Achi news desk-
When the Humboldt Broncos hockey team bus collided with a semi-truck in Saskatchewan in April 2018, 16 people died.
It was found to be caused by an inexperienced and undertrained semi-truck driver, and prompted several provinces including Alberta to introduce plans to launch mandatory entry level training (MELT).
MELT requires new Class 1 drivers to complete more than 100 hours of driver training.
The Alberta government has announced that a new “learning pathway” will replace the Mandatory Entry Level Training, which has been in place since 2019.
MELT has been identified by the trucking industry as a contributing factor to driver shortages, due to the increased time and costs of the recruitment process.
Robert Harper, president of the Alberta Motor Transport Association, says there are currently 4,000 vacancies. He says the MELT program has been expensive.
“It has added a lot of cost, but it hasn’t really, I don’t believe, achieved the desired results of improving the quality of the drivers,” Harper said.
Harper said the changes announced by the province will put more focus on skills, and safety should improve.
“The changes put us on a new path that would get people to focus on skills rather than just training hours. It will produce better professional drivers,” Harper said.
Starting in March 2025, applicants will work towards obtaining Red Seal designation and recognition as a professional trade while receiving on-the-job training in the same vehicle they would use in their career.
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Transport and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen says the new route will provide more appropriate training for certain industries, more training hours in the cab and a wider scope of training.
Dayna, daughter of Carol Brons, died in the bus accident in Humboldt.
She supports the proposed changes if they actually lead to a more competency-based program with more in-depth skills training, but says more can be done.
Brons, who is a director with the group Safer Roads Canada, said there is no good system in Canada for reporting across provinces when it comes to driver records.
“That’s probably one of our biggest gaps in Canada is the fact that you don’t have to have a good record in one province to get a license in another province or a carrier can get insurance in another province,” said Brons. “We are not doing everything we can to ensure safety.
“MELT has always been more of a stopgap measure in our eyes. We think there is always room for improvement, especially now as we approach April 6 again. It will be the sixth anniversary of the Broncos crash.
“It’s very important to me to have changes that make our roads safer,” said Brons.
As of April 1, Alberta’s Class 1 licensing and training changes will exempt the province’s farmers and their immediate family from MELT, providing them with a limited Class 1 farm driver’s license.
This will allow them to operate Class 1 vehicles only within Alberta, and only for authorized farm purposes.
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