FleetSmart Profiles: Highway Trucking

Charlesbourg Road Transport Training Centre – Charlesbourg, Québec

Truck driving

Over the past few years, numerous changes have redefined the trucking industry. New markets, rapidly increasing demands, fierce competition and new technology have guaranteed greater efficiency and competency and stricter safety standards for future drivers.

Since it was founded in 1976, the Centre de formation en transport de Charlesbourg (CFTC), located in the core of an industrial park in the Charlesbourg region, 15 kilometres north of Québec, has become a leader in truck driver training. Each year, the CFTC offers basic truck driver training and courses for upgrading to more than 1500 professionals.

An industry-based program

The truck driver training program was introduced in response to the new industry requirements. The successful completion of this four-part training course, which includes 615 hours of theory, workshops, hands-on activities and on-the-job training, leads to a vocational school diploma. Businesses and representatives from the transportation sector are directly involved in the development of this program.

The Truck Driver Training Program

These courses provide an in-depth examination of all aspects of driving a heavy vehicle, whether a straight body truck or a semi-trailer. Training gives future drivers the opportunity to learn and acquire skills that will improve their ability to face new challenges in the trucking industry and gives them the opportunity to put those skills into effect.

Equipment tailored to work environment situations

The CFTC was created to provide its students with the most realistic reproduction of their future work environment. These courses allow the students to hone their skills using equipment tailored to the latest demands in the transportation industry.

The training centre's facilities include six rooms for teaching theory, one showroom, one mechanical maintenance workshop, one equipment cleaning room, one computer lab, a dispatch room and a workshop for trying various transportation-related techniques. The training centre also has a warehouse with five loading docks and a 4.3-kilometre-long, closed-road circuit for learning basic truck driving manoeuvres.

There are more than 51 straight body trucks and semi-trailers equipped with the latest technology. Communication and satellite tracking systems, as well as computers, are now an integral part of a truck driver's daily routine, and the CFTC has tailored training to respond to these new requirements.

The CFTC is part of the Ministère de l'éducation du Québec teaching network; so in addition to their experience as professional drivers, all trainers hold a teaching certificate recognized by the Ministère de l'éducation du Québec.

Acquisition of professional skills in energy-efficient driving

In 1999, the CFTC integrated the FleetSmart's SmartDriver module into its prescribed training documentation to provide participants with basic and proficiency energy-efficient driver training. The CFTC used all tools in the SmartDriver program, including the training guide, the SmartDriver video for highway trucking, the fuel saving card game and the manual, entitled What Every SmartDriver Should Know.

The SmartDriver program was gradually integrated into the Centre's training course. To start, the CFTC coordination committee suggested that instructors complete the proficiency course so that they would be familiar with all the program elements. Then they tested these techniques on the school's trucks (equipped with computers) to see how well the program worked. During these proficiency courses, instructors studied the following factors:

• fuel consumption
  
  
• the advantages of progressive gear changes
  
  
• urban driving techniques
  
  
• preparing for stops
  
  
• choosing the itinerary
  
  
• speed control
  
  
• starting and driving in cold temperatures
  
  
• idling
  
  

According to truck driving instructor Denis Pigeon, "The SmartDriver program teaches drivers how to reduce fuel consumption, increase company profits, reduce the impact of truck fleets on the environment, reduce the costs of repairs and maintenance on vehicles because the equipment is being used more efficiently, reduce the wear on parts and drive more safely." He added that because of the benefits and especially the importance placed on the role of the driver, the SmartDriver program meets the CFTC objectives. All trainers and instructors at the CFTC agree that the driver has a strong impact on achieving reduced fuel consumption.

According to the director of the CFTC, Pierre Gagnon, "The CFTC's primary goal is to promote the acquisition of professional skills through training activities. Basic and proficiency training for those workers who transport people and goods is an effective way to meet new challenges in the economic sector."

According to the CFTC, only businesses that know the new stakes in the industry, use modern and efficient tools and meet the expectations of today's professional drivers can count on having qualified personnel. CTFC directors agree that the SmartDriver program subscribes perfectly to this philosophy.

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