Demand for Manitoba truckers driving training overhaul
A driver-training program is getting a major overhaul as it gets ready to train much-needed drivers.
Adrian Bruce, the director of the Arnold Bros. Transport Academy, says its owners have poured in roughly a million dollars to renovate its academy and boost its training program.
"It’s not a matter of people getting their license and getting a job in the industry,” Bruce said. “It’s about creating safer, more knowledgeable drivers that can go out and do their job better and safer."
Trenton Klassen is one of the academy’s instructors helping new truck drivers get comfortable behind the wheel.
"I've been in trucking for 17 years,” Klassen said. "I’ve now been instructing longer than I've been driving."
He says training makes a big difference.
"Usually instructors are ex-truck drivers but I got very little training when I started and I made a lot of mistakes that cost me a lot of money.”
The academy is hoping to become national leaders in driver training.
Bruce says this includes a driving simulator, updated training, and more emphasis on a mentorship program.
It also added more seats to its training program, saying more drivers are needed.
DEMAND FOR DRIVERS
Aaron Dolyniuk, the executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association, says many truck drivers are close to retirement age.
"The province released a labour market outlook report which outlined that we have a shortage of 4,300 truck drivers over the next four years in Manitoba,” Dolyniuk said, which is a loss of 25 per cent.
He says women are underrepresented in the industry, but the stereotype of who's getting behind the wheel is changing, leading to better representation of people with different cultural backgrounds.
Dolyniuk also says highway drivers can make anywhere from $45,000 to $85,000 a year, but specialized company drivers can earn up to $104,000.
"At the end of the day we need more truck drivers to move freight for you and I – groceries, food, clothing, household products.”
He says a new federal grant called Trucking HR Canada's Career Expressway Program, that Dolyniuk helped create, will help with the costs of training drivers.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.