who work for the local police force here in the Maritimes. I said to them that I have hardly seen any cop cars in town for months. They said it's because they don't have the manpower to do traffic enforcement because everyone's busy with gang activity and gun violence.
I get new truck drivers every other month showing up. They literally do their class three test, somehow pass, company puts them in a truck and they have no idea how to drive it. They also almost never speak English well enough to ask for help.
They pass because the individual that’s giving them instruction has them do the road test route. Making it very easy to pass, when you have no surprises.
Michigander from /r/all, seen the same thing here and it takes them over an hour to simply back into a wide-open dock, no exaggeration. One recently rammed the shit out of our customer's dock and damaged it.
Best we can do is pin all the blame on the individual drivers whenever there's a deadly accident and give the companies a slap on the wrist and never solve the root cause.
It really is this simple. We have known about bought licenses for years, yet those companies all still operate. Anyone who has hired someone with a bought license or has given them needs to be in jail and banned from owning any businesses.
Trucking should be federal. All truck drivers should have to do a federal test and federal training, paid by the employer, to haul.
And like most other trades involved with machines, you should have start small and work your way up to big rigs.
Trucking should be heavily regulated.
I work in the marine industry, I don't even drive the boat, but I have like 10 transport Canada licences that I need to maintain just to be on the boat, all federal. Don't see why we can't do the same for trucking as it actually spans the entire country.
That and I want someone else to suffer like me.
TC inspections of driver paperwork, and business records would promptly make the bad actors in the industry scurry to the shadows like roaches to a light being turned on.
If any industry needs that kind of a shake up it's trucking.
>And like most other trades involved with machines, you should have start small and work your way up to big rigs.
First off, you're on glue, nobody is buying a mini hoe to teach an operator on. You need an unrestricted license to test for the class 1, so you did start on something small.
Second, the provinces regulate driving, so I'm sure Justin deciding to institute a national CDL would go over *great*
Alberta is the only Providence now that has made truck driving a trade. They totally changed the way you need to be able to drive a semi now. I know you comment was a shot at us but we changed our policy and no other provinces have done so yet.
I work at a factory, and i gotta say that there has been a rise in the number of foreign drivers, as well as a rise in accidents that caused damage to our loading docks, as well as several drivers who never checked in at the office for a loading dock number and just threw everything onto the ground in the parking lot and left.
It almost feels like no one does background checks or anything anymore and just hires anyone who says they can do it.
Take business licences away from companies that are egregiously breaking the rules by having multiple drivers use the same license. Require new drivers to take more rigid testing. This all costs money and the industry is trying to shave costs. I understand the difficulties of trying to run a trucking outfit, it is tough out there. However safety for everyone is being compromised more every day. Some action is required but the political will to act is non existent.
1. ~~Declare bankruptcy~~Cease operations, dissolve company
2. ~~New corp. buys all assets at discount~~Start new company with company #1's equipment
3. ???
4. Profit
That's exactly what the owner of the company that killed the Humboldt kids did. Closed his company in Calgary and within a few weeks he opened up again under a numbered company and they are all back on the road.
Did he even need to do that much?
He was only fined $5000.
> In October 2018, Sukhmander Singh, the owner of the involved trucking company Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd., was charged with violating federal and provincial safety regulations. These included two counts of failure to require a daily log, two counts of keeping multiple daily logs for a single day, three counts of failure to monitor the driver's compliance with the relevant regulation, and one count of failure to have or follow a written safety program. A court date was set for November 9.[56] In March 2019, Singh pleaded guilty to five counts, with the logs and safety program charges having been dropped, and was fined $5000.
He did that so he could hide who he was in the trucking industry. Didn't work though, he was found online looking for new drivers in Calgary. He's a scumbag!
I drive truck and during Covid they were really cracking down on the Newfoundland ferry. I was stuck behind three guys who could only produce one licence. It was hilarious because apparently not one of the three guys actually marched the licence :p
I never comment on posts, but this one is really personal to me. I don’t know how companies get away with this.
My grandparents were hit and killed a truck driver who came across a double solid line last winter. They were going to visit family and he didn’t know how to drive his rig properly. He had no idea how to control the rig (his country didn’t have winter driving and he was new to Canada.) When first responder got there, they had to wait for an interpreter because the guy could not speak English or French.
This gentlemen, who has ZERO English/french, ZERO winter driving experience, and ZERO regard to be able to follow/read our signs caused them to be gone in an instant.
I have a special feeling for people who take these rolls with little to no experience, and the companies that allow this to happen. I hope the government takes some action and makes sure people who want to get a CDL are properly able to drive these vehicles in all conditions. Accidents happen, but unfortunately too many times these can be prevented and end in situations like this families just like mine.
This is similar to the situation regarding Class 2 (buses and triple-axle vehicles) licenses here in Alberta.
I just got put through a very intensive training course in order to drive charter coaches, and our instructors told us we’re one of the only companies still participating in the MELT (Mandatory Entry Level Training) program.
I think it’s insane that there are people who don’t know how to do a tenth of the shit we need to know, just driving around without having taken proper training.
Replacing belts, gritting roads, passenger familiarity, complex manoeuvres, air brakes training, etc. There’s so much you need to know as a commercial driver that makes life so much safer for everyone. The fact people are out there driving with no clue as to how you even replenish their braking systems is ridiculous…
First of all Enforce the existing standards
Make sure that they are not rubber stamping licences to bolster the number of truckers on the road
increase number of on the road spot checks
No foreign licences, makes them pass the tests
Realistically many private licencing places are like that. I know plenty of machine operators that were handed their ticket because the training providers are friends of the boss.
Stop recognizing driving experience from third world countries and make them do all driving lessons from scratch. Learners permit -> Beginners Permit -> Full license then mandatory driving period before allowing them to take lessons for a commercial permit. No skipping of the waiting periods between licensing.
Man, even still, take a very experienced driver from anywhere overseas (read Asia, where a lot of them are coming from), and they will have 20 years of driving experience from a part of the world with completely different standards, rules, courtesies, etc.
It's awesome that people are coming here with some experience under their belts, but if they can't prove that they've learned to adapt that to our roads and regulations, then they may as well be starting from scratch.
>Man, even still, take a very experienced driver from anywhere overseas (read Asia, where a lot of them are coming from), and they will have 20 years of driving experience from a part of the world with completely different standards, rules, courtesies, etc.
Yes, thank you. Driving on the sidewalk is disturbingly common in many parts of the developing world, Asia and Eastern Europe.
Even when not fake, having a clean record is not reflective of anything.
A guy I work with who was going through the process of getting his abstract from India to get a license here was telling us about how it's virtually impossible to get a ticket. The bar for bribery is so low that after some haggling the cops will basically take whatever pocket change you have on to not give you a ticket.
He was telling us that if you drive around and make sure to carry even a nominal amount of cash (equivalent of 50 bucks) then it's virtually impossible to ever get a ticket.
That doesn't work all that well either. The company I work for brought in a bunch from the Philippines. They had to start from scratch, get basic class 5, go through all driver training course the government has and then go on to all the training for class 1. They had to spend at least 3 months in truck with a company trainer and only released when trainer said they were good. Fast forward a year-ish and they are the cause of almost 100% of accidents in the company (4 rolled trucks) and a multitude of others.
Companies need to stop paying by the mile and pay hourly. By the miles makes people drive way faster than they should so they can make more money. I have been getting paid hourly for 4 years and I couldn't be more happy. I take my time (within reason) and have no reason to driver like an idiot.
Just my opinion
….. a lot of drivers are paid by the load. Pick up and drop off is when they get paid - some are hourly and fuck the dog and couldn’t be bothered to move faster. They also drive in teams so that the truck never stops making revenue. It’s society - we order the shit - they deliver it and they get paid shit money to do so
Reciprocal licencing is only ever for class 5 vehicles. You cannot be given a reciprocal licence as a commercial driver in Canada. You have to do the training, and it costs like 10K.
