MTO orders truck crackdown after crash

TORONTO, (Oct. 1, 2004) — Ontario Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar promised a crackdown on “unsafe” trucks in the wake of a fiery two-truck crash that shut down a section of Highway 401 this week.

Takhar said he ordered a complete audit of Redtree Contract Carriers, a division of Toronto based trash hauler Wilson logistics, which has the contract to transport Toronto garbage to Michigan.

He also ordered a truck safety blitz, and hinted about bringing in a tougher rating system for trucking companies.

In the collision Wednesday, a Redtree truck loaded with trashed reportedly swerved and clipped a tractor-trailer hauling paint to Brampton. The paint truck flipped and the truck exploded shortly after the paint cans caught fire. Both drivers were treated at hospital for injuries and released.

Police say there were no known mechanical problems with the trash truck, and speed is not a factor. They continue to investigate. The driver of the Redtree truck was charged, however.

Meanwhile, the President of the Ontario Trucking Association says if the provincial government were serious about further improving truck safety it would concentrate its enforcement efforts on the “bottom feeders” of the industry.

OTA chief David Bradley says the MTO spends too much time auditing and inspecting the majority of carriers that don’t pose a risk, instead of putting the real problem companies out of business. He said the government should introduce a program of real competitive advantages for safe trucking companies. Shippers who use unsafe carriers should be held liable for accidents.

“We know who those carriers are and the government knows who they are, yet those companies continue to operate like everyone else putting the public at risk and distorting the market for good carriers,” said Bradley.

In addition, he said, the provincial government needs to regulate truck driver “licence mills” out of existence. And, there needs to be a more coordinated process of cleaning up after accidents so that traffic disruptions are minimized.