To the editor,
MPP Vaugeois is calling for more oversight of truck driver training schools.
I feel that trucking companies should not be allowed to train their own employees due to the fact that "bad practices" adopted from a previously trained person, may be forwarded to the newly trained person and so on.
Monitoring of a driver's company's practices should be regularly administered (example: if a particular trucking company is constantly in mishaps - they need to be audited without question).
Angry drivers need not always blame the transport driver for various incidents rather blame the trucking company for poor training practices that this driver was taught. I do however understand that once the driver has been trained, he/she is now in control and he/she should be held accountable for their driving behaviour( The wheel is in their hands).
There used to be a government training agency called "Transport driver training" which had a cost of $5,000.00 applied to the trainee - not sure if this agency still exists?
It was mentioned by MPP Vaugeois, that "twinning and passing lanes" from Nipigon - Thunder Bay would be helpful. I am hopeful that she understands that a roadway is a roadway and mishaps will still occur due to driver inexperience and practices (example: a tool is to be used as per the manufacturer's operating instructions, and if that tool is misused, there will definitely be severe consequences to the operator or those around the tool. A highway being a " tool" if misused due to the conditions, will cause severe consequences as well).
Experienced drivers who take care in what they are hauling reflects their actions towards adverse weather conditions and I am sure they do not want to end up in a ditch or cause a fatality, as their main goal is to deliver the product to it's destination, on time and in one piece. It has been mentioned by various sources from the media that drivers are told by their company to deliver the product from points A-B no matter the weather conditions or road closures (example: highway was closed in Cochrane, Ontario in 2021 where a transport driver decided to drive his rig on a snowmobile trail in order to by-pass the road closure).
The Government is going to be spending $1.3 million (free training with incentives) for the hiring of 54 women and others in training for becoming a transport driver as Ontario is in need of 6,100 drivers.
It was mentioned that the training centres will be located in Kitchener, London, Toronto and Ottawa - no mention of centres in the north from North Bay to Kenora (hazardous driving conditions in the south do not even come close to those in the north).
Finally, there seems to be a lot of talk about the matter yet, from what I have seen and heard, there is very little movement towards finding a solution to the cause which also includes action being addressed by the various communities along these highways because after-all, when a highway closure occurs (and depending on how far this community is from the closure) the community could prosper in increased revenue or decline in revenue during the closure period.
I travel the 11/17 highways 1-3 times a year (summer/fall/winter) and I have never been more afraid than in the past few years due to the number of transport mishaps occurring on a daily basis, and I have never used the 511 number as much as I do now.
I wish to mention this thought, "if a municipal member or MPP member was to lose a loved one in a transport mishap, how aggressive would they be in asking for action now - today, before another fatality, close call, or near miss takes place on these highways"?
Thank you (drive safe and report an unsafe driving act)
Gary Kader
