Truck World comes back to Toronto from April 16-18. We will have a few of our schools participating, namely OTDS and OTTA, and there may be another. I will be on a panel called GreenTech, at 11:00 am on the 28th, together with Martin DeRepentigny, which will cover tech in training, and many other advancements.
SERCO has told us that the number of bookings through Commercial Booking is down to 213 school entities. This is a significant drop and is 20% less from one year ago. Student enrolment has dropped by more than 20% so many more schools are likely to fold in the coming months.
The other side of the coin is the lack of hiring that carriers are doing these days, especially with the brand-new driver. The industry is still in the mindset of having a 2 -3-year experience level for hires, but the full degree of training that is given still gives students from TTSAO schools the best opportunity to step into a role with a valued carrier.
Our Association is still front and center in competing for students to be well-trained and job ready. Safety, compliance and competency are still the value-added outcomes of training at a TTSAO school. Carrier HR departments and many companies desire a well-trained driver to bring value to their businesses.
We helped to sponsor TTN’s Recruiting and Retention event this month. There were exceptional presentations from Peel Regional Police, the MTO, many industry experts and consultants. Terrific ideas and presentations for the day.
We still are in the process of working through possibilities of what areas can change for the better in the creation of Entry Level Training with MTO in 2026. More to come on that at a later date, as we get closer to a final resolution.
Phil Fletcher
President
Phil has served for more than 5 years both on the TTSAO Board and as President. Phil is a Former Board member of the Private Motor Truck Council,
Currently on the Advisory Panel of the Smart Freight Center, U of T Board member of the Hamilton Transportation Club