The race to the bottom in new truck driver training is well and truly underway in Ontario’s trucking heartland. Truck driving schools are witnessing a steep drop in enrolments and fees as competition to attract a dwindling number of students has grown increasingly fierce.
After the federal government announced curbs on international student numbers a couple of months ago, some truck driver training schools in Peel Region – comprising Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon – say enrolment has plummeted 40-60%. International students worried about their status in Canada are shying away from investing in a trucking career.
More alarming, many of the scores of schools in the area are reducing fees in a desperate bid to sign up the few aspiring truckers available.
A sign outside a popular coffee chain location in Brampton offers training for $3,500. The number on the sign is linked to Dixie Truck and Forklift Driving School based in Brampton.
The person who answered the phone refused to be identified. When asked to elaborate on how training was provided at the advertised price, he said that he could show advertisements of other schools charging the same or lower fees.
Surinder Batth, director, Global Truck Academy, has reduced his fees to $5,000 for the mandatory entry-level training (MELT) program. Lucky Singh, owner of A1 Transportation Academy, said he’s slashed fees to $4,500. Both Brampton-based schools are Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario (TTSAO) members. The association assures its members provide the “highest quality driver training programs for entry-level individuals”.
Added value training in peril
Batth’s school trains students with a loaded trailer, teaches them to back into a warehouse dock door among other types of backing and mandates a nighttime driving class. These add-ons that are not part of the MELT program are meant to add value to training, he explained.
He’s now in survival mode, keeping the lights on with his personal funds. “How can we provide quality training when there are schools offering to train students for $3,500 and even less than that?” he asked.
Singh said the immigration curbs have been bad for business. He also questioned how proper training could be imparted by low-cost schools in the area.
Cutting costs
Jasvir Chahal, owner of Peel Truck Driving School has also reduced fees to $4,500. He’s also cut down on trainers, trucks and locations in an attempt to stay in business.
“They are cutting corners, and they are cutting training time.”
Philip Fletcher, president of TTSAO
Philip Fletcher, president of the TTSAO, said there are 107 truck driving schools in the Greater Toronto Area. “The over-proliferation of schools is creating a cutthroat mentality, where people are cutting costs in order to try and stay alive,” he said, noting he saw ads for a Black Friday MELT program special for $3,000.
“They are cutting corners, and they are cutting training time.”
He’s had his association members contact him saying they couldn’t continue to offer training in this environment. Fletcher observed that on average, one-on-one training in a truck costs $120 an hour. MELT mandates 32 hours of on-road training, meaning it would cost a school $3,840 per student. “How are they charging only $3,000 or $3,500?” he asked.
Driving school owners Batth, Singh and Chahal told TruckNews.com that once training fees have been lowered, it is impossible to raise them. Students ask them two questions: “How much do you charge?” and “How long will it take?”
They also suggested that some schools are skimping on the in-class training or abandoning it altogether. There is also talk of students getting a few stints behind the wheel before being sent for a road test. They shared stories of students approaching them after failing multiple road tests after learning at low-cost schools.
International students struggle to make ends meet
Jas, an international student training to be a truck driver put things into perspective. After earning two post-graduate diplomas – in business management and supply chain management – he’s stuck in a dead-end warehouse job. Struggling to make ends meet, he’s hoping trucking will be his ticket to permanent residence.
His goal is to start working as a truck driver as quickly as possible, boosting his immigration chances while earning a decent wage.
Steve, a temporary foreign worker, is also pursuing a trucking dream. He shares a room with others in a basement apartment while eking out a living at meat processing facility. He’s taken a loan to pay for his driver training.
Trucking a pathway to permanent residence
Manan Gupta, president of Skylake Immigration, said most international students are coming to Canada to work, not study. “That is why the labor market impact assessment and temporary foreign worker programs are being abused,” he said.
“Nobody joins trucking for the joy of trucking. They are joining it to get permanent residence.”
Jim Campbell, chairman of the Professional Truck Training Alliance of Canada and general manager of First Class Training Centre in Winnipeg, said the malaise of low-cost training has spread across the country.
“Canada needs to have a minimum guideline,” he said. “Some provinces have a cap on the maximum that can be charged, but there’s no minimum cap.”
As training schools grind through the winter months, when student numbers are traditionally low, their owners are optimistic while keeping a close eye on their balance sheets. If things don’t improve, some may hang up their keys and call it a day.
Credit: Source link