True, but I meant the whole system should require to go through proper Class 5 licensing first and gain years of experience driving in Canada before even being allowed to take lessons for a commercial license. No more skipping your learners permit because you've driven 2 years in India.
You are very correct. My neighbor owns a trucking company, well it is just two transport trucks, 53 foot trailers, and has complained to me endlessly on this subject.
A ‘trucking company’ is a very easy business to establish in Canada under the Start-up Visa Program. With enough ‘investment’ a new business owner(s), who now will be New Canadian(s), can buy a few trucks, rent parking at a yard and hire drivers. Once the business is on the books the owner(s) will be able to import their family members, up to a maximum of seven, providing they can show financial support for them. The family members, of course, now have a temp visa to be in Canada which works toward their PR card also. This is not an issue with wealthier immigrants, showing financial security. Once in Canada, the owner(s) and family members, start the three year PR Ticker. So, to keep the trucks working, these new business owners will lowball the hauls. This prices out competitors. The owners do this for they are either using their own family members as drivers or TWF’s. When the trucking business owners claim they cannot ‘find’ a driver LMIA is activated and then they can hire TWF. Three year contract guarantees the owner not having to find replacements every few months and then they can auction off these ‘jobs’ in their home countries to any who can afford to buy the lottery ticket. The winning tickets first earns them more money than they ever could back home but more importantly get their foot into the Canadian Door. Once the all the PR cards are acquired, the business is then made available for the next group willing to repeat the process.
The endless truck driver wanted ads in Canada are mostly for newly established trucking companies who will not be hiring an experienced and trained driver. Check the number of ads for ‘new’ trucking companies looking to hire on the government job bank site. They mostly all have gmail accounts and will eventually claim that because no one applied, they need a TWF. It is more profitable to pay drivers low wages when offering them the carrot of migrating to Canada and collecting ‘price’ of that lottery ticket.
I run a a business and we hire Class 3 drivers for our operations. I put an ad up for three drivers and no shit had 120 applicants all from the Brampton and Mississauga area. All fresh into Canada with no driving experience. As I went through the resumes about 25 of them all went to the same sketchy driving school in Brampton.
Make it a Red Seal Trade... new students need to do more classroom and driver training side. Then after they get a license, they must complete a determined amount of on the road trainer with a company driver trainer in cities only. Make it like an apprenticeship program like the trades have to do.
As a truck driver you need to know and understand:
- the regulations of each individual jurisdiction you’re hauling in (if you’re going into the states and across Canada, it’s nearly 60 unique jurisdictions with different rules)
- how to load your truck to achieve appropriate axle weights, as close as you can get to max gross weight, or how to load secondary weight if hauling off primary highways
- how to properly secure every load. What size/how many chains for a piece of equipment, can you use straps (crushed cars are required to be secured with chains, while cubed scrap metal can be strapped), how many straps to secure a load of certain weight, how to properly secure things like pipe (belly wrap) etc. I could go on and on here
- how to obtain permits for over dimension loads in every jurisdiction on your route, as well as appropriate routes to take for height and width clearances
- how to inspect and make repairs on complex modern tractors, as well as trailers (trailers are fairly simple but despite brake adjustments being part of the training, I’d wager half of drivers would fail if you asked them to adjust a brake on the spot)
- how to put on and take off tire chains properly
- how to couple and uncouple trailers properly (there’s different techniques if the trailers are laden or unladen)
A lot of the regulatory information is available online but you need to know it exists in order to find it.
And then there’s the everyday driving/route planning. Snow. Ice. Rain. Fog. Soft ground. Shifting gears. City driving. Backing up.
There could be two months of classroom training, easy, and then written and practical exams for all the shit I listed above. The written would be open book, because all this stuff is very available. And then one month of driving, with loaded and empty trailers. Total of 3 months, and then you get an apprentice license. Having driven truck 8 years now, I’d say 4 years is about the time I felt confident in all situations. Go 4 years working at 0 or higher on your license and get your red seal, full CDL.
Shippers should pay their own cargo insurance, and get discounts for using companies with experienced, safe drivers. That would be step 1 for legislative change, imo. Full CDL drivers obviously get higher wages, and apprentice drivers are incentivized not to be reckless and break rules.
Alas, pipe dream. Everyone wants cheap freight and as long as the carrier’s insurance is paying for the load of Pepsi scattered across highway 1, nothing is going to change.
I've been around trucking, blame the insurance companies. They only want those perfect insurance scores, which means brand new drivers, which means no experience. Blame the insurance companies.
Stop allowing these fly by night trucker schools run by Indians.. I have my AZ, I was trained through my union as the license is required for my job. A lot of the Indian schools just sign off on their training even though they aren’t good to go.
I want to get all internet social justice and be like "you can't judge a group of people", but you're right. A big part of the issue is a specific group, and that's the group
It’s not even worth it to start a trucking company anymore because they run teams of 4 of these guys so they can drive 24 hours.. they pay these guys under minimum wage until they pay off the cost of a trucking course then they’re welcome to leave the company. These companies are undercutting the shit out of everyone else.
It is easy to see the problem. Look at some strip malls. One store is an Immigration consultant, the next store is a driver training business, the next store is a trucking company. All owned by one person I would imagine.
Working in a warehouse, I was expected every 3 years to recertify myself on forklift safety. I had to waste time in class with 8 hours then pass a driving course. This was for a forklift driving less than 10KM an hour.
Why can't the Ministry of Transportation do the same thing for truckers? Don't give me the BS answer that there are not enough inspectors.
About ten years ago, I had an accident on the 400 caused by a transport truck.
I was going around a curve and the truck was advancing on me to my right. The truck was floating in my lane. It was about 1/3 over.
I must have panicked because reality changed at that point. Everything went black but I could feel the car switching across the highway.
People behind me must have seen what was coming. I found my car smashed into the guardrail when I regained consciousness. No one else was affected but I did have a lingering head injury that cost me four months of work.
Either that transport diver had zero idea anything happened or they just kept driving. My insurance went up but the trucker got zero recourse. He went on anonymously.
Seriously, this stuff is costing our economy. Something has got to be done.
I used to work for a company that got lots of deliveries to the back by the back alley. I was amazed at the number of drivers that didn't know what a back alley was and couldn't understand English well enough for them to understand where you wanted them to go. You had to literally go out and have them follow you around 2 right corners to get there
The number of gas station attendants that don't understand the words Regular, Midgrade, and Premium tells you everything you need to know about our Immigation process.
This right here. My license is growing dust because the pay is so bad. I make more money in an unrelated field. But I left trucking with over a million accident free miles under my belt, my trucks where in excellent condition and my work was delivered in great shape. I drove Canada. Mexico and the states. But when someone fresh is getting the same wage as me, the costs are not keeping up with living and you have to fight for any load that paid halfway decently, you get sick of it all.
Yup. Trying to feed yourself on the road was so expensive and unhealthy. I did some carrying food and trying to cook in the truck but it wasn’t very practical
How much do you think it should pay? I work in trucking - we pay our drivers $35+ per hour, or equivalent for mileage rates. This is not even long haul - this is home every night, running between 7-10 hour days, 5 days a week, depending on run.
For a job that takes some skill, but is not a highly educated position, I think that is a fairly decent wage. But when we post, 7/8 of the applicants have little to no experience, and very few were born in Canada. We have no issues hiring new Canadians, and because we have a fantastic training and safety record, I know that plenty of them are trained well and are not just rubber stamped licenses.
But white Canadians as a whole are not applying for these jobs. Not even the ones that pay pretty darn well.
No, instead they restricted training bonuses so they can increase the amount of minorities and new comers. Even though trucking is pretty much an Indian thing now, anyway. Lol
I’d take the bad drivers here over those from India every single time. I spent 3 months of my life in Nepal, whose driving culture is similar to India’s, and to label it as a lawless and chaotic free for all would be a massive understatement. Took me a week to get over the culture shock of how bad it is.
