Dear Editor:
We thought this would be an opportune time to update your readers on our efforts to call for serious change within the trucking industry.
Recently the OPP reported that the province has now reached a ten-year high in regards to collisions involving commercial vehicles.
We have now had petitions approved by the federal clerk of petitions and are open for signature.
The first petition is calling for a unified training program across Canada in order to ensure all new drivers are prepared to drive in each different terrain our vast country has to offer.
Our second petition calls for amendments to Section 16 of the National Safety Code. These amendments would ensure that when a unified standard is implemented across Canada, the minimum standards will be more involved and will better prepare new drivers for the industry.
It will also call for instructors that are training new drivers to have sufficient training and certifications, which in many jurisdictions across Canada is not the case.
Lastly, we would like to welcome new federal transport minister Pablo Rodriguez to the industry. We hope we can work together to promote meaningful change in the name of safety for all users of our highways.
Travis McDougall, co-founder,
Truckers for Safer Highways, Kitchener