Conestoga’s School of Workforce Development, Continuing Education & Online Learning has received a donation of a truck from Wayfreight Services Limited for use in the Business Supply Chain and Operations for Commercial Trucking diploma program which will launch in Winter 2022.
A truck donation from Wayfreight Services Limited will be used in Conestoga's new Business Supply Chain and Operations for Commercial Trucking diploma program.
Open to mature international students 19 years of age and older, the program will be delivered at the college’s Doon campus in Kitchener, with some training completed at the Guelph campus.
Students in the program will be prepared to work with clients, border crossing agents and their internal team to be an asset to the supply chain process and optimize business efficiencies and relations. Areas of focus include transportation communication, customer service, freight calculations, hours of service, e-logging legislation, geography, logistics business practices and driving simulation.
Accelerated delivery allows students to complete the program in 16 months.
“Conestoga has been working in partnership with the Ontario Trucking Association to address the current and future threats to efficiency in the transportation sector due to the looming driver shortage in Canada, which will be most acutely felt in Ontario,” said Dr. Amanda Feeser, chair, School of Workforce Development, Continuing Education & Online Learning.
Feeser also noted the program was developed with the collaboration and input of industry partners to mitigate the driver shortage and increase the skill, education level and professionalism of future drivers and industry professionals.
“Conestoga is a providing a foundational pathway to this type of career, providing students with career flexibility and job security,” added Feeser. “If graduates wish to progress to the commercial trucker driver role there is additional training required and available. The Business Supply Chain and Commercial Operations for Commercial Trucking is a quality stand-alone program that has the potential to really benefit the industry, and it is the only one of its kind in Ontario.”
Graduates will be awarded a $1,000 discount towards a future Minimum Entry Level Training (MELT) program at Challenger Transportation Training Academy in Cambridge if interested in pursuing AZ licensing in Ontario.
The 2013 Kenworth T660 model truck donated by Program Advisory Committee member John Way, general manager of Wayfreight, will be used in shop classes to provide students an opportunity complete basic maintenance. Other programs running at the Guelph campus will also have access to the truck as early as this September.
Conestoga's School of Workforce Development, Continuing Education & Online Learning works with industry to meet the needs of the local region and beyond. The school offers a full range of courses as well as part-time and full-time programming including GED preparation, academic upgrading for college, part-time programs in areas such as health, community, IT, trades, business and full-time certificates, graduate certificates and corporate training.