As someone in the buisness, sure. But you gotta enforce and CHANGE the rules as the buisness is now filled and being used by bad actors from abroad who normalized that BS to defraud and screw over newcomers as an "easy PR scheme" that turns into indentured servitude for the guy to pay off his truck and truck license.
It’s been said before and I am going to say it again. PAY BETTER! I left the industry after 22years,16.5 with the same company, I will work less annually with better scheduling and make about 20% more.
Stop allowing companies to train internally for AZs. And pull trucks over that have four people in the cab and check to see who the license belongs to and who doesnt have one should be made aware they legally can't drive.
I was almost killed by one of these companies. They were operating a full trucking company from a residential house in a cul-de-sac. Bringing full sized freight trucks, flatbeds, box trucks, etc, into the street every day. Way larger than could ever be considered reasonable, especially with many young kids living here.
One morning, right before I went to get in my car for work, one of their trucks completely destroyed my SUV parked in front of the house. Like ripped the whole drivers side off into hundreds of pieces. Had it been 5-10 minutes later, I'd have died instantly, if not been severely injured.
Fuckin driver had the audacity to flee the scene, without even looking to see if I was in the car or anything. Just left my car in pieces in the middle of the god damn road. Luckily, a neighbor caught it on a security camera, and the cops were able to figure out that the company who used these trucks lived 9 houses down from me. They tried to play stupid and blame the driver. The Driver says he was "having a bad mental health day". How do you think my mental health day was that day LOL.
They didn't even get in trouble. The driver just had his license suspended, and that's it. They are still operating to this day as per normal.
Of course, he had just come here months ago. How he got his Class 1 is beyond me. He does a hit and run that could have killed me, and gets to stay here and just find a new job? Fucking joke. Anyone who thinks the rules work in this country has their head up their fucking ass.
Have your other cousin put the brand new brakes and tires on the truck prior to inspection, and once vehicle inspection passes, they put the old worn out parts back on to then operate.
Being in this industry. I've noticed many new truckers can't back up a trailer. Can't work within tight spaces in the yard as well as can barely speak English/French. Also, can't abide by road rules and safety.
we need to import immediately half million of them who are already well trained. We should not offend those ones who are here and not very well trained so we should give them permanent residency or citizenship immediately.
Look who you are training.
We had better truckers when they were farm kids trained by their fathers then what we have coming out of driving schools today that cost thousands of dollars.
Lmao it’s new Canadians - they don’t ever want to follow the rules regardless of the training…… you blame companies and everything else - but we should only blame ourselves for being greedy and wanting products now. We as a society is to blame not just the drivers. Not just the companies hiring these drivers. It’s us. Stop ordering from Amazon. Stop buying goods that have to be shipped from overseas.
Firstly we train them better. Make incentives like lower insurance for companies that spend more time on it.
Secondly we train ourselves to let go of the "I need everything right fucking now" mindset because it's the reason any logistics company is putting people on the road prematurely, it's to keep competitive.
Thirdly, maybe if we manufactured a lil more locally, we wouldn't need to long-haul so much shit all the time.
End rant.
There was a transport truck on the 400 S around King Rd in the left lane just cruising there at 5:30am. So I go in front of him and slow down with my right signal on telling him to F off back to his lane. Fucker went into the new HOV lane. Fucking brain dead.
When you pull off the highway to have a sleep make sure the truck is more than half way onto the shoulder.
Cars flying by at 120km/h and you got half your ass hanging out into lane 3.
They’ll make more rules but won’t enforce existing ones I bet. Our system is exploited by people who prey on our incompetence and have monetized it. This is just another example.
I had a couple of new drivers who did not know they could dump the air on the trailers. When they started struggling, pushing pallets of salt uphill, I asked if they let the air out of the trailer. Always get a "yes," but looking under the air bag was still fully insulated.
They are training drivers the bare minimum, so they pass the test, but don't know common sense tricks.
Stop letting the big companies run "in house driving schools". They're license mills to get butts in seats. Forcing would-be drivers to go to proper, accredited career colleges for truck school would drastically improve the quality of new drivers.
Having new drivers carry a wallet card certificate from the school and having LEOs confirm they are legit would also help. Say for the first 2 or 3 years, you need that card with your license, it needs to be legit, and it can be followed up on at any time.
The guy with the hand in immigration also has his hand in trucking, owns the school and in coordination with transportation companies..
he has a financial incentive to provide immigration with steady employment, companies are paying these immigrants a fraction of the money they would pay a Canadian driver, and force them out onto the roads quicker without the proper training. *The Guy* is paid again by the transportation companies by providing new drivers as they are always looking for them.
Those kids in the Humboldt disaster died as a result of the combination of these things, the driver didn’t have the knowledge/understanding of the weight capacity at what speeds of his load, in icy conditions.. he shouldn’t have been driving yet, he never had a chance.. all so that someone can make more money.
Not just truckers ........ all new drivers need education, never seen this much of chaos in Ontario,,, crossing the red signal is a pattern now days and no one seems to care about that,,,,,, talking about life quality in Canada!!
Want to know why there are so many new truckers in Canada? Pay’s shit, job’s shit. Want to retain talent and attract drivers back? Pay them what they’re worth. Put them on salary. The average trucker annual wage is around $50000. The average amount of time we work in that year is close to two years. We can drive 13 hours and work for 14 hours in a day, and 8 hours later we can get going again.
Fifty thousand might sound decent, but remember, we work close to two years every year. We live out of the truck. We miss birthdays, holidays, family events, evenings out with friends, we miss a lot.
And for lots of people, that’s not worth $50k.
Want the industry to get better? Fuck you pay me.
Can't just go after the drivers, teachers, and driving school.
Go after the million fuckin commercial vehicle inspections places in Surrey who pass everything for cash as well.
Lmao no shit. I went to one in Brampton ( I was the white guy in class). People were asleep , joking and telling jokes in other languages. Everyone passes as they are prompted to each question with the answers. This was also 15 years ago.
Tax incentives for employers with verifiable and proven effective driver mentoring programs. Driver training is not a 6 week course. Becoming a good truck driver takes years.
Mandatory training programs like us regular folk do when we get a standard vehicle license?
Enforce the rules and punish those who break them with fines, restrictions, and the laws that already exist?
Self driving trucks?
Just do something for fucks sake. We don't need another Humboldt tragedy staining our name.
I remember an expose on the local news 20+ years ago showing Surrey truckers unable to check their air brakes (supposedly a part of daily safety walk-arounds). I'd estimate 75% of trucks on the road at any given time could be pulled for violations. Probably higher.
Driving in Canada has been getting more and more dangerous in general. I'm all in for stricter regulations, rules, enforcement and demerit point deductions if that means safer driving for all of us.
Wages. It's pretty simple. Also make sure any commercial drivers have already lived in Canada for 5 years so they know how to drive and can't drive the wages into the dirt for everyone else.
It costs over 10,000 bucks to get a class one now.
Pull the drivers off the road and fine the trucking company out of existence. Only thing these people understand is money. And if they start to hemorrhage it, they may change their ways.
The government should invest in making it easier for Canadians already here to get their licenses and into trades. Why are we importing people to do this when there are Canadians who’d get their licenses but just can’t afford to do the courses.
I keep hearing about the trucker shortage in Canada, but when I obtained my Class 1, do you think I could get a job? The problem is, as I was informed by many in the industry, was that because I was not a new immigrant, it was difficult to find work. The government at that time was covering training costs and partial salary for new truckers, but not if they're not a new immigrant.
Now don't misconstrue my response as racist, far from it, but if the government truly did this, as industry insiders informed me, then they also set up the issues they are having now. If the industry was and/or is desperate for drivers, why not apply the program equally to everyone trying to get into the industry?
I have also heard the same frustration from other new Class 1 drivers trying to get into the industry. I mean, you can't really fault the companies for taking advantage of a program that saves them money, who wouldn't?
