An engineering professor at the University of New Brunswick recently found that the number of senior citizens operating such vehicles as school buses, transport trucks and motor coaches will soon comprise one quarter of the province’s commercial driving population.
“There has been a shortage of drivers, particularly tractor-trailer drivers, and with pensions in the kind of shape they're in and so on, we are starting to see more seniors either get into these fields or stay in them longer,” Professor Eric Hildebrand told CTV News.
While the graying of Canada’s fleet operations may cause alarm some insurance brokers and industry leaders are adamant that there are other factors that indicate these drivers do not present any greater insurance dangers than their younger counterparts.
“Ultimately, it comes down to driver health and fitness,” said Angelique Magi, VP of Transportation, The Guarantee Company of North America. “Canada and the province of Ontario have medical standards that requires drivers to obtain and retain a commercial drivers licence”
As part of this framework, drivers under 45 years of age require a full medical exam every five years, which then turns into every three years at age 46 and becomes an annual exam at age 65.
“In my opinion, it’s not about whether older drivers are viewed as safer or not. Older drivers, who have held a commercial licence for the majority of their time on the road are more experienced to deal with the challenges that could be faced daily. The physical and mental fitness of anyone behind the wheel is what is essential to ensure that there is safety on our highway. Commercial drivers in their 60s could maintain a healthy lifestyle, which includes proper diet, rest and fitness. As a result, they can perform better than drivers in their late forties that do not pay attention to their health.” Magi said.
For this reason, when creating risk management and coverage programs for commercial clients, the fleet company’s corporate culture is a prominent consideration in determining its risk profile.
“As a provider of long-haul trucking, we try to create a solution for the customers that allows them to make their operations safer by focusing on their interactions with their drivers” she said.
That solution can include measures such as working with a company to set up designated health and wellness programs that encourage a healthy lifestyle for the drivers and in the case of one fleet – a Fitbit competition that incentivizes drivers to reach fitness goals by partaking in physical activity when the truck is at a rest stop or being unloaded.
“On the insurance side, we look at all of this. Do we put a price to it specifically? Not necessarily, but it all folds into the overall assessment of the prospective customer of which fleet management is a major driver in our pricing components” Magi said.
