TORONTO, Ont. — The provincial government’s Bill 179, which closes some loop holes in trucking regulations and gives the Ministry of Transportation some new powers, has received royal assent.

The Bill repeals the Truck Transportation Act and will become effective when Ottawa passes the Motor Vehicle Transport Act, which is expected some time next year.

Bill 179 gives MTO enforcement officers the authority to pull the plates from vehicles in violation of any part of the Highway Traffic Act, the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act or the Dangerous Goods Act.

Among other things, Bill 179:

– allows for annual CVOR renewal;

– gives the MTO the power to create endorsements on commercial drivers’ licences for specific activities such as driving a tank truck or a double-trailer configuration;

– replaces the general over-length exemption for car-carrying semi-trailers with the power to make regulations exempting any class of vehicles, to close what the MTO saw as a loop-hole that some carriers used to exceed length restrictions when carrying vehicles other than automobiles

– allows municipalities to set different speed limits for trucks in school zones and on steep grades.