About Transport Training Centres of Canada

I first started my driving career in the 1980’s.

Back then there weren’t many truck driving schools around and those that did exist merely taught the bare minimum of how to get a license. Newly licensed truck drivers usually started out on the loading docks, shunting trailers around the yard or a local 5-ton truck. After driving the smaller trucks myself, I was eventually fortunate enough to get a transport driving job but I was not well prepared. Unfortunately, my lack of training caused considerable equipment damage. Fortunately, nobody was ever hurt. Like pretty much everyone else in the 80’s, I had to learn how to drive a truck the hard way – on my own. As I developed my skills and knowledge, I felt sorry for other aspiring truck drivers. I would often donate my time to show those learning on their own how to shunt trailers in the yard. I would teach them shifting and backing on my own time. In 1996 I decided that I had to do more so I bought a truck and developed a training course that would finally teach new drivers what they wanted to learn. The course I developed went way beyond the basic licensing skills taught by other training providers and trained on real loaded trailers (very rare in 1996). It wasn’t long until I met other like-minded truck drivers who wanted to join me in developing new drivers the right way and together we opened many locations to make our brand of training available to as many as possible.  

From the beginning, I wanted new drivers to have access to the best available training.

I created the type of training that I would have loved to have when I first started. Shifting a large truck isn’t like shifting a car. A lot of people struggle with it (like I did) so I purchased some of the first shifting simulators ($150,000 each) to help new drivers master their shifting skills before they even stepped foot in the truck. I also struggled mastering the art of backing and once again I made sure my schools had simulators so that students could spend as much time as needed to perfect this long sought after skill. I was also horrified of my first winter because I didn’t now what to expect since I wasn’t trained - that’s why I built Canada’s only skid school for large trucks.

The bankers and the accountants have all expressed their disapproval of providing all this additional training. I’ve been reminded often that this is not how any of the other truck driving schools operate. The traditional way to run a trucking school is to maximize profit. That’s not what I do - profit is not the main objective like it is everywhere else. I have always chosen to be a school first and a business second. My unique philosophy is that profit is the result of providing great training. We are a collection of people who pride themselves on earning a decent living helping new drivers and we are very proud of what we have built.

This is what happens when a truck driver builds a truck driving school.

Today there are lots of truck driving schools out there but its hard to find any that are operated by someone who has actually earned a living as a truck driver and who remembers what it was like to learn. This is why we’re different and why you should put your confidence in us.

John Beaudry
President and Founder
Transport Training Centres of Canada Inc.