Truckers group concerned about rising collisions in north wants Ontario to crack down on its own industry

A group of commercial truck drivers is calling on the Ontario government to increase training and enforcement measures for their industry amid a spike in collisions on highways in the north.

Truckers for Safer Highways met with Ministry of Transportation (MTO) officials earlier this month to detail their concerns over highway safety.

"We're supposed to be the ones on the highways that are the professionals … we're the ones supposed to be making the smart choices — not supposed to be the ones that are most commonly in collisions," said Travis McDougall, one of the co-founders behind the advocacy group.

"In northern Ontario, it is the trucks that are in collisions more than anything else."

We're coming into probably the worst winter for collisions that we've seen in years.- Travis McDougall, Truckers for Safer Highways

The group has been raising concerns about highway safety for three years. It's now a pressing issue, as this year there's been a spike in collisions on highways. Seven deaths have been recorded in recent weeks and there was a near-miss in Thunder Bay involving a semi-truck crashing through a backyard. 

"We're coming into probably the worst winter for collisions that we've seen in years," McDougall said. 

The group, which presented the ministry with a proposal on how to improve commercial vehicle driver safety, found three key issues: 

• Insufficient training for new truck drivers. 
• Lack of commercial enforcement. 
• Insufficient overnight parking options for drivers. 

"It was a really good discussion" with the MTO, McDougall said. "They informed us they have a little over 70 [enforcement] officers coming down the pipes through training that they've hired in the previous years to fill the gaps." 

Concern about inexperienced transport drivers 

McDougall, who has been a truck driver for a decade, said it seems an influx of new drivers are trained to simply pass testing for their commercial licensing and are not necessarily trained to be safe drivers.

"I saw two drivers driving along the highway with their tires completely shredded flat … that's completely a violation of MTO standards," he said about his recent sighting. "It happens — tire gets flat, whatever. But you have to stop and have someone come and fix it.

"So, clearly there's something wrong in the industry where drivers find that acceptable." 

In Ontario, all drivers must complete Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) before they can apply for a Class A licence, which is required to drive a tractor-trailer.

The MTO approves colleges, government organizations, safety organizations and private businesses, including carriers, to train and test drivers for commercial drivers' licences under the driver certification program.

We continue to leverage emerging technologies and are actively recruiting staff to respond to the evolving enforcement environment.- Ontario Ministry of Transportation spokesperson

A 2021 commercial vehicle safety and enforcement report from Ontario's auditor general found that during 2014-15 and 2018-19, carriers who tested their own drivers had a pass rate of 95 per cent. The provincial DriveTest centres have a pass rate of 69 per cent. 

The report also found 25 per cent of the 106 carriers that tested their own drivers under the program ranked among the worst one per cent of all carriers for at-fault collision performance.

"Some of them are not doing their due diligence to make sure these drivers are completely prepared for what they're heading into," said McDougall.

"Getting your license in the [Greater Toronto Area] and driving into the U.S. is way different than getting it in the GTA and driving through northern Ontario to Western Canada. So they're not prepared. They hit northern Ontario and now they're in a storm on a single lane highway and they feel lost on a road, and this is pretty concerning."

Truckers for Safer Highways recommends that more time be spent on driving in winter conditions and on one-on-one instructor training.

A report by Ontario's auditor general made a number of recommendations in 2019, with four of them aimed at improving training standards in the province.

One of them recommends improving the consistency with which MELT is delivered across the province. The report recommended that the MTO work with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to review and standardize curriculum approval and audit policies for organizations delivering MELT.

Ministry will continue consultation 

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson with the MTO said a number of actions have been taken to ensure safety on Ontario roads, and added the provincial training requirements are among the highest safety standards in North America.

"We continue to leverage emerging technologies and are actively recruiting staff to respond to the evolving enforcement environment," Dakota Brasier wrote in an emailed statement. "We are committed to keeping Ontario's roads among the safest in North America." 

That includes ensuring operators and drivers take a proactive approach to safety, according to the ministry.

The MTO said it was pleased to meet with representatives from Truckers for Safer Highways and will continue to consult with its road safety partners.

In the meantime, leaders behind the Truckers for Safer Highways group worry the winter will only create more dangers on provincial highways.

McDougall said he's also concerned that the issue of collisions involving commercial drivers will ultimately impact the integrity of the industry.

"It is a big concern we're being perceived as a danger to the public on the highways, which is pretty unfortunate because we're an absolute necessity," McDougall said. "Without us on the highway, the economy would come to a stop."