Truckers’ petition has November 15th deadline

Truckers for Safer Highways have worked with federal Member of Parliament Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre) to petition Canada’s Transport Minister for improved training and enforcement standards in commercial trucking.

“We have 120 days to get 500 signatures, in order for this to be presented in Parliament,” TFSH co-founder Travis McDougall told Road Warrior News. The petition opened on July 18th, 2023 and will close on November 15th.

Winter 2023 saw an egregious number of accidents including fatalities involving commercial vehicles, especially in Ontario’s north. Earlier in July, Road Warrior News obtained and published information on the number of inspectors keeping watch on Ontario’s 550 career colleges: there are 8 inspectors for the entire province, which some industry members may be a factor in the number of fake schools and counterfeit certificates currently plaguing Trucking.

“Petition to the Minister of Transport

Whereas:

• In 2020, the Canadian Council of Motor Transportation Administrators, comprised of federal and provincial ministers overseeing transportation, issued Standard 16: Commercial Truck Driver Entry Level Training under the National Safety Code;
• Provinces and territories are expected to implement these standards within their respective vehicle training, licensing and regulatory frameworks, but only five provinces have yet to do so for Standard 16;
• In these provinces, training requirements vary widely, and investigations have found unqualified instructors and a lack of oversight and enforcement;
• A patchwork of driver training requirements across Canada puts all road users at greater risk due to the dangerous size and weight of commercial trucks;
• Annually, nearly 2,000 Canadians are killed and 10,000 injured in collisions involving commercial trucks, with most victims being occupants of other vehicles; and
• The federal government can issue regulations to ensure uniform requirements for road safety and the use of the road by passenger and commercial drivers.

We, the undersigned, Citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Minister of Transport to:

– Establish a uniform, national mandatory entry level training standard for commercial truck drivers by mandating Standard 16 be implemented by all provinces through federal legislation and/or regulation;

– Mandate that each province and territory be obligated to ensure their respective training and licensing frameworks comply with the uniform national standard;

– Mandate that each province and territory be obligated to oversee and enforce the uniform national standard for all commercial truck drivers using their roads.”