Dear Editor,

We have been owner/operators for six years now and have been through so much, but I cannot believe the trucking industry is so poorly organized.

Last week, we sold our dump truck and trailer so we could get out of doing seasonal work and into year-round work.

We purchased a tractor in order to haul wood and steel.

We made sure to do everything right when we purchased this truck.

My husband spent $4,000 on all the parts to ensure the safety of this truck.

He was off for two weeks and lost a lot of money but we felt good to know that we had no more payments to make on the truck and we were being so safe.

The first day out with a full load of wood, driving down the Hwy. 401, my husband’s worst nightmare became a reality.

His set of duels flew off the truck and across the four lanes. We were lucky no one was hit or injured, but a witness said it was as if God was guiding the 500lb axle across the highway.

When the O.P.P., the MTO and the inspector arrived at the scene, they let my husband go and thought it only a coincidence that he got his certification just the day prior.

When I contacted the MTO to inquire about who was responsible for this, I was informed that it was our fault and we would be held accountable for the incident. My point is how can it be our fault if we did everything by the book?

I want to make other drivers aware that garages go by the Ministry’s 611 rules for truck safety.

Provided the garage follows these rules they will be safe. I took the liberty to look up these rules and they don’t require the wheels to be taken off and inspected at the seals, so there may be other trucks out there with the wheels ready to fly off.

This particular garage spent two hours fixing the horn on the truck but never did check inside the tires, and they were abiding by MTO 611 rules.

But when you’re at the scales, the inspectors make sure that you call someone in to fix your brakes, rusty bolts or whatever may be wrong.

We get a bad rap even when we try to do the right thing.

I believe the MTO should change those 611 rules in order to protect us more, and stop picking on the little things and concentrate more on the big things.

Elizabeth Biancale,