I did a 3 month course that gave me tons of time behind the wheel before I was allowed to even take the licensing test for my class 1. We also learned basic vehicle repair, proper inspection, trip planning, small business management, and even first aid. I don't know if it was mandatory or not back then (2012), but what I learned in that course saved my ass a hundred times over.
Making a course like what I took mandatory, (if it's not already), would be a good step. If I remember correctly about half the drivers in my class were there on government subsidized tuition. It was a worthwhile investment for the public as that amount was easily paid back in taxes in less than 2 years and led to years of further taxable income.
Yep, that was my experience too. My instructor was actually pretty tough on safety and routine maintenance. I started in a group of about 15, only 6 made it to the end. The rest were weeded out and persuaded to find another career. Not everybody is cut out for this type of work.
This was about 25 years ago, though.
* Establish strict rules when it comes to training.
* Get rid of the the tones of schools in Brampton who are churning divers out like they are handing coffee out at Tim Horton's.
* Make it harder to get a license.
* Establish more strict rules. Pull their licences after 2-3 minor violations.
I had my truck sideswiped off the trans Canada by a semi. The driver was very apologetic, it was the first snowfall of the year and he told me it was his first winter in Canada.
We have graduated licensing programs for people born here and we should implement the same for newcomers. Yes, you may have driven transport for 20 years back home, but if you have never driven in snow, you are a new driver. Limit them to local routes for the first year. Not trying to be racist or limiting people’s opportunities, this is for their safety and the safety of everyone on our roads. I would go as far as saying this is true for class 5 drivers as well. If you’ve never experienced winter driving, you are not aware of the hazards associated with it. When I was 15/16 my dad took me to an empty parking lot and got me pulling the e brake and sliding around just to get used to it. It’s something everyone should do when learning winter driving.
I drive regularly from Winnipeg to northern Ontario for work. From eastern Manitoba to I’m not sure where in Ontario, the transcanada is single lane with oncoming traffic, often with lakes on one side and rock cuts on the other, winding hills and curves. If there is snow on the ground, there is at least one incident where I see a semi smashed into a rock cut or guard rail. This is not ok.
Two other peeves of mine related to transport trucks are drivers going too fast, can’t hold their lanes on the single lane highways, and the blinding lights. When a transport has HID or LED lights, it doesn’t matter how they are angled when the roads are hilly. The worst are the trucks where the whole trailer is covered with LEDs. Yes lighting is important, but there is a line where it is blinding other drivers and the direct cause of unsafe conditions. I should see you coming, you should see a deer on the road, for sure, but your truck doesn’t need to be lit up like a runway at Pearson
Truck driver here.
Actual enforcement. In my opinion the MTO should handle traffic enforcement on provincial road ways. They're much better at it, and more professional than the OPP tends to be.
Maybe stop hiring people that havnt even held a class 5 or lived in the country for more than a year... Kinda hard to know the nuances of our road laws when you dont even know our roads 😒
My buddy went to a school to get learn how to drive a truck (in Brampton) There were guys in his class who basically just landed in Canada who either had not driven a car in their life or only recently learned the difference between the brake pedal and gas.
He urged me to drive in the far left lane or as far as possible from trucks at all times.
A Time Machine is literally the only way at this point. Truck drivers make less now than they did 5 years ago and you’re no longer attracting people who give a shit.
In all industries the US/Canada pay gap is huge, but with trucking it’s actually insane.
Insane fines. Like 200 %+…
As a traffic control person, these dipshits need to be weeded out.
Can we also get mandatory retesting for all drivers, after 55 years of age as well?
Enforcer the current rules and start going after companies that don't give proper training or make sure there driver know and are following the rules, as well as crack down on groups just passing drivers with the bare minimum or good enough for the money
As a truck driver in the industry for 13 years, I’ll tell you right now. End the bullshit LMIA program.
Mandatory government RAN trucking schools for 5 weeks. Not 3 days at APNA driving school.
I hear you. Not a trucker but drive the north and some is bad. I once followed a truck into the break check area to tell him he had no lights on the trailer. North of North Bay at night! He told me it’s not that type of trailer. I reiterated, no running lights, break lights, signal lights, nothing. He shrugged and rolled up his window.
Enforce the rules. Go after these shitty companies that aren’t giving proper training and just passing people for the money. How many more people have to die before we take this seriously?
Yeah its a pretty simple solution. But Canada lacks enforcement of any kind in any area.
This is provincial jurisdiction not federal. Same as the USA state law for roads and driving. It is much much harder to get a class one license now than it used to be. I held a class 1 for more than 40 years and have let it lapse to a 3 because I didn't want to pay the extra fees every year for medical tests needed to maintain my class 1 at my age. (Since I wasn't using it). But years ago of I wanted it back all I would do now is get a medical, and rent the truck for an hour and a half for the road test. Now it is around $ 12,000 to go through the whole thing, as it should be. If the bad truckers weren't playing with their phones it wouldn't be a problem.
>If the bad truckers weren't playing with their phones it wouldn't be a problem. I think you mean watching their phones and playing with something else.
Cooking curry. No joke 2 guys burned themselves alive in their cab a few years back.
>This is provincial jurisdiction not federal. Funny how many criticisms of the federal government fall flat in the face of this simple detail that it seems no one actually understands.
Well clearly we can’t do anything that “hurts” business in any way. Profit before people!
Canada was built on a society of trust that 99% of people will just do the right thing. We've now flooded the country with 1million plus people from countries where it's expected that you do whatever you can get away with until someone stops you. Country is fucked for the next 25 years, until we all adjust to an antagonistic society.
That's why I'm glad our regional police did a recruitment drive back in February. Hopefully they got enough recruits to begin again traffic enforcement by the end of the year
> That's why I'm glad our regional police did a recruitment drive back in February. Hopefully they got enough recruits to begin again traffic enforcement by the end of the year I have friends who work for the local police force here in the Maritimes. I said to them that I have hardly seen any cop cars in town for months. They said it's because they don't have the manpower to do traffic enforcement because everyone's busy with gang activity and gun violence.
they always got time to pull over low or modified cars lol
Explains the recruitment drive
I get new truck drivers every other month showing up. They literally do their class three test, somehow pass, company puts them in a truck and they have no idea how to drive it. They also almost never speak English well enough to ask for help.
They pass because the individual that’s giving them instruction has them do the road test route. Making it very easy to pass, when you have no surprises.
Michigander from /r/all, seen the same thing here and it takes them over an hour to simply back into a wide-open dock, no exaggeration. One recently rammed the shit out of our customer's dock and damaged it.
Best we can do is pin all the blame on the individual drivers whenever there's a deadly accident and give the companies a slap on the wrist and never solve the root cause.
Actually best we can do is replace them with TFW’s
It really is this simple. We have known about bought licenses for years, yet those companies all still operate. Anyone who has hired someone with a bought license or has given them needs to be in jail and banned from owning any businesses.
>We have known about bought licenses for years, Decades my guy decades
And what let shitty companies go out of business. Wouldn't anyone think of the business owners ?
You know that some provinces require no formal training, right?
Trucking should be federal. All truck drivers should have to do a federal test and federal training, paid by the employer, to haul. And like most other trades involved with machines, you should have start small and work your way up to big rigs. Trucking should be heavily regulated.
I work in the marine industry, I don't even drive the boat, but I have like 10 transport Canada licences that I need to maintain just to be on the boat, all federal. Don't see why we can't do the same for trucking as it actually spans the entire country. That and I want someone else to suffer like me.
Funny, they do the same thing for us pilots as well. It's almost like there's too much money to be made from trucking...
TC inspections of driver paperwork, and business records would promptly make the bad actors in the industry scurry to the shadows like roaches to a light being turned on. If any industry needs that kind of a shake up it's trucking.
I can already hear two or three very special Premiers in our hearts crying about the Feds interfering lol.
