Career Planning

All truck driver training schools are not created equal

Get in gear for a new career

Anyone exploring a career as a truck driver will soon realize it's more complicated to drive a rig than it appears given the array of trucks on the road, the different kinds of licence required to drive them, the demands of the insurance industry, police checks and so on.

DAVID CHILTON -- Special to the Toronto Sun
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Research is key when choosing a truck driving school. (Adanac truck driver training)

So where does the would-be driver turn to learn the ropes? As always, word of mouth is the best bet, and an industry affiliation, such as belonging to the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario (TTSAO), is also a good sign that the school isn't a here-today-gone-tomorrow operation.

Wayne Campbell, who started Adanac Truck Driver Training in Scarborough in 1981 and whose school is a member of TTSAO, says he trains drivers on vehicles with nine to 18 gears, and has his own yard where they can practise before taking training on the road.

Campbell says training for an A-Z licence, which allows drivers behind the wheel of what he calls "the big stuff" -- tractor-trailers and the like -- takes six weeks at Adanac and costs about $6,000. Training for a D-Z licence, essentially for trucks that don't pull anything behind them, takes half the time and is a little less than half that price. Students at Adanac also spend three to six weeks learning -- with pay -- with a driver-coach at one of the companies that hire the school's graduates.

However, Campbell stresses, not anyone who walks through the door at his school is admitted. They need to provide a driver's abstract (a government-issued personal driving record), pass a police check and an English test, and show they are drug free.


Gordon Brown, driver-recruiter at Commercial Heavy Equipment Training in Mississauga, says his school is part time and arranges its schedule around the students. "There's nothing to be gained by having people shift gears for four hours," Brown says.

At his school, also a TTSAO member, students take anywhere from eight to 10 weeks to get ready for the A-Z test, Brown says, with D-Z students taking a bit less than that. Tuition fees at Heavy Equipment are about the same as Adanac's, as are those of Barrie's Crossroads Training Academy, another member of TTSAO.

Read Conley, owner of Crossroads Training says, "Unfortunately, in this industry less expensive (fees) is not better."

Conley says students may feel as though they're getting a bargain from a school with low tuition, but their training is unlikely to be insurance company approved, so they won't get hired following graduation.

For graduates who want to branch out on their own, CarriersEdge and Humber College have partnered to offer a new all-online program, the Certificate in Small Business Management for the Trucking Industry, a first in Canada.

Mark Murrell, founder and president of CarriersEdge in Markham, says the program offers truck drivers three main benefits: the chance at a college education, more and better knowledge of the safety and regulatory side of trucking, and business training.

"Drivers with their own trucks are small business operators," Murrell says. "But most of them don't have a small business background."

It's this greater depth that drew Harold McPhail to the new program. McPhail, who farms in spring and summer near Almonte, Ont., and drives a truck in winter, wants his own rig and says he needed more education.

"I really do need a better knowledge of the (trucking) industry," says McPhail, who's already completed the program's Human Resources module. "I think more truck drivers should take the course."

How to choose a reputable school

The best way to find a reputable truck driving training school is to start with some basic homework. Ask around. Word of mouth is the best recommendation. And talk to a few schools and trucking companies to find out their requirements. Then take to the Internet. There are industry sites, chat rooms, blogs and online trucking publications to help you -- just be certain you're using Canadian resources.

The location of the school and the year it started in business are less important than what it offers. For example, does it have its own yard so students can practise such things as backing up? Is its training insurance industry approved? If not, a shiny new licence is next to useless. Does the school offer "guaranteed" jobs? If so, be careful. Private career colleges cannot "guarantee" graduates jobs, only help them look for work.

Tuition fees are another point to consider. That nice low number may seem like a bargain, but is it? Remember, whether it's truck driving instruction or anything else in life: you get what you pay for.



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