Mountain Transport Institute teaching its 100th Consecutive Earning Your Wheels class
Mountain Transport Institute teaching its 100th Consecutive Earning Your Wheels class
“These graduates are not just getting jobs. They’re beginning careers,” says school President Andy Roberts
OTTAWA, Ont. (August, 2010) – Mountain Transport Institute of Castlegar, B.C. has announced that it will soon graduate its 100th consecutive class of Earning Your Wheels students, maintaining an ongoing commitment to the national curriculum for entry-level professional truck drivers.
“By delivering the training that helps students to meet national occupational standards, Mountain Transport Institute (MTI) is proving that it is a leader in driver training,” says Linda Gauthier, Executive Director of the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council (CTHRC).
The intensive 12 week training program developed by the CTHRC exposes students to a minimum of 120 hours in the classroom and 85 hours behind the wheel of an articulated tractor-trailer. This is followed by a minimum of 100 hours behind the wheel during four weeks of supervised workplace experience with a partnering carrier. The program is delivered exclusively through accredited schools such as MTI, and by certified coaches and instructors.
Earning Your Wheels has made a difference in the employment opportunities for graduates, says MTI President Andy Roberts. “They have not just found work. They have found work with good, high-quality, mainstream carriers.” Employers of MTI graduates have included fleets such as Challenger Motor Freight, Trimac Transportation, Bison Transport and Coastal Pacific Xpress, DCT Chambers Trucking and Berry and Smith Trucking. “These graduates are not just getting jobs. They’re beginning careers,” he adds.
Peter Lawson-Williams agrees. He actually failed his first road test after completing the limited training at another school. But after completing Earning Your Wheels at MTI, he earned his licence and felt well prepared for a job with G. Tutt Transport Inc. in Chilliwack, B.C. “Earning Your Wheels was way more precise. It covers a lot more of the different concepts such as border crossings, bills of lading, load securement, types of vehicles, and maintenance,” he says. “I graduated with a good job and a good referral because of MTI’s reputation. The training opened doors.”
Barry Urbani, Human Resources Director for Trimac Transportation, says that MTI’s Earning Your Wheels graduates are “heads and tails ahead” of those who complete different programs offered at other schools. The fleet usually requires job candidates to have a minimum of two years experience, but it waives that requirement for the graduates from MTI.
Those who complete Earning Your Wheels training at MTI have a better understanding of the skills required to be a truck driver, agrees Ron Hutton, Safety and Compliance Coordinator with Challenger Motor Freight. “Their knowledge of equipment and the knowledge of the job it does is far superior.”
MTI was founded in 1998 and has seven instructors. It was first accredited by CTHRC in 2003 and has since graduated more than 500 Earning Your Wheels students. Roberts is also designated as a Master Trainer, which allows him to train Earning Your Wheels Instructors across Canada.
Roberts decided to pursue the CTHRC’s accreditation process after he realized that his school’s graduates were not prepared to haul “super-trains” for his own trucking company. “I went looking for a solution that would allow me to train to a higher standard instead of focusing on helping people take a road test,” he says, noting that the solution was found in the form of Earning Your Wheels. “Now we are training people to that higher standard, and evaluating them on the real life skills they will need to be employable.”
The program has also helped the school to attract a superior pool of trainers, Roberts adds. “It has probably helped me attract people into teaching because of the structure. It allows them to add value to the students. It’s very rewarding for the Instructors to see their students learn and become great Professional Drivers.”
MTI’s 100th class of Earning Your Wheels students will complete in-class training on Oct. 1, and is scheduled to graduate in November after completing four weeks of on the job training.
Earning Your Wheels graduates earn a National Standard Certificate as a Graduate Professional Entry-level Truck Driver, endorsed by Markel Insurance as having the equivalent of three years over the road experience, and endorsed by Old Republic Insurance Company of Canada as having the equivalent of a full year of over the road experience.
For more information, contact CTHRC.
