Trucking businesses in northern Ontario say they’re feeling left out of a $1.3 million plan by the provincial government to increase the number of drivers. The Bridging the Gap in Trucking program, announced early Tuesday by the Ontario government and the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada, offers free training to women and newcomers during an ongoing staffing shortage. But its first cohort for free in-person training will take place in Kitchener-Waterloo, the Greater Toronto Area, London and Ottawa. “To me, it’s hopeless,” said John McKevitt, owner of McKevitt Trucking and has an understaffed crew of 15 drivers in Sudbury, Ont. “That would help us if they turned out a good product. But I don’t see why we should be discriminated against in northern Ontario, anywhere. There’s lots of trucking up in northern Ontario. So why shouldn’t you be given new drivers here,” he added.