It’s official, all provincial associations agree on speed limiter policy

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OTTAWA, Ont. — As expected, the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) has announced all provincial associations are now endorsing the Ontario Trucking Association’s (OTA’s) speed limiter plan.

The announcement came via a press release this morning. Until recently, the Quebec Trucking Association (QTA) had refused to endorse the plan, standing in the way of national unity. Now with the QTA on-board, all provincial trucking associations are prepared to adopt the OTA policy and limit truck speeds in their own provinces to no more than 105 km/h.

“We want to eliminate speeding altogether; the environmental and safety benefits are simply too significant to ignore,” said CTA chief David Bradley.

All trucks built within the last 10 years have built-in microchips that allow a truck’s engine speed to be mechanically limited. However, some U.S. carriers have expressed concern that the plan will provide Canadian fleets with a competitive advantage. They estimate it will cost about US$200 to have the speed limiter activated and then de-activated upon re-entry into the U.S.

For its part, the CTA says its speed limiter policy will benefit carriers by reducing their fuel usage by up to 10,500 litres per year (comparing 120 km/h to 105 km/h). Also, the association says up to 350 kilotonnes of GHG emissions can be reduced and the policy will result in less severe truck/car crashes and improved lane discipline.

Many drivers, for their part, have voiced strong disapproval for the policy, arguing safety will be jeopardized as they will no longer have the ability to pass vehicles in a safe and timely manner.

The CTA says safety and environmental groups including: The Canada Safety Council; Pollution Probe; the Insurance Bureau of Canada; and the Canadian Transportation Equipment Association are in favour of the proposal. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has been studying the OTA proposal and is expected to take a stance on the issue in the coming weeks.

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