MTO defends new trucking rules

Ontario has the safest roads in Canada and the MTO intends to keep it that way.
To that end, the province passed new regulations last year that took effect Jan. 1.
National Safety Code Standard 10 is now the law in Ontario, and elsewhere in Canada, so the MTO has been conducting information seminars across the province to bring drivers and operators up to speed on the new regulations.
One such seminar was held in Fort Frances on Jan. 15—and more are scheduled in Northern Ontario over the next few weeks.
Speaking at the 14th-annual meeting and conference of the Rainy River District Municipal Association held Jan. 29 in Barwick, MTO area enforcement co-ordinator Doug Johnson assured delegates the new regulations were not drafted in a vacuum.
“Every province and territory had a say in these regulations,” he stressed, pointing to Ontario’s excellent safety record to date.
“Right now, Ontario has the safest roads in Canada and among the safest in North America,” he remarked.
Johnson attributed much of that safety to the vigilance of MTO’s enforcement. Last year alone, for instance, MTO officers made 125,000 vehicle checks throughout the province.
One delegate asked Johnson why only truckers are being targeted, claiming he has seen a number of passenger vehicles that, in his opinion, should not have been on the road.
Johnson replied that while the MTO has the authority to stop passenger vehicles, it does not have the mandate.
The OPP is the agency primarily charged with that responsibility, he noted, and that the MTO only will get involved in extreme situations.
“If we see a car that is obviously unsafe, we’ll pull it over or notify the OPP,” Johnson assured.
Although the new regulations came into effect at the beginning of the year, they will not be enforced until July 1 to give truckers an opportunity to understand and meet the new standards.