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Jones wonders why different standards for truck driver licences

October 24, 2014   ·   0 Comments

By Bill Rea
A Toronto Star article last week, about the standard of training truck drivers in Ontario has a lot of people concerned, including Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones.
The Star story indicated tractor trailers on the roads might have a driver who passed the test without having to drive on a highway.
That led to calls for the government to crack down on unregulated truck driving schools and tighten lax road test requirements.
The Star reported their investigation revealed major flaws in the way would-be tractor-trailer drivers are trained and licensed. It stated students are being able to earn their licences without being required to drive on a major expressway. It added unregulated truck driving schools are using a loophole that allows them to avoid government oversight by charging less than $1,000 for a course.
“I have to be surprised that we have two different levels of training,” Jones commented, pointing out that teens getting their first licences have to know how to stop, park, etc. “Why we wouldn’t have that same level of scrutiny for trucking, I don’t understand.”
Jones also said Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca has said there will be improvements.
“He had to know there were two different levels of licensing existing,” she remarked. “Why did he have to wait for a newspaper report to come out?”

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