Truck driver training protocol will be in place within a year: Marc Garneau

The country’s transportation ministers have agreed to develop an entry-level training standard for semi-truck drivers nationwide.

Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau says the minimum bar to get behind the wheel of a semi truck will ensure drivers have the necessary skills, and will be in place by January 2020.

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Currently, Ontario is the only province with mandatory truck driver training. Saskatchewan and Alberta are to require mandatory training starting in March.

READ MORE: Saskatchewan introduces mandatory semi truck driver training after Humboldt Broncos tragedy

The changes in Saskatchewan came after last year’s Humboldt Broncos bus crash tragedy, which Garneau referenced at a Montreal press conference following a transportation ministers meeting Monday.

Sixteen people were killed when the team’s bus and a semi-unit loaded with peat moss collided last April.

The driver of the semi-truck recently pleaded guilty to all charges against him, telling his lawyer he did not “want to make things any worse.”