President’s Report for June 2023

The key piece of interaction with MTO this month was to insist on presenting a solution to virtual renewals of the Z endorsement by putting in facial recognition software (available through proctoring software available at MCU) and asking for a Recap of information to finish. Both suggestions were taken into account, and for September this should be in use.

We have continued to have a usual correspondence for safety factors to be implemented for the northern highway situation. Last year’s experience with the high collision rate and resulting catastrophic human cost is something we can provide assistance and comment on.

The perpetual moving of the dates on the Fake Schools and training is now moved to Aug 15th, and the individuals charged are avoiding the consequences of running Fake Schools.

This has moved forward with a vote to move from an MOU to a more contractual relationship with Driver Verified to connect small independents with trustworthy training on the G level, while operating heavier G type vehicles.

The Board was near unanimous in its clear indication that they feel there is a definite need in the market for this, and no one overall association to offer this.

Contractual wording and the process for referring clients into and through this process is actively being pursued and should have rendered a document in early July.

All systems are now ready to involve Mark’s in allowing our schools to get high performance PPE and safety gear, and the most competitive pricing available, and to have ease of access to pick it up, or have it shipped.
This is an extraordinary program for the association to use, and moreover it can be accessed by our fleets that we use to assist them in the same manner.

A Zoom call will get the ball rolling for all schools and we look forward to a rewarding relationship with Mark’s.

We had a terrific boost given to our schools with the awarding of an Ontario grant to Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada. The grant was a total of $1.3 M and all training will be done by TTSAO schools, only. Congrats to Shelley Walker in getting the Premier’s office to announce and endorse this grant. This ceremony gave us a very good contact in the Premier’s office.

We had a booth at the PMTC’s annual conference in Hamilton for 3 days. There were a few interesting interactions with other booth holders, and a couple of the attendees. Most interesting of which were a contact for warranty coverage for our members’ vehicles, and an interest in mentorship training from an insurer. So we will see how these develop and report back.

We have begun the arduous process of looking into the Captive Market for insurance for our member schools. This has been a process of learning, as we would be the 1st ever training organization to become involved in a captive.

It appears that the initial offering of this will not occur until the Fall now, and we will see what details are discussed and proposed to us, as this unfolds.

As reported earlier, any new programs or upgrades are solely intended to put our schools in a better position to provide needed services or build on existing programs. The betterment of our industry and the safety of our roads is the governing principle.