Can-Am owner-ops join forces against speed limiters

TORONTO — With the Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation now actively soliciting input on the Ontario Trucking Association’s suggestion that all trucks operating in that province be limited to 105 km/h (65 mph), owner-operator groups on both sides of the border are joining forces in opposing the proposal.

U.S.-based OOIDA (Owner Operator and Independent Drivers Association) — which represents about 130,000 truckers — and OBAC (Owner-Operators Business Association of Canada) have announced they will speak with a single voice in opposition to the move.

The MTO says so far it has collected
15 opinions on speed governors

Should the Ontario government impose such legislation, all trucks traveling in that province — including those from other provinces and the U.S. — would be subject to speed limiters, commonly known as engine governors.

Ontario’s transport ministry is currently accepting comments from industry stakeholders until this coming Friday, Dec. 23.

So far, says Dwain Smith, senior policy advisor for MTO’s Carrier Safety and Enforcement Branch, about 15 comments have been submitted since Dec. 13, when the comment period opened.

“The Ministry will consider these comments as part of its overall assessment of the OTA proposal. A report will be prepared for the minister’s consideration early in the new year,” he told TodaysTrucking.com in an email.

Asked if, overall, the comments leaned to one opinion over another regarding the proposal, Smith said the Ministry is still “carefully analyzing all responses.”

OBAC executive director Joanne Ritchie says she is fundamentally in favour of reasonable road speeds for all vehicles, and particularly for owner-operators as it relates to the cost of running their trucks at higher speeds. But she has expressed concern with OTA’s approach to the issue.

US Owner-ops oppose OTA’s speed
limiter plan from spreading south

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the cost savings of slower speeds; even 105 km/hr has a huge price tag,” she says. “But we simply cannot support mandating speed limiters. Rather than government interfering in the business and operating decisions of private industry, they should be paying more attention to their safety mandate by enforcing existing road speeds for vehicles — trucks or four-wheelers — that are actually ‘speeding.'”

The OTA has publicly expressed it would like to see the potential rule expanded continent-wide.

While attending the OTA conference in Toronto last month, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves said he might be willing to put the issue up for discussion among his members.

OOIDA President and CEO Jim Johnston said professional drivers will resist the plan because they know creating a speed differential is plainly a bad idea.

“One of my main objections to it is a group of motor carriers get together and decide that they personally would like their trucks limited at a specific speed, which they certainly have every right to do on their own,” Johnston said. “The problem is they want to force this down everyone else’s throat as well, so they don’t lose competitive advantage, either for available drivers, or for their ease of movement around the country.”

But OTA insists that it just wants truckers to comply with the rules that are already on the books. And the group isn’t going to make apologies for promoting an equal playing field for members — many which already voluntarily control the speed of their fleet, OTA President David Bradley said in a recent interview.

“This is a safety issue, and it’s to deal with fuel consumption. But more importantly it’s to level the competitive playing field,” he said. “Our members that are playing by the rules, and keeping drivers limited to whatever speed they’re limiting them to, are losing drivers to companies that will let their drivers speed.”