HAMILTON, ON – September 27, 2021 – Kim Richardson, President of the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario (TTSAO), has officially
put a plan in place for his retirement from the Association – as October 31, 2022.
The TTSAO Board of Directors unanimously approved Richardson’s one-year retirement plan, where he will help the Board transition and find a successor to take on the role. Richardson’s history with the Association goes back to the beginning, when he founded the TTSAO in 1993. It all started with a phone call between Richardson and Gus Rahim, President of Ontario Truck Driving School (OTDS), where the two of them discussed how government was affecting the truck training school business. That conversation shed light on their shared philosophy, there is strength in numbers, and created a movement to connect with other school owners, arrange a meeting and collectively discuss issues that they were facing.
That meeting brought together the founders of the TTSAO – Gus Rahim from OTDS, Chris Ciereich from Metro Truck Driving School, Richard Wynia from Tri-County Training, Wayne Campbell from Adananc, Ed Popkie from 5th Wheel, and Colin Matthews from a school in St. Catherines – and its first members.
Richardson took on the role as Chair, then was appointed as the first President, where he served as a voluntary position for nearly a decade. Then, Richardson made the decision to step away from the role to focus on his family businesses and other projects and initiatives.
Richardson explains, “There was a time when I stepped away from the role as President of TTSAO, to let others take on the challenge and leadership, and shifted my focus to other projects, Board and committee appointment with the Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI), North American Training Management Institute (NATMI), and Truckload Carrier Association (TCA) and the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA). I am sharing this because my time involved with these other groups has been an important ingredient to both my and the
TTSAO’s success.”
Read the full press release here
About the TTSAO
Founded in 1993, the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario (TTSAO) is the largest association
representing commercial truck driver training programs in Ontario. TTSAO members represent approximately
50 training campuses and collectively certify over 5,000 commercial drivers annually. The TTSAO Carrier
Group employs 10’s of 1,000’s of professional drivers in Ontario and the TTSAO Insurance Group companies
and brokers insures 100’s of schools and trucking companies. The TTSAO’s mission is to support the
commercial driver training industry through advocacy, networking, education and certification programs to help
members produce the highest quality of professional drivers possible. To learn more, visit www.ttsao.com.