Truck and Coach Technician
A Truck and Coach Technician inspects, repairs and maintains commercial trucks, emergency vehicles, buses and road transport vehicles by performing work on structural, mechanical, electrical and electronic systems. Specifically, a Truck and Coach Technician inspects, repairs and maintains:
- electrical and electronic systems
- engines including fuel, exhaust, intake and emission controls
- transmissions, lutches, drive shafts and axles
- body and trim, frames and hitching/coupling systems
- steering, suspension and computer control systems
- tires, wheels and hubs
- braking systems including air supply and hydraulic, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration systems
Red Seal trade
APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM
An apprenticeship training program consists of on-the-job and in-school training. Generally, the time-frame to become competent in the trade of Truck and Coach Technician is 6,720 hours (approximately three and a half years) consisting of 6,000 hours of on-the-job work experience and 720 hours of in-school training.
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
An apprenticeship involves practical training provided on-the-job by a skilled worker, or trainer. The skills or competencies to be developed are set out by the trade’s Apprenticeship Training Standard and are recognized by the industry as being essential to the practice of the trade.
As these essential skills are developed, the apprentice’s sponsor or trainer signs the relevant sections of the training standard to indicate that the apprentice has met the individual training objectives by demonstrating the skills required of a skilled worker, or journeyperson, in the trade.
IN-SCHOOL TRAINING
A Truck and Coach Technician apprenticeship includes three levels of theoretical training, which includes but is not limited to instruction in:
- workplace health and safety
- applied work practices and procedures
- engine systems
- electrical, electronic and fuel systems
- gear trains
- suspension, steering and brakes
- hitching systems
Depending on the training delivery agency, in-school training may be available in one of the following ways:
- block release (full-time, for a set number of weeks)
- day release (one day per week from September to June)
- part-time (night-school programs)
- alternative delivery (online, correspondence, etc.)
Truck and Coach Technician is a trade named under the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021.
This trade has an apprenticeship program that is administered by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. Upon completion of an apprenticeship program, the Ministry issues a Certificate of Apprenticeship.
This trade has a certifying exam. Upon passing the certifying exam, Skilled Trades Ontario issues a Certificate of Qualification in this trade.
Because this trade is compulsory, to practice this trade legally in Ontario a person must hold a Registered Training Agreement, Provisional Certificate of Qualification or Certificate of Qualification and their information must appear on the Skilled Trades Ontario Public Register. A Certificate of Qualification issued in this trade must be renewed to be valid.
In Ontario, the trade is part of the Interprovincial Red Seal Program—the national standard for the trade across Canada— under the title Truck and Transport Mechanic: www.red-seal.ca.