COTR Fernie campus to hold inaugural haul truck training

State-of-the-art haul truck simulators will provide hands-on training for students enrolled in the College of the Rockies’ Haul Truck Operator program.

The training is designed to prepare students for work in the ever-expanding Canadian mining industry and includes classroom instruction, online modules, sandbox scenarios and training on one of the college’s newly acquired state-of-the-art haul truck simulators.

The simulators are designed to parallel the real world experience of driving a haul truck in a mining environment and replicate the haul trucks most commonly used in surface mining and the Alberta oil sands.

The college was able to purchase four stationary and one mobile haul truck simulator with the assistance of cash and in-kind contributions from the federal government’s Western Economic Diversification, the provincial government’s Ministry of Advanced Education, Columbia Basin Trust and Immersive Technologies.

Director of continuing education, Contract Training and Campus Operations Leah Bradish said, “We’ve received tremendous interest in this training. Our upcoming September training in Cranbrook filled very quickly so we encourage students to enrol in the Fernie program while the limited seats are still available.”

It is not only potential students who are showing an interest in the program. Assistance with program development through equipment donations, expertise and in-kind assistance has been received from Teck Resources- Coal Operations, North American Construction Group in Fort McMurray, Finning, Joy Global (P&H), SMS Equipment, Mackay Contracting and the BC Aboriginal Mine Training Association.

“We’ve had amazing support from industry. They are excited this training is being provided locally and that we are working closely with them to ensure the training meets employer needs,” Bradish continues.

To be eligible for the training students must be at least 18 years of age, have completed Grade 12 or equivalent, have a valid Class 5 driver’s license, be physically able to climb into a haul truck, and take part in an interview with lead instructor Darren Hood.

Hood comments, “We have packed an enormous amount of learning and interactivity into this four-week program. It will be fun and students will leave job-ready.”

For more information visit the Haul Truck Operator program at the COTR website, phone toll-free: 1-877-4589-2687 ext. 3442 or email.