TTSAO 2017 Conference well attended
By Jennifer Coghill
The Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario (TTSAO) hosted its second annual Conference – Striving For Excellence In Training – in Mississauga, Ontario on Wednesday, February 15 and Thursday, February 16 at the Centre for Health and Safety Innovation (CHSI) thanks to the TTSAO’s industry partner and sponsor, the Infrastructure Health & Safety Association. The hallway at the CHSI included booths from almost 20 sponsors who stepped up to support the TTSAO.
Approximately 150 delegates participated in the Conference and networking event. Training facilities, educational professionals, trucking companies, insurance providers, industry associations, government, and industry service providers were well represented at the events. Day one of the Conference featured meetings with the TTSAO Carrier Group, followed by a Board of Directors meeting. The TTSAO Annual General Meeting wrapped up the afternoon.
Afterwards, delegates gathered for networking and cocktails. Featured guest was Commercial Driver Training Association (CVTA) President and CEO Don Lefeve, who travelled to Ontario from Washington, DC just for the TTSAO Conference. Don addressed the guests and talked about the special relationship between the TTSAO and CVTA, and the agreement to exchange memberships and work together on common initiatives.
Day two included a full day of panel discussions and keynote speakers. First up was the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s Assistant Deputy Minister Heidi Francis who, along with her team, provided an overview regarding Mandatory Entry Level Driver Training (MELT) in the province. Ms. Francis was quick to point out the hard work and expertise of the TTSAO and thanked the association for its leadership and participating in all of the stakeholders meetings.
Other panels included a MELT discussion with leaders from Bison, Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, Northbridge Insurance and the Ontario Trucking Association. Educators from across the province presented on Rebuilding the Image of Trucking, and were well received by the audience. They presented some great ideas that would work within the educational systems to help people better understand the vast amount of opportunities that are in the trucking industry. The morning concluded with an excellent presentation by Kelly Henderson, Executive Director, Human Resources Sector Council - Atlantic on advancing careers for women in trucking.
The morning events were wrapped-up with a donation to the Convoy for Special Olympics. For the second year in a row, in lieu of speaker gifts, the TTSAO Conference Committee decided that it would be better to donate to the Convoy and help support this great industry cause. On hand to accept the donation was Tammy Blackwell, Chairperson for the Convoy.
The afternoon featured a Healthy Trucker Exercise from NAL Insurance, a review of the recently sold out Marijuana Unwrapped seminar on medical marijuana in the workplace, a TTSAO graduate panel and then the very popular Stan and Mike Show, featuring Stan Campbell of Trucker Radio and Mike McCarron, transportation ‘maverick’ and founder of Left Lane Associates.
Kim Richardson Chairman of the TTSAO, commented, “A big THANK-YOU to Charlie Charalambous, of Making Eligibility Easy, and his Conference Committee for putting on a stellar event. The panel participants, the moderators, the master of ceremonies John G. Smith were all outstanding contributors to the success of the Conference.”
“Our new venue partner IHSA deserves a bid thank you as well,” Richardson concluded.
