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.

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.”