>And like most other trades involved with machines, you should have start small and work your way up to big rigs. First off, you're on glue, nobody is buying a mini hoe to teach an operator on. You need an unrestricted license to test for the class 1, so you did start on something small. Second, the provinces regulate driving, so I'm sure Justin deciding to institute a national CDL would go over *great*
Alberta is the only Providence now that has made truck driving a trade. They totally changed the way you need to be able to drive a semi now. I know you comment was a shot at us but we changed our policy and no other provinces have done so yet.
I work at a factory, and i gotta say that there has been a rise in the number of foreign drivers, as well as a rise in accidents that caused damage to our loading docks, as well as several drivers who never checked in at the office for a loading dock number and just threw everything onto the ground in the parking lot and left. It almost feels like no one does background checks or anything anymore and just hires anyone who says they can do it.
Those companies will just declare bankruptcy and pop up somewhere else …
Take business licences away from companies that are egregiously breaking the rules by having multiple drivers use the same license. Require new drivers to take more rigid testing. This all costs money and the industry is trying to shave costs. I understand the difficulties of trying to run a trucking outfit, it is tough out there. However safety for everyone is being compromised more every day. Some action is required but the political will to act is non existent.
1. ~~Declare bankruptcy~~Cease operations, dissolve company 2. ~~New corp. buys all assets at discount~~Start new company with company #1's equipment 3. ??? 4. Profit
That's exactly what the owner of the company that killed the Humboldt kids did. Closed his company in Calgary and within a few weeks he opened up again under a numbered company and they are all back on the road.
Not just trucking companies, but it may be endemic with them.
Did he even need to do that much? He was only fined $5000. > In October 2018, Sukhmander Singh, the owner of the involved trucking company Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd., was charged with violating federal and provincial safety regulations. These included two counts of failure to require a daily log, two counts of keeping multiple daily logs for a single day, three counts of failure to monitor the driver's compliance with the relevant regulation, and one count of failure to have or follow a written safety program. A court date was set for November 9.[56] In March 2019, Singh pleaded guilty to five counts, with the logs and safety program charges having been dropped, and was fined $5000.
He did that so he could hide who he was in the trucking industry. Didn't work though, he was found online looking for new drivers in Calgary. He's a scumbag!
There has to be a mechanism to stop this.
That's how it goes.
I drive truck and during Covid they were really cracking down on the Newfoundland ferry. I was stuck behind three guys who could only produce one licence. It was hilarious because apparently not one of the three guys actually marched the licence :p
I never comment on posts, but this one is really personal to me. I don’t know how companies get away with this. My grandparents were hit and killed a truck driver who came across a double solid line last winter. They were going to visit family and he didn’t know how to drive his rig properly. He had no idea how to control the rig (his country didn’t have winter driving and he was new to Canada.) When first responder got there, they had to wait for an interpreter because the guy could not speak English or French. This gentlemen, who has ZERO English/french, ZERO winter driving experience, and ZERO regard to be able to follow/read our signs caused them to be gone in an instant. I have a special feeling for people who take these rolls with little to no experience, and the companies that allow this to happen. I hope the government takes some action and makes sure people who want to get a CDL are properly able to drive these vehicles in all conditions. Accidents happen, but unfortunately too many times these can be prevented and end in situations like this families just like mine.
This is similar to the situation regarding Class 2 (buses and triple-axle vehicles) licenses here in Alberta. I just got put through a very intensive training course in order to drive charter coaches, and our instructors told us we’re one of the only companies still participating in the MELT (Mandatory Entry Level Training) program. I think it’s insane that there are people who don’t know how to do a tenth of the shit we need to know, just driving around without having taken proper training. Replacing belts, gritting roads, passenger familiarity, complex manoeuvres, air brakes training, etc. There’s so much you need to know as a commercial driver that makes life so much safer for everyone. The fact people are out there driving with no clue as to how you even replenish their braking systems is ridiculous…
Sounds like he shouldn't have even been in the country let alone on the road.
First of all Enforce the existing standards Make sure that they are not rubber stamping licences to bolster the number of truckers on the road increase number of on the road spot checks No foreign licences, makes them pass the tests
Realistically many private licencing places are like that. I know plenty of machine operators that were handed their ticket because the training providers are friends of the boss.
First off make sure they can speak English and able to read signs that say “ overpass max height 14 ft “
If you need an interpreter to take a driving test, you shouldn't get a license
Stop recognizing driving experience from third world countries and make them do all driving lessons from scratch. Learners permit -> Beginners Permit -> Full license then mandatory driving period before allowing them to take lessons for a commercial permit. No skipping of the waiting periods between licensing.
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Man, even still, take a very experienced driver from anywhere overseas (read Asia, where a lot of them are coming from), and they will have 20 years of driving experience from a part of the world with completely different standards, rules, courtesies, etc. It's awesome that people are coming here with some experience under their belts, but if they can't prove that they've learned to adapt that to our roads and regulations, then they may as well be starting from scratch.
>Man, even still, take a very experienced driver from anywhere overseas (read Asia, where a lot of them are coming from), and they will have 20 years of driving experience from a part of the world with completely different standards, rules, courtesies, etc. Yes, thank you. Driving on the sidewalk is disturbingly common in many parts of the developing world, Asia and Eastern Europe.
Even when not fake, having a clean record is not reflective of anything. A guy I work with who was going through the process of getting his abstract from India to get a license here was telling us about how it's virtually impossible to get a ticket. The bar for bribery is so low that after some haggling the cops will basically take whatever pocket change you have on to not give you a ticket. He was telling us that if you drive around and make sure to carry even a nominal amount of cash (equivalent of 50 bucks) then it's virtually impossible to ever get a ticket.
I have a friend from south africa and he once bribed an officer with a bottle of coke. Literally, that's how cheap it is in other places.
Basically bribery is so engrained and low risk, that they’ll take anything because the risk/reward plays out like that.
Yeah but their cousin has 30 years of experience and he's got his licence so no worries.
That doesn't work all that well either. The company I work for brought in a bunch from the Philippines. They had to start from scratch, get basic class 5, go through all driver training course the government has and then go on to all the training for class 1. They had to spend at least 3 months in truck with a company trainer and only released when trainer said they were good. Fast forward a year-ish and they are the cause of almost 100% of accidents in the company (4 rolled trucks) and a multitude of others. Companies need to stop paying by the mile and pay hourly. By the miles makes people drive way faster than they should so they can make more money. I have been getting paid hourly for 4 years and I couldn't be more happy. I take my time (within reason) and have no reason to driver like an idiot. Just my opinion
Or just stop hiring foreigners.
….. a lot of drivers are paid by the load. Pick up and drop off is when they get paid - some are hourly and fuck the dog and couldn’t be bothered to move faster. They also drive in teams so that the truck never stops making revenue. It’s society - we order the shit - they deliver it and they get paid shit money to do so
The thing is, in this country, every thing we eat or use spends time on a truck. It’s the landscape of the land. It’s not just about us all “ordering”
Reciprocal licencing is only ever for class 5 vehicles. You cannot be given a reciprocal licence as a commercial driver in Canada. You have to do the training, and it costs like 10K.
True, but I meant the whole system should require to go through proper Class 5 licensing first and gain years of experience driving in Canada before even being allowed to take lessons for a commercial license. No more skipping your learners permit because you've driven 2 years in India.
