OTTAWA, ON — Driving the Future is the latest initiative by the trucking industry to address the shortage of qualified drivers. The three-year project aims to establish the benchmarks for mandatory entry-level driver training across Canada.

“We are beginning a process that we believe will result in truck driving being recognized as a skilled occupation,” says David Bradley, CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), “which will enhance the attractiveness of the job and the industry while enhancing highway safety.”

The project is led by Trucking HR Canada, CTA and provincial trucking association and is supported with $1.2 million in funding from Employment and Social Development Canada’s Sectoral Initiatives Program. Its aim is to distinguish the steps an entry-level driver needs take in order to be certified and to define the skills that carriers expect out of their introductory drivers.

Angela Splinter, CEO of Trucking HR Canada commented:  “This work will take us beyond the steps needed to earn a licence. Working alongside the carriers who will ultimately hold entry level drivers to these higher standards, we will clearly identify the skills and abilities that drivers are expected to demonstrate when they are first hired. This will guide the schools who develop training programs, make graduating drivers more employable, and better meet the trucking industry’s needs.”