By Taylor Chartrand

Busy times for Safety Connections ahead of class-one changes

Jan 18, 2019 | 1:36 PM

Medicine Hat, AB – Changes are coming that will see more extensive driver training for class-one truck operators and because of that, business is picking up over at Safety Connections.

CEO of Safety Connections Rob Kirchner said he welcomes the influx of business ahead of the regulation changes.

“Our waiting list right now is 36 individuals waiting to get on our trucks,” explained Kirchner. “Right now, our instructors are doing approximately 4 students a day, 6 days a week. We are extremely busy to say the least.” 

So, why are more people rushing to Safety Connections right now?

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“It’s just human nature I suppose. People will often leave things until the last minute or you know, some people legitimately have just become aware that ‘oh gosh, March 1st it all changes’.”

After 25 years, the Province of Alberta decided to once again oversee driver licence road tests following the Humboldt Broncos bus-crash in April, 2018.

The more extensive training in Alberta will be known as ‘Mandatory Entry Level Training’ or MELT.

“The program itself includes three specific elements: In-class, in-yard and in-truck, which totals about 115 hours. It’s roughly twice as long as what a person would normally have to train for in our program.”

Kirchner said there will be additional costs with this in-depth training.

“Certainly the program is going to be more costly for the individuals who are using it. However, they’ll be able to utilize programs that the government has in place to subsidize individuals. Students will also be able to get student loans to be able to do it.”

Kirchner then furthered his comments by saying Safety Connections is still in the dark on some details.

“We’re not sure what we’re going to be able to charge. It’s going up to 115 hours and we haven’t received any information yet from the Alberta Government or Alberta Transportation in regards to the changes that are going to be incurred by the cost of the program.”

Kirchner believes this is only the beginning.

“Here in Alberta, we’re looking at the change being implemented on March 1st. Saskatchewan will be doing it right after and now there’s talk that they’re looking to harmonize this across Canada.”