TORONTO, Ont.– The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) is commending a part in the provincial budget that was announced today that would close a long-time loophole which exempted certain heavy trucks from having to be plated and subjected to commercial vehicle registration fees, provincial fuel taxes and even 407ETR tolls.
For years, certain heavy trucks (like mobile cranes, vacuum trucks, and concrete pumper trucks) were labeled as “road-building machines” under the Highway Traffic Act, sparing owners from being charged fees and taxes other commercial truck operators are forced to pay.
“A truck is a truck is a truck,” said David Bradley, president of the OTA. “It should not matter what commercial enterprise a truck is in. They are all road users and their owners should pay their fair share of the costs of building, maintaining and safety of the infrastructure.”
OTA estimates the revenue leakage from the gap to be near $50 million a year.
“It’s not like we’re talking about construction vehicles which are clearly road-building machines,” said Bradley. “We’re talking about trucks, many of which are involved in a broad range of commercial activities deployed by profit-driven entities like any other commercial road user. We commend the provincial government for having the courage to close the loophole.”
OTA = Ontario Trucking Association
Looks like someone is in the governments pocket!