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Letters to
The Editor
By Our Readers and John
White
Dear John,
In our contact over the past
few years, you have often asked when I would write another letter
for your magazine. Well, good, bad or indifferent, here it
is.
John, your response to Brian
Garrett’s letter in the March 2005 issue, caught my eye and says it
all. My son, who works at one of the weigh scales in this
province often distinguishes between Class 1 drivers and
professional drivers, when we talk trucks.
Our industry is in crisis,
you and I both know it, law enforcement knows it, and the public is
becoming increasingly aware of it. The million dollar question is,
what if anything, can be done about it?
Paul Landry at BCTA recently
told me that, for the most part, trucking has created it’s own
problems, and it is up to us, as an industry, to try to heal them,
and I agree with that.
Trucking is not unlike many
other careers, in that, not all changes through technology,
computerization and the like, have benefited the industry in all
areas. At one time the trucking industry was dominated by
those who had ‘hands on’ experience and expertise, who had
progressed through the ranks to become the decision makers of their
working environment, sadly that is not the case today, and it
shows. People in general, place too much emphasis on written
credentials and seem oblivious as to whether a person can actually
do the job in question. That is at the root of the problem we are
now faced with.
In years past, unqualified
truck drivers were not a problem on our highways, and yet, all
drivers somehow had to learn how to drive a truck. I’m not
quite sure just when the transition took place, whether we can
blame deregulation completely or the increased demand for truck
related services, through greater trade or sheer population
demands, but now, we do have a problem. Don’t get me wrong, I
am not saying that years ago, there were no truck accidents, even
qualified trained professionals make mistakes from time to time,
but not with the same ratio and regularity that almost each traffic
report imparts with
voracity.
I suspect the incident
involving the Delta Driving School in Calgary is just the tip of
the iceberg, and only part of the problem we have to contend with.
Let me give you an example.
We are a small outfit, we run
Canada and the United States with strictly five axle units. We have
never advertised for either company drivers or lease operators, but
we get a fair number of applicants, some of which are driving
school graduates. Just recently a graduate from a reputable,
long standing, lower mainland school approached me for a driving
job. This fellow is in his mid forties, clean cut, well
spoken, willing to work, good attitude etc., simply wanting to make
a career change in his life, a likely candidate for our little
operation. We could use another driver, so I told him I would
give him a chance, on the condition that he would be willing to
ride along with, and drive under the supervision of one of my
regular driver’s until such time as we felt he was ready to
solo. He agreed, and is currently doing just that.
Without getting into a long
drawn out story John, this man who now holds a BC Class 1 driver’s
licence, who is legally able to head out and share any of the
highways of North America with a fully loaded tractor trailer, is
far from ready for that responsibility. Having watched him
try to back up off the road, simply hook up to a trailer, try to
negotiate the tractor around our yard in general, fails to indicate
any reasonable sign of successful driver training. In my
opinion, without further practical driving instruction under the
supervision of my regular driver, this man, through no fault of his
own, would have been a menace on the road.
Even when the time comes that
we feel he is ready to head out on his own, despite the fact that
some would argue we are being overly cautious, if he encounters
some situation or event that we hadn’t anticipated, there is no
guarantee that he will make the right decision in avoiding an
accident. Really, there is no substitute for experience in this
industry.
Admittedly, driving schools
have become necessary, but I guess what I am suggesting is that
commercial driving school graduates be given conditional or
graduated licences only, authorizing them to ride along for a
probationary period as driver trainee’s, following the course of
what went without saying in days gone by, with those who wanted to
make driving a career. Driving schools and simulators can’t take
the place of actual over the road experience. Yes, I know, given
the general attitude and appearances of some modern day applicants
for Class 1 licences, and the state and urgency of our industry,
finding willing participants amongst the majority of bona fide
carriers in such an undertaking, would be an enormous task.
At one time, truck driving was an enviable profession pursued only
by those who had a genuine interest in trucks, before it became the
target of those who only resorted to a driving career, simply
because they couldn’t find any other suitable form of
employment.
What about the hundreds,
maybe even the thousands of commercial drivers out there who have
perhaps graduated from legitimate driving schools or although
having some practical driving experience behind them, still pose a
risk to the motoring public? Simple, re-test every commercial
driver after a preventable accident, no matter how minor, do the
same for private vehicle operators too, and my guess is that soon
we would see an overall improvement in driving skills and
attitudes.
You say it wouldn’t work? The
backlog of drivers awaiting re-testing would cause unnecessary
strains on an already burdened situation, and besides, we don’t
have the resources or the manpower for the task at hand. We
could have, if we focused a little less on the repetitive
inspection of equipment, especially equipment already recently
subjected to a mandatory inspection at a legitimate government
facility, and more on the operator’s driving ability. Some might
argue that truck defects are already more of a problem than we care
to tolerate, but realistically, are they? What are the honest
statistical records of incidents caused by mechanical
failure? The obvious cause of accidents in the majority of
cases is the driver, not the truck. Alternatively, can we
afford to keep heading in the direction we are going, with the
instances of truck related accidents likely to escalate, rather
than decrease?
As Paul mentioned, the
industry has to heal itself. We need input from truckers themselves
to offer solutions to the crisis. We, who depend on the industry
for our livelihood, whose work environment rests mainly on the
windshield looking out and all that goes on in the world from that
position, who know trucking better than any bureaucrat whose only
contact with the industry comes from the pages of a manual or
directive, are the only ones who can bring about industry wide
beneficial changes. There are many out there with a lot more
years and experience in trucking up and down the road than me;
let’s hear from you, and perhaps together, if our combined thoughts
are presented in the right light, to the right people, we can start
that healing process. Thank you.
Sincerely, J.F.
Maywood
Ulster Transport
Inc.
Editor’s note, It’s always
good to hear from you John.
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