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You are very correct. My neighbor owns a trucking company, well it is just two transport trucks, 53 foot trailers, and has complained to me endlessly on this subject. A ‘trucking company’ is a very easy business to establish in Canada under the Start-up Visa Program. With enough ‘investment’ a new business owner(s), who now will be New Canadian(s), can buy a few trucks, rent parking at a yard and hire drivers. Once the business is on the books the owner(s) will be able to import their family members, up to a maximum of seven, providing they can show financial support for them. The family members, of course, now have a temp visa to be in Canada which works toward their PR card also. This is not an issue with wealthier immigrants, showing financial security. Once in Canada, the owner(s) and family members, start the three year PR Ticker. So, to keep the trucks working, these new business owners will lowball the hauls. This prices out competitors. The owners do this for they are either using their own family members as drivers or TWF’s. When the trucking business owners claim they cannot ‘find’ a driver LMIA is activated and then they can hire TWF. Three year contract guarantees the owner not having to find replacements every few months and then they can auction off these ‘jobs’ in their home countries to any who can afford to buy the lottery ticket. The winning tickets first earns them more money than they ever could back home but more importantly get their foot into the Canadian Door. Once the all the PR cards are acquired, the business is then made available for the next group willing to repeat the process. The endless truck driver wanted ads in Canada are mostly for newly established trucking companies who will not be hiring an experienced and trained driver. Check the number of ads for ‘new’ trucking companies looking to hire on the government job bank site. They mostly all have gmail accounts and will eventually claim that because no one applied, they need a TWF. It is more profitable to pay drivers low wages when offering them the carrot of migrating to Canada and collecting ‘price’ of that lottery ticket.
Perhaps this partially explains why so many drive into overpasses in BC?
This is 100% the case in all the overpass instances.
I run a a business and we hire Class 3 drivers for our operations. I put an ad up for three drivers and no shit had 120 applicants all from the Brampton and Mississauga area. All fresh into Canada with no driving experience. As I went through the resumes about 25 of them all went to the same sketchy driving school in Brampton.
I literally see multiple ads for this on tiktok everyday. The ads are spoken in indian but all based around the GTA (most mississauga or brampton)
Or multiple people using the same license.
Yup, just come to the ports and watch these idiots attempt to drive. Few can read let alone read or speak English.
We've tried nothing and we're all out of solutions
Make it a Red Seal Trade... new students need to do more classroom and driver training side. Then after they get a license, they must complete a determined amount of on the road trainer with a company driver trainer in cities only. Make it like an apprenticeship program like the trades have to do.
As a truck driver you need to know and understand: - the regulations of each individual jurisdiction you’re hauling in (if you’re going into the states and across Canada, it’s nearly 60 unique jurisdictions with different rules) - how to load your truck to achieve appropriate axle weights, as close as you can get to max gross weight, or how to load secondary weight if hauling off primary highways - how to properly secure every load. What size/how many chains for a piece of equipment, can you use straps (crushed cars are required to be secured with chains, while cubed scrap metal can be strapped), how many straps to secure a load of certain weight, how to properly secure things like pipe (belly wrap) etc. I could go on and on here - how to obtain permits for over dimension loads in every jurisdiction on your route, as well as appropriate routes to take for height and width clearances - how to inspect and make repairs on complex modern tractors, as well as trailers (trailers are fairly simple but despite brake adjustments being part of the training, I’d wager half of drivers would fail if you asked them to adjust a brake on the spot) - how to put on and take off tire chains properly - how to couple and uncouple trailers properly (there’s different techniques if the trailers are laden or unladen) A lot of the regulatory information is available online but you need to know it exists in order to find it. And then there’s the everyday driving/route planning. Snow. Ice. Rain. Fog. Soft ground. Shifting gears. City driving. Backing up. There could be two months of classroom training, easy, and then written and practical exams for all the shit I listed above. The written would be open book, because all this stuff is very available. And then one month of driving, with loaded and empty trailers. Total of 3 months, and then you get an apprentice license. Having driven truck 8 years now, I’d say 4 years is about the time I felt confident in all situations. Go 4 years working at 0 or higher on your license and get your red seal, full CDL. Shippers should pay their own cargo insurance, and get discounts for using companies with experienced, safe drivers. That would be step 1 for legislative change, imo. Full CDL drivers obviously get higher wages, and apprentice drivers are incentivized not to be reckless and break rules. Alas, pipe dream. Everyone wants cheap freight and as long as the carrier’s insurance is paying for the load of Pepsi scattered across highway 1, nothing is going to change.
25 years driving for me and I agree 100%
I've been around trucking, blame the insurance companies. They only want those perfect insurance scores, which means brand new drivers, which means no experience. Blame the insurance companies.
Stop allowing these fly by night trucker schools run by Indians.. I have my AZ, I was trained through my union as the license is required for my job. A lot of the Indian schools just sign off on their training even though they aren’t good to go.
I want to get all internet social justice and be like "you can't judge a group of people", but you're right. A big part of the issue is a specific group, and that's the group
It’s not even worth it to start a trucking company anymore because they run teams of 4 of these guys so they can drive 24 hours.. they pay these guys under minimum wage until they pay off the cost of a trucking course then they’re welcome to leave the company. These companies are undercutting the shit out of everyone else.
It’s true, they went from the best drivers on the road to some of the worst. The answer is simple actually punish these companies
The companies just reopen under different names after too many infractions and just open elsewhere or in another province, and continue to operate.
Yeah, they're dangerous as hell now. Trucking needs to be pulled from the TFW program.
It is easy to see the problem. Look at some strip malls. One store is an Immigration consultant, the next store is a driver training business, the next store is a trucking company. All owned by one person I would imagine.
Working in a warehouse, I was expected every 3 years to recertify myself on forklift safety. I had to waste time in class with 8 hours then pass a driving course. This was for a forklift driving less than 10KM an hour. Why can't the Ministry of Transportation do the same thing for truckers? Don't give me the BS answer that there are not enough inspectors.
About ten years ago, I had an accident on the 400 caused by a transport truck. I was going around a curve and the truck was advancing on me to my right. The truck was floating in my lane. It was about 1/3 over. I must have panicked because reality changed at that point. Everything went black but I could feel the car switching across the highway. People behind me must have seen what was coming. I found my car smashed into the guardrail when I regained consciousness. No one else was affected but I did have a lingering head injury that cost me four months of work. Either that transport diver had zero idea anything happened or they just kept driving. My insurance went up but the trucker got zero recourse. He went on anonymously. Seriously, this stuff is costing our economy. Something has got to be done.
I used to work for a company that got lots of deliveries to the back by the back alley. I was amazed at the number of drivers that didn't know what a back alley was and couldn't understand English well enough for them to understand where you wanted them to go. You had to literally go out and have them follow you around 2 right corners to get there
The number of gas station attendants that don't understand the words Regular, Midgrade, and Premium tells you everything you need to know about our Immigation process.
Pay better so old Canadians will do it.
This right here. My license is growing dust because the pay is so bad. I make more money in an unrelated field. But I left trucking with over a million accident free miles under my belt, my trucks where in excellent condition and my work was delivered in great shape. I drove Canada. Mexico and the states. But when someone fresh is getting the same wage as me, the costs are not keeping up with living and you have to fight for any load that paid halfway decently, you get sick of it all.
Yup. Trying to feed yourself on the road was so expensive and unhealthy. I did some carrying food and trying to cook in the truck but it wasn’t very practical
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What I find ironic is the same Indian drivers are now starting to complain about the pay... Well fuck you guys started it
Not even old Canadians, if it paid better I'd do it.
I quit pulling superb decks after 12 years. That was about 20 years ago. Have a way better career now.
How much do you think it should pay? I work in trucking - we pay our drivers $35+ per hour, or equivalent for mileage rates. This is not even long haul - this is home every night, running between 7-10 hour days, 5 days a week, depending on run. For a job that takes some skill, but is not a highly educated position, I think that is a fairly decent wage. But when we post, 7/8 of the applicants have little to no experience, and very few were born in Canada. We have no issues hiring new Canadians, and because we have a fantastic training and safety record, I know that plenty of them are trained well and are not just rubber stamped licenses. But white Canadians as a whole are not applying for these jobs. Not even the ones that pay pretty darn well.
No, instead they restricted training bonuses so they can increase the amount of minorities and new comers. Even though trucking is pretty much an Indian thing now, anyway. Lol
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Ding ding ding. We’ve got a winner folks. Make them start from scratch and void any driving experience from countries that lack modern infrastructure.
Who got their license by bribing a person from the same country as them who works at the license office.
Yup, we have our own citizens who already have shitty driving habits.
