Ont. Truckers to Pols: You’ve Done Well Now Keep Doing It

TORONTO – “Stay the course! Don’t waver!”

That’s the Ontario Trucking Association’s (OTA) message to the provincial government this week in the associations’s pre-provincial-budget submission.

According to a statement from the OTA, the province is likely to face some economic challenges in the coming months, which is all the more reason for the government to stay the course it paved through the recession.

OTA vice president Stephen Laskowski commended several provincial initiatives supported by the trucking industry. But even as some of the challenges ahead of the 2012 provincial budget appear daunting, Laskowski stressed that this is no time for government to waver in its commitment to successful programs. “With our own members showing a higher degree of uncertainty in the markets, we fully understand provincial revenues will remain constrained and items for inclusion in the upcoming budget will be impacted,” Laskowski said.

“What OTA is primarily asking for in this budget is that the government maintains its past commitments to ensure stability for our sector.”

Hold Steady on Tax, Training and Infrastructure

The introduction of the HST eliminated the unfair and antiquated tax system which saw Ontario trucking companies pay provincial sales tax on virtually all business inputs and thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage with carriers from jurisdictions that either exempt trucking equipment from sales taxes or already had a harmonized system.

“I would like to remind the members of the Committee that the HST was the single most important tax policy measure introduced by the legislature in recent memory,” said Laskowski. “It’s undoubtedly a much fairer system.”

OTA believes the province has done a good job of maintaining investment in highway and bridge infrastructure despite the financial hurdles it faced in recent years. The association urged the government to prioritize projects that ensure the viability of key trade routes to domestic and international markets, such as the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) process, which aims to build a second bridge at the congested Windsor-Detroit trade Gateway.

Also present at the Committee hearing was Deanna Pagnan, OTA director of Policy & Government Relations, who pointed out the impact of the pending professional driver shortage on the supply of freight transportation. She proposed the association and government work closely together to find ways to increase carrier participation in the Ontario Apprenticeship Program.

“Through the program, potential truck drivers are guaranteed they are receiving industry-accepted standards and will have a job once they complete their training,” she said.

Roll Out the Green Carpet

Another area where the province could afford to expand investment is on the environment. Transport Canada has echoed a U.S. EPA proposal to regulate for the first time the fuel efficiency of heavy trucks by up to 20 percent.

A combination of accepted measures will likely meet the requirement, from aerodynamically redesigned components and add-on devices to adoption of hybrid and liquefied natural gas technology.

Although the OTA supports consumer choice and is content the regulation itself will not force carriers to purchase this equipment, Laskowski points out that “if the governments of Canada and Ontario hope to produce quicker and significant greenhouse gas reductions, the tax system needs to be able to maximize on the regulation’s impact,” through, he added, incentives and accelerated CCA rates for GHG-certified equipment.  

“We believe that with these measures in place we can make the Ontario trucking industry the North American leader in GHG reductions and green transportation.”