It’s tempting to look the other way when you find out a driver can’t read or write

The signs of illiteracy are as plain as black letters on a crisp white page. Truck drivers who are illiterate will ask questions, bluff, or make hit-and-miss attempts until they succeed in getting what they need. They’ll navigate by road numbers or landmarks. They’ll stop at the same places when they’re on the road because they’re the only names they know how to write in their logbook.

With time they develop a “feel” for what to try and what not to try. After that, it’s all memory and routine.

Given the shortage of qualified professional truck drivers, it’s tempting for fleet managers and dispatchers to look the other way when they recognize signs that a driver may have trouble reading or writing, either because he dropped out of school and did not have the opportunity to learn, or because he has a disability that makes learning difficult.

The issue is further complicated by the influx of immigrants who are skilled drivers and literate in their native tongue but not English or French.

Many illiterate drivers constantly weigh the shame of not being proficient readers or writers against the fear of not being able to maintain employment if their supervisors ever discover their handicap. Ironically, their bosses may not be paying attention. Literacy is a training issue few companies address in any formal way.

If you’ve decided to approach an employee who seems to be struggling with language, the first step is to evaluate what areas the employee has problems with, says Ann Marston with the Alberta chapter of the Project Adult Literacy Society (PALS). She says the 26% of illiterate Canadians can be divided into three classifications: “One third can get by reading as long as you don’t throw anything complicated at them,” she explains. “Another third can’t read well enough to read the label on a medicine bottle, and the other third is fully illiterate.”

Regardless of which one best describes the situation with your employee, you should seek out a learning environment that fits his learning style, one where he’ll be most likely to prosper. Marston says the benefit of public literacy organizations such as hers is that older students tend to feel more comfortable in one-on-one program over a more traditional classroom setting.

“Many older students are illiterate specifically because they failed in the classroom environment,” she says. “Another classroom probably is not the answer.”

PALS is an arms-length organization of Laubach Literary Canada, a national network that provides trained tutors and education for people who need to improve basic functional skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Laubach is based in Quebec: phone 450/248-2898 or visit www.laubach.ca. You can also reach PALS at 780/424-5514, or on the Web at www.pals.ca.

For other national and regional organizations and councils, contact any of the following:

> The National Adult Literacy Database has information on various literacy issues, teaching resources, and links to other national, international, private, and provincial organizations, including Literacy Ontario and Literacy Quebec. Call the Fredericton, N.B., office at 1-800/720-NALD, or link to www.nald.ca.

> ABC Canada Literary Foundation offers pages of workplace literacy information, literacy sources, and research studies as well as an ABC list of teaching and educational tools for sale, such as the Workplace Education Centre video and the Handbook for Workplace Development. Contact the foundation in Toronto at 416/350-270, or visit www.abc-canada.org.

> Frontier College is a national network of volunteers who teach literacy skills. For the college in your area call the Toronto head office at 416/923-3591, or visit www.frontiercollege.ca

ÿ The Movement for Canadian Literacy has countless adult literacy and employment resources to choose from. View current workplace literacy projects, links to organizations and experts on a variety of literacy issues, and a database of workplace-specific teaching tools. Call the Ottawa head office at 613/563-2464, or go to www.literacy.ca/litland/employ.