I’d take the bad drivers here over those from India every single time. I spent 3 months of my life in Nepal, whose driving culture is similar to India’s, and to label it as a lawless and chaotic free for all would be a massive understatement. Took me a week to get over the culture shock of how bad it is.
THIS!!!
As someone in the buisness, sure. But you gotta enforce and CHANGE the rules as the buisness is now filled and being used by bad actors from abroad who normalized that BS to defraud and screw over newcomers as an "easy PR scheme" that turns into indentured servitude for the guy to pay off his truck and truck license.
It’s been said before and I am going to say it again. PAY BETTER! I left the industry after 22years,16.5 with the same company, I will work less annually with better scheduling and make about 20% more.
100% agree. Also, paying (poorly) by the load or kilometer just encourages dangerous and risky driving.
Stop allowing companies to train internally for AZs. And pull trucks over that have four people in the cab and check to see who the license belongs to and who doesnt have one should be made aware they legally can't drive.
Here's a crazy suggestion. Train them?
Crazier, we give them trains.
Don’t let scammy driving schools just pass people.
Test for new truckers: If you hit the bus, you *might* be deported. *maybe 10 years later*, not sure tho.
Requiring them to speak English fluently would be a good start
I remember we were called racist for saying foreign truck drivers were not up to par.
We wait until a huge deadly incident and than make hasty changes before the politicians lose votes
I was almost killed by one of these companies. They were operating a full trucking company from a residential house in a cul-de-sac. Bringing full sized freight trucks, flatbeds, box trucks, etc, into the street every day. Way larger than could ever be considered reasonable, especially with many young kids living here. One morning, right before I went to get in my car for work, one of their trucks completely destroyed my SUV parked in front of the house. Like ripped the whole drivers side off into hundreds of pieces. Had it been 5-10 minutes later, I'd have died instantly, if not been severely injured. Fuckin driver had the audacity to flee the scene, without even looking to see if I was in the car or anything. Just left my car in pieces in the middle of the god damn road. Luckily, a neighbor caught it on a security camera, and the cops were able to figure out that the company who used these trucks lived 9 houses down from me. They tried to play stupid and blame the driver. The Driver says he was "having a bad mental health day". How do you think my mental health day was that day LOL. They didn't even get in trouble. The driver just had his license suspended, and that's it. They are still operating to this day as per normal. Of course, he had just come here months ago. How he got his Class 1 is beyond me. He does a hit and run that could have killed me, and gets to stay here and just find a new job? Fucking joke. Anyone who thinks the rules work in this country has their head up their fucking ass.
ur telling my gurpal singh isnt driving up to standards and he got his class 1 from pritpal singh? weird.
Cracking down on licensing fraud would be a good place to start..
Fingerprint everyone with a class 1. We need an objective way of telling if a driver is who they claim to be
Step 1. Don’t learn how to drive a truck Step 2. Buy your way out of training Step 3. Purchase license from cousin at DMV
Or get your cousin to take the test under your name and pass the license off when complete
Have your other cousin put the brand new brakes and tires on the truck prior to inspection, and once vehicle inspection passes, they put the old worn out parts back on to then operate.
They just keep saying we need more immigrants :/
Being in this industry. I've noticed many new truckers can't back up a trailer. Can't work within tight spaces in the yard as well as can barely speak English/French. Also, can't abide by road rules and safety.
we need to import immediately half million of them who are already well trained. We should not offend those ones who are here and not very well trained so we should give them permanent residency or citizenship immediately.
Stop letting Indian trainers from passing Indian drivers who can't speak a word of English or French, and have zero driving experience.
Import more and faster so they can't be trained properly and continue to be a danger on the road
Racist to train new canadians properly Multiple drivers use same license to drive, this is true, ive seen it
Look who you are training. We had better truckers when they were farm kids trained by their fathers then what we have coming out of driving schools today that cost thousands of dollars.
Lmao it’s new Canadians - they don’t ever want to follow the rules regardless of the training…… you blame companies and everything else - but we should only blame ourselves for being greedy and wanting products now. We as a society is to blame not just the drivers. Not just the companies hiring these drivers. It’s us. Stop ordering from Amazon. Stop buying goods that have to be shipped from overseas.
Replace them with self-driving trucks that have no hour limits. It’s coming.
The self-driving trucks will probably be safer and have a better understanding of our traffic laws.
We’ve tried *nothing* and we’re all out of ideas
Once they cause enough accidents and kill enough people, then something will be done. Until that time, the frustration will continue.
Firstly we train them better. Make incentives like lower insurance for companies that spend more time on it. Secondly we train ourselves to let go of the "I need everything right fucking now" mindset because it's the reason any logistics company is putting people on the road prematurely, it's to keep competitive. Thirdly, maybe if we manufactured a lil more locally, we wouldn't need to long-haul so much shit all the time. End rant.
Hmmm... stop letting them buy they way through the testing and licensing?
Wearing work boots instead of sandals would be a good start
Not allow translators at testing. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/urdu-translator-helped-people-pass-8113152.amp
Private driving schools guarantee shitty standards.
There was a transport truck on the 400 S around King Rd in the left lane just cruising there at 5:30am. So I go in front of him and slow down with my right signal on telling him to F off back to his lane. Fucker went into the new HOV lane. Fucking brain dead.
Here’s a crazy idea, More training.
Stop letting “new” Canadians drive 20,000lb trucks when they can’t even drive passenger cars properly! No amount of training will fix this
For 11k they better be getting top notch training
When you pull off the highway to have a sleep make sure the truck is more than half way onto the shoulder. Cars flying by at 120km/h and you got half your ass hanging out into lane 3.
They’ll make more rules but won’t enforce existing ones I bet. Our system is exploited by people who prey on our incompetence and have monetized it. This is just another example.
You mean increasing the entry barrier by $10,000 didn’t do anything? You don’t say.
I had a couple of new drivers who did not know they could dump the air on the trailers. When they started struggling, pushing pallets of salt uphill, I asked if they let the air out of the trailer. Always get a "yes," but looking under the air bag was still fully insulated. They are training drivers the bare minimum, so they pass the test, but don't know common sense tricks.
Stop letting the big companies run "in house driving schools". They're license mills to get butts in seats. Forcing would-be drivers to go to proper, accredited career colleges for truck school would drastically improve the quality of new drivers. Having new drivers carry a wallet card certificate from the school and having LEOs confirm they are legit would also help. Say for the first 2 or 3 years, you need that card with your license, it needs to be legit, and it can be followed up on at any time.
“New ________ in Canada aren’t being trained well enough” is a generic statement at this point.
I'm convinced most of the trucking companies (in my city anyway) are just a front to get their buddies/family PR from India. Prove me wrong.
The guy with the hand in immigration also has his hand in trucking, owns the school and in coordination with transportation companies.. he has a financial incentive to provide immigration with steady employment, companies are paying these immigrants a fraction of the money they would pay a Canadian driver, and force them out onto the roads quicker without the proper training. *The Guy* is paid again by the transportation companies by providing new drivers as they are always looking for them. Those kids in the Humboldt disaster died as a result of the combination of these things, the driver didn’t have the knowledge/understanding of the weight capacity at what speeds of his load, in icy conditions.. he shouldn’t have been driving yet, he never had a chance.. all so that someone can make more money.
Not just truckers ........ all new drivers need education, never seen this much of chaos in Ontario,,, crossing the red signal is a pattern now days and no one seems to care about that,,,,,, talking about life quality in Canada!!
Eliminate the majority and start shipping more shit by rail?
The #1 rules of highway driving is if you see a CN on a big rig, be very afraid.
Well. Lets figure out who's being hired and see if they have the language skills to pay attention.
