Mandatory entry-level training (MELT)

A buyer of a trucking business or driver training school should check this requirement when assessing how drivers are hired. This entry covers Ontario only; check the rules where you are. Section 12.1 of Ontario Regulation 340/94 says an applicant for a Class A licence may not take the road test until the applicant has successfully completed an entry-level training course for Class A drivers approved by the Ministry, subject to exceptions in s.12.1(2) and (4) for restricted-licence road tests and some holders of an equivalent licence from another province or territory.

Who it covers

The Ministry of Transportation’s list of who must take it before a road test includes holders of a restricted Class A (AR) licence who want a full Class A, holders of a commercial licence from another country, and people whose full Class A has been invalid for three or more years. The Ministry says someone who already holds a valid full Class A does not have to take it. Training must come from an approved provider recognized by the province, such as a registered career college or an organization under the Ministry’s Driver Certification Program, and a truck training school that delivers it must register as a career college under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

What to ask

• Which drivers on the roster hold a full or restricted Class A licence
• Whether any hires are waiting on training before a road test
• For a training school, whether its career college registration is current and transfers to the buyer

The trucking business buyer checklist places driver qualifications beside the other fleet items.