TORONTO, Ont. — The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) has voiced disappointment over news the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will begin examining satellite tracking records during facility audits.

The MTO says it will begin looking at satellite records for enforcement purposes beginning July 1. The OTA had hoped the province would hold off until electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) are made mandatory for all fleets.

“OTA had hoped that MTO would hold off on using satellite records until they had put in place a policy framework for the mandatory use of Electronic On Board Recorders (EOBRs),” said OTA president David Bradley.

Since August, 2008, MTO has held a moratorium on inspecting GPS/satellite tracking records during facility audits. The OTA had complained that inspecting satellite tracking records is unfair towards carriers that use the technology, since satellite tracking is currently not mandated. The association felt it created an unlevel playing field between carriers that voluntarily use the technology and those that do not.

Unfortunately for carriers that use satellite tracking, inspection of those records will once again be part of the MTO’s facility audits for scoring purposes.

For its part, the MTO says it will take into consideration a carrier’s CVOR violation rate to determine whether or not the GPS records should be examined. Here’s the three phase approach taken by MTO:

Phase 1: No GPS records will be used in any Tier 1 or Tier 2 audits until June 30.

Phase 2: As of July 1, GPS records will be used only for Tier 1 audits. From July 1 to Dec. 31, GPS records will not be used for Tier 2 audits.

Phase 3: Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, GPS records will be used in all tiers of facility audits.