CTA launches online hazmat training

TORONTO, (July 3, 2003) — The Canadian Trucking Alliance has released an online dangerous goods and hazmat training course for truck drivers.

The Transporting Dangerous Goods by Truck training course, developed by online training developer Training Alternatives Inc., is accessed through the Internet and is based on CTA’s popular transportation of dangerous goods driver handbook.

Designed for new, intermediate and experienced truck drivers, shippers, and frontline supervisors/managers, the program educates participants on all hazmat and dangerous goods handling, transporting, and their regulations, including the latest amendments like the new “clear language” regulations.

Through six separate training modules, the course covers: naming and classifying dangerous goods; packaging dangerous goods; identifying dangerous goods through the use of proper documentation, labeling and placarding; dealing with accidental releases and other emergencies, as well as dealing with emergency response; and knowledge of the applicable regulations and use of the schedules in the regulations.

Users, who can learn at their own pace from either the office or at home, 24 hours a day, are taken through the modules with easy to follow text instructions. Each section also includes a detailed walk-through via a feature called “a day in the life of Pete” — a character that takes the student step-by-step-through all the requirements he’s responsible for knowing while on the road. The end of each module also features a quiz, accompanied with links to the answers, which helps the student measure his grasp of the section before moving on.

At the end of the training course, students take a one-time, printable, master test, where questions are based on a database of over 250 questions. Fleets issuing hazmat and dangerous goods certification can use the report card at the conclusion of the master test in determining if a driver is ready for hazmat hauling.

The course is $45 per trainee and can be completed within 4 to 6 hours depending on the trainees’ previous familiarity with handling of dangerous goods procedures. It can be accessed at www.dangerousgoods.net; or call the OTA at 416/249-7401 for more information.