MELT (mandatory entry-level training) in B.C. will have been in place for three years this October. Are we starting to see an improvement in the quality and safety of new professional truck drivers on the road?
Perhaps. But not at a level that I would expect, given how much more involved the program is compared to the training the majority of schools used to deliver. The framework and processes within the MELT program in B.C. are excellent and meet the National Occupational Standard for entry-level professional drivers.
The question then is: where is the gap between the program and the results it achieves?
I see a couple of issues:
No marking criteria
Although the MELT program contains 26 different skills evaluations that must be passed by students to complete the program, the evaluations don’t contain any marking criteria. The skills are marked at the level determined by the school to be “good enough”.
I am sure if you look hard enough, you will find schools who simply complete the paperwork and never actually complete the skill with the student. lf a student can fog a mirror, they pass the test based on that school’s measuring stick. Obviously not good enough.
Lack of oversight
ln B.C. the MELT program belongs to the Ministry of Transportation and lnfrastructure (MOTI) and is administered and monitored by a branch of the Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC) called Driver Training and Certification.
I personally know a lot of the team at ICBC, and they are good people and care about driver training in this province. So why aren’t they doing something about the low standards some schools are using or the schools that are shortcutting the program?
First there is not enough staff to properly audit the schools and second the investigative team will only act on complaints filed by students. The driver training situation in B.C. really hasn’t changed with MELT. lf you want to shortcut the process and don’t care about learning how to be a good safe entry-level driver, you can find a school that will do that for you.
lf you are serious about a professional driving career and want to learn the industry and start on a solid footing with experience in the mountains and learning everything in the MELT program properly, there are schools for that.
There are currently 42 MELT-licensed driving schools in Surrey, and most of these schools didn’t exist before MELT. It would appear there could be some people taking advantage of the system?
MOTI appears to be proud of itself for having met the requirement to have a MELT program in B.C. and have moved on to other issues. My question is when will it be held accountable to add the required standards and auditing procedures that will allow MELT to actually succeed at its intended goal?
Accreditation and site audits needed
lf we are serious about proper training and safer highways then MELT schools need to be accredited and have site audits every two years, which the schools themselves should pay for. The system as it currently stands is a joke, no teeth to enforce the current rules and not enough resources to do it either.
You might ask why students that attend the schools that take shortcuts don’t complain to ICBC and trigger an investigation? The students are happy because they got their driver’s licence, which is all they really wanted. Many didn’t actually want to learn how to do it properly, they just wanted a job. There is a reason there are more truck crashes every year on our highways.
We have too many drivers who aren’t properly trained and don’t care.
For those who aren’t aware, the requirements for MELT in BC is for the course to be taught and skills to be passed using a tractor with a non-synchronized transmission. After you complete MELT, you are then eligible to do your ICBC road test to get your driver’s licence.
The ICBC road test can be done with a manual or automated transmission, but you get an ‘automatic only’ designation on your licence if you use an automated. So why, if you just completed your course and passed all your skills on a manual transmission, would you choose to do your road test on an automated?
Perhaps because you did all your training on an automated transmission against the guidelines? This is happening every day in B.C. and nothing is being done about it. As a school that has been teaching to industry standards and been accredited by various groups since 2003, this is extremely frustrating.
The gatekeepers to the process ultimately are the trucking companies, as they have always been. lf a carrier will hire a graduate from your school, then I guess your standards are good enough, or the carrier’s are low enough, which sadly is far too common. lf you are serious about a professional driving career, do your research, talk to schools, talk to drivers and most importantly talk to the carriers that pay well, operate safe equipment and ask which schools they hire from.
Mountain Transport Institute has longstanding partnerships with many quality carriers in B.C. and Alberta. Find a MELT course that will provide you with value for the money you are investing and ask to talk to graduates from the program.
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