Driver shortage leads to course creation
The average age of a tractortrailer driver is higher than in any other field and a training academy at Zavcor Trucking is driving to bring new blood into the industry.
Located in Stevensville, the company has been operating since 1990 and started its training school last March – putting multiple drivers on the road with both AZ and DZ licences.
Before the course was established, recruiting new people to hit the road was becoming difficult, according to director Sarah Dekker.
“We were having a hard time getting drivers who could actually do the work,” she said.
There are five- and sixweek courses available and Dekker said jobs are available with Zavcor, as well as with other companies they have partnered with.
About 10 people have been licensed through the academy and another three were expected to take final tests next week, Dekker said in an interview on Wednesday.
With many of the men and women behind the wheels of today’s big rigs approaching the end of the road with their careers, bringing in a new group of drivers is extremely important.
“We’re going to have a lot of people retiring in the next five to 10 years and there already is a shortage of drivers,” said Dekker.
Last July, the Ontario government implemented the Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) program, doing away with other driving schools who didn’t provide hands-on guidance with its students.
“They were only teaching them what they needed to pass the test,” said Dekker.
She also said students were only being taught about automatic transmissions, not manual.
“The Ontario government said all levels of truck drivers need to be properly trained,” she said.
Zavcor hopes to attract new men and women to its classroom and help them get on the road with a career, which Dekker says is more of a “lifestyle” than anything.
The academy is a certified private career college and contact information can be found at www. zavcortrainingacademy.com.
Zavcor Trucking specializes in temperature-controlled transportation, hauling fruits and vegetables.
Drivers with the company regularly travel to parts of Quebec, as well as the northeast U.S., states such as New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Delaware.