Skill recognition for truck drivers has become a renewed focus in trucking and logistics. There have been many new attempts recently to describe how we recognize the skill level of drivers: are they a skilled trade, red seal designated profession, or something else?
No matter what direction skill recognition takes, we all know it takes time, training, and support to develop a skilled, safe, and competent driver. Many employers have Occupational Level Training (which is also called onboarding or finishing) to help fill the gap for licenced but inexperienced drivers. Trucking HR Canada (THRC) surveyed employers about their finishing programs and found there are many similarities across topics taught and assessed, but what still seems to be missing is a common and consistent set of training standards.
THRC is filling that gap.
THRC worked with a 31-person National Working Group between January 2023 and April 2024 to look at ways of improving and standardizing occupational level driver training in Canada. This group — which included provincial and national trucking associations, insurance companies, safety organizations, training schools, employers, and other transportation partners — identified resources and tools that are a crucial element to support employers and others involved in the development and delivery of occupational level driver training to ensure drivers have the competencies they need to be successful, skilled, and safe.
We released a suite of 16 resources in the spring that assist employers with developing or improving their occupational level training. The suite connects directly to key truck driver competencies identified in the NOS that are needed in most workplaces and typically acquired by operators in the first six to 24 months of employment; the tools provide support for training drivers, as well as trainers, coaches, mentors, and assessors.
In our work to support the trucking and logistic industry, we know how crucial it is to have standardized training material. These resources also support other key industry goals:
- Bridging the gap between entry-level training and employment readiness
- Providing the foundation for a nationally consistent approach to occupational level training that directly supports increased productivity and labour mobility
- Increasing skill recognition and attractiveness of the occupation
- Producing better trained and safer drivers
As a strategic goal, THRC continues to support the industry in developing highly skilled, productive, and safe drivers. We invite the industry to use these resources to raise their bar in recruiting, training, and retaining drivers. Enhancing the pathway to developing skilled drivers is essential to ensure we have a pipeline of new drivers to continue to meet our needs not only today but into the future.
The suite of tools can be downloaded for free in French and English through this link.
Craig Faucette is Chief Program Officer of Trucking HR Canada, a national, non-profit organization and the trusted source for labour market intelligence and advancing industry-leading HR solutions for our national trucking and logistics workforce. We collaborate, partner, and work with a dynamic national-provincial-territorial network, including industry associations, government, and industry professionals to ensure Canada’s freight transportation network has the skilled workforce required for today and into the future. truckinghr.com