The U.S. is not the only country having problems with schools providing commercial driver's license training.
An audit by the Inspector General's office for Ontario, Canada found numerous problems with schools providing truck driver training. An undercover investigation found:
- some students obtained entry level training certification without having completed the mandatory training
- some students were not taught some driving basics like making left turns at intersections, emergency stopping and reverse parking
- several schools falsified or altered students' records
- the provincial agency overseeing private career colleges did not inspect 25% of them
- inconsistencies in road testing practices
- no restrictions on drivers with past infractions from receiving a license or requiring a waiting period after obtaining a basic license
The audit, which was released Tuesday, criticized the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security for lax oversight of training schools. The report made 13 recommendations on how the two agencies could improve their supervision of training schools. Both agencies accepted the recommendations.
The audit reported there are 303,000 large commercial vehicles on Ontario's highways.
The U.S.'s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has also been auditing training schools. Thus far, some 3,500 schools have been removed from the agency's Training Provider Registry.
