TORONTO, Ont. — PMTC head Bruce Richards has joined the ranks of association heads critical of the anti-truck comments made by NDP leader Jack Layton.

Layton’s comments came during a May 26 interview on Canada AM. According to NDP candidate Jack Layton, the NDP wants to "get those big rigs and trucks off the road that are destroying the roads by investing in rail again."

"I hope that the NDP has thought through their election platform a little better than that," said Private Motor Truck Council of Canada President Bruce Richards. "Those ill-informed comments seem all too personal to be representative of the party’s views."

Richards went on to say that the weight that trucks are allowed to carry is carefully determined by engineers within the responsible ministries of transportation, and on-road inspectors carefully monitor the activities of carriers. "Anyone with even a basic knowledge of truck regulation would be familiar with that," said Richards.

And as for the idea of shifting the freight to rail, Richards pointed out: "We live in an era where consumers expect everything from groceries to fresh produce, to department store goods to be available on demand. It is an efficient trucking system that makes that happen and anyone who has given the matter a little thought would realize that."