Dear Editor:

As I sit and read the letters to the editor in the May 2009 edition of Truck News, I can’t help but think of how uneducated some submissions actually are.

It is actually frustrating to see that people are willing to take a few points out of someone else’s opinion to form their own. These misinformed opinions are just that – misinformed.

The speed limit was set a long time ago, dare I say even longer than some of these drivers have been drivers. Many companies have already implemented speed limiter policies long before the government stepped in, due to incentives provided by their insurance companies and properly programmed trucks that worked well within the ratios to get good fuel mileage.

For those drivers that want to pass another driver doing 104 km/h down the 401 and you take up 10 km of highway to pass him or her at 105 km/h in the middle lane, who really is the danger to the motoring public? If your log is that stretched that you need that extra kilometre an hour to get there or if your load times are that tight that your inability to speed on the highway is the reason you can’t do your job, you may want to think of another career path because the speed limiter is not your primary issue.

I wanted to address the fact that they say drivers are making less money. Legally a driver has far more hours to work within to obtain the money he or she desires. The inability to speed to make up those few miles you used to get before being limited in Ontario and Quebec are made back in the extra time you have available to work. Shippers, carriers and let’s face it – drivers’ personal availability or lack thereof have a bigger impact on a driver’s wallet than a few kilometres.

Lastly, I read that O/O are upset that Ontario is “dictating” what they are able to run in other jurisdictions. This is simply untrue. If anyone actually bothered to READ the regulation, you will notice that there is not a restriction on having the ability to disable the system outside of Ontario. What it does state is that you are not to possess a tampering device. Tampering devices are defined in the regulation as devices that send false information to the truck’s ECM for the purpose of disguising the fact that the limiter is not functioning.

In fact there are several ways (if a driver chose to) to be able to disable or program the system to open the limiter back up when outside of the Ontario and Quebec borders:

Satellite gating: many companies have satellite systems that can be proximity gated;

Handheld devices: (Internet searchable);

Manufacturer Software. Granted there are concerns that I may have regarding the policies that the government implements, however it is not going to change. So whining and crying about a regulation that you have obviously not really researched doesn’t bode well for any argument to have it changed.

Anisa Copeland Via e-mail