Welcome to 2023 and welcome to our 30th year as an organization. The TTSAO (Truck Training School Association of Ontario) includes a number of Accredited Schools that all perform at a premium level and meet certain criteria to ensure students are getting quality instruction and receiving the proper information to be successful in today’s transportation industry. For 30 years we have been setting the standard for industry and working with a number of governing bodies to ensure that the training industry is looked at as a part of the solution and not the problem.
We started with two schools Ontario Truck Driving School and Kim Richardson Transportation Specialists Inc. deciding to start an association to give a level of professionalism and authenticity to the training profession. That was 30 years ago and both schools among others are still well respected in the industry today. We have grown however and today we have over 50 accredited school members along with carriers included in our Carrier Group, insurance members in our Insurance Group, and associate members that service our industry and have a specific interest in the training industry. This allows different aspects of our industry to have a voice on issues to do with training.
The last few years have been a struggle for the training industry as it saw through the Humboldt Incident, the introduction of Mandatory Entry Level Training, a Pandemic, and flood of new schools starting up to create a quick buck. We have had to change, talk, and work with a number of governing bodies like the Ministry of Transportation, Private Career Colleges, and many other industry stakeholders. Last year we started to see the end of the pandemic and were able to hold our conference although late in July. We had a changing of the guard so to speak with Philip Fletcher becoming the new President of the TTSAO and Kim Richardson stepping down as Past President.
New partnerships were announced at the end of last year for members and students with Sirius XM, Tenstreet, DriverVerified, and a new online store opened up. As we move forward into 2023 we can expect more changes and a continued effort to remain as a respected association in the industry. We will be celebrating 30 years as an association and our annual conference is set for it’s regular time of February 21-22, 2023.
We hope you will celebrate with us this year and if you have an interest in truck driver training then please feel free to get involved in our organization. We look forward to meeting you. You can learn more about the conference on our conference page by clicking here.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a veteran in the transportation industry with over 40 years in the industry in a variety of roles from driver to fleet supervisor and more. Today he is a media specialist in the industry producing a number of programs for the trucking industry such as his trucking podcast The Lead Pedal Podcast for Truck Drivers at www.theleadpedalpodcast.com
Disclaimer: This article is written and based on the opinion of the author and is for general information only