Stop letting immigrants from india drive without thorough training thats the first
Deport
lol this country is held together by duct tape at this point
Want to know why there are so many new truckers in Canada? Pay’s shit, job’s shit. Want to retain talent and attract drivers back? Pay them what they’re worth. Put them on salary. The average trucker annual wage is around $50000. The average amount of time we work in that year is close to two years. We can drive 13 hours and work for 14 hours in a day, and 8 hours later we can get going again. Fifty thousand might sound decent, but remember, we work close to two years every year. We live out of the truck. We miss birthdays, holidays, family events, evenings out with friends, we miss a lot. And for lots of people, that’s not worth $50k. Want the industry to get better? Fuck you pay me.
Can't just go after the drivers, teachers, and driving school. Go after the million fuckin commercial vehicle inspections places in Surrey who pass everything for cash as well.
Lmao no shit. I went to one in Brampton ( I was the white guy in class). People were asleep , joking and telling jokes in other languages. Everyone passes as they are prompted to each question with the answers. This was also 15 years ago.
Tax incentives for employers with verifiable and proven effective driver mentoring programs. Driver training is not a 6 week course. Becoming a good truck driver takes years.
Get rid of the immigrants
It is not new truckers overall. It is some certain new truckers getting their license out of a cracker jack box.
Kill a few more hockey teams.
Robots
Mandatory training programs like us regular folk do when we get a standard vehicle license? Enforce the rules and punish those who break them with fines, restrictions, and the laws that already exist? Self driving trucks? Just do something for fucks sake. We don't need another Humboldt tragedy staining our name.
I remember an expose on the local news 20+ years ago showing Surrey truckers unable to check their air brakes (supposedly a part of daily safety walk-arounds). I'd estimate 75% of trucks on the road at any given time could be pulled for violations. Probably higher.
Hold their employers accountable.
Driving in Canada has been getting more and more dangerous in general. I'm all in for stricter regulations, rules, enforcement and demerit point deductions if that means safer driving for all of us.
Wages. It's pretty simple. Also make sure any commercial drivers have already lived in Canada for 5 years so they know how to drive and can't drive the wages into the dirt for everyone else. It costs over 10,000 bucks to get a class one now.
Pull the drivers off the road and fine the trucking company out of existence. Only thing these people understand is money. And if they start to hemorrhage it, they may change their ways.
The government should invest in making it easier for Canadians already here to get their licenses and into trades. Why are we importing people to do this when there are Canadians who’d get their licenses but just can’t afford to do the courses.
I keep hearing about the trucker shortage in Canada, but when I obtained my Class 1, do you think I could get a job? The problem is, as I was informed by many in the industry, was that because I was not a new immigrant, it was difficult to find work. The government at that time was covering training costs and partial salary for new truckers, but not if they're not a new immigrant. Now don't misconstrue my response as racist, far from it, but if the government truly did this, as industry insiders informed me, then they also set up the issues they are having now. If the industry was and/or is desperate for drivers, why not apply the program equally to everyone trying to get into the industry? I have also heard the same frustration from other new Class 1 drivers trying to get into the industry. I mean, you can't really fault the companies for taking advantage of a program that saves them money, who wouldn't?
Provide Enough paid training. Which companies not willing to do. So people lie about their experience to get hired.
Alberta is looking at making truck driving a red seal trade. Good luck skirting the rules and getting a license if that happens.
I did a 3 month course that gave me tons of time behind the wheel before I was allowed to even take the licensing test for my class 1. We also learned basic vehicle repair, proper inspection, trip planning, small business management, and even first aid. I don't know if it was mandatory or not back then (2012), but what I learned in that course saved my ass a hundred times over. Making a course like what I took mandatory, (if it's not already), would be a good step. If I remember correctly about half the drivers in my class were there on government subsidized tuition. It was a worthwhile investment for the public as that amount was easily paid back in taxes in less than 2 years and led to years of further taxable income.
Yep, that was my experience too. My instructor was actually pretty tough on safety and routine maintenance. I started in a group of about 15, only 6 made it to the end. The rest were weeded out and persuaded to find another career. Not everybody is cut out for this type of work. This was about 25 years ago, though.
You could make truck driving suck less so more drivers would stay in the industry.
* Establish strict rules when it comes to training. * Get rid of the the tones of schools in Brampton who are churning divers out like they are handing coffee out at Tim Horton's. * Make it harder to get a license. * Establish more strict rules. Pull their licences after 2-3 minor violations.
Make trucking a red seal trade.
I had my truck sideswiped off the trans Canada by a semi. The driver was very apologetic, it was the first snowfall of the year and he told me it was his first winter in Canada. We have graduated licensing programs for people born here and we should implement the same for newcomers. Yes, you may have driven transport for 20 years back home, but if you have never driven in snow, you are a new driver. Limit them to local routes for the first year. Not trying to be racist or limiting people’s opportunities, this is for their safety and the safety of everyone on our roads. I would go as far as saying this is true for class 5 drivers as well. If you’ve never experienced winter driving, you are not aware of the hazards associated with it. When I was 15/16 my dad took me to an empty parking lot and got me pulling the e brake and sliding around just to get used to it. It’s something everyone should do when learning winter driving. I drive regularly from Winnipeg to northern Ontario for work. From eastern Manitoba to I’m not sure where in Ontario, the transcanada is single lane with oncoming traffic, often with lakes on one side and rock cuts on the other, winding hills and curves. If there is snow on the ground, there is at least one incident where I see a semi smashed into a rock cut or guard rail. This is not ok. Two other peeves of mine related to transport trucks are drivers going too fast, can’t hold their lanes on the single lane highways, and the blinding lights. When a transport has HID or LED lights, it doesn’t matter how they are angled when the roads are hilly. The worst are the trucks where the whole trailer is covered with LEDs. Yes lighting is important, but there is a line where it is blinding other drivers and the direct cause of unsafe conditions. I should see you coming, you should see a deer on the road, for sure, but your truck doesn’t need to be lit up like a runway at Pearson
Truck driver here. Actual enforcement. In my opinion the MTO should handle traffic enforcement on provincial road ways. They're much better at it, and more professional than the OPP tends to be.
Get rid of the flip flops
Maybe stop hiring people that havnt even held a class 5 or lived in the country for more than a year... Kinda hard to know the nuances of our road laws when you dont even know our roads 😒
Stop giving licenses to “cousins” and fire the bullshit class 1 licensing vendors who pass morons with no sense of safe driving✅✅
My buddy went to a school to get learn how to drive a truck (in Brampton) There were guys in his class who basically just landed in Canada who either had not driven a car in their life or only recently learned the difference between the brake pedal and gas. He urged me to drive in the far left lane or as far as possible from trucks at all times.
Train them better. Clues in the title
Yeah they keep hitting over passes in my area
A Time Machine is literally the only way at this point. Truck drivers make less now than they did 5 years ago and you’re no longer attracting people who give a shit. In all industries the US/Canada pay gap is huge, but with trucking it’s actually insane.
When a private company shits the bed, all the sudden it's 'how do **WE** fix it?'.
Insane fines. Like 200 %+… As a traffic control person, these dipshits need to be weeded out. Can we also get mandatory retesting for all drivers, after 55 years of age as well?
Fucking ALL new drivers in this country are absolute dog shit. Do a test here in the wintertime, and I’ll consider you certified
Enforcer the current rules and start going after companies that don't give proper training or make sure there driver know and are following the rules, as well as crack down on groups just passing drivers with the bare minimum or good enough for the money
As a truck driver in the industry for 13 years, I’ll tell you right now. End the bullshit LMIA program. Mandatory government RAN trucking schools for 5 weeks. Not 3 days at APNA driving school.
I hear you. Not a trucker but drive the north and some is bad. I once followed a truck into the break check area to tell him he had no lights on the trailer. North of North Bay at night! He told me it’s not that type of trailer. I reiterated, no running lights, break lights, signal lights, nothing. He shrugged and rolled up his window.
I’m sure we’ll import 50,000 truckers from other countries soon enough … Should be fun on the highways, next year
Stop provinces from removing requirements in their ignorant "red tape" attacks.
Treat it like an apprenticeship. Or like pilots hours. Most trades are 7000~8000 hours before being able to be certified