The challenges towns like Caledon are facing regarding truck safety violations, illegal parking and crashes, are a symptom of a much larger systemic problem, an Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) official has said.

Marco Beghetto, vice-president of communications and new media, said that values and standards are decaying and hurting municipalities and communities across the province, according to a news release. 

Speaking at a Caledon town council general committee meeting recently, Beghetto hailed political leaders, town staff, as well as local community safety advocates, for recognizing there is a growing problem and for reaching out to neighboring municipalities and stakeholders to coordinate strategies to enforce traffic violations and zoning bylaws.

OTA has been meeting regularly with the mayor of Caledon, as well as mayors of Vaughn and Brampton, to discuss truck parking and road safety and offered its municipal planning paper as support.

Beghetto reinforced OTA’s continued support on municipal issues but warned that to truly address the root of the truck safety and non-compliance crisis, meaningful provincial and federal intervention is crucial. 

“I know when you work hard to put out one fire, it feels like three others start – and how frustrating that can be. I’m here to tell you the issues you are all seeing daily across Ontario, and in Caledon specifically, are a symptom of a much larger systemic problem of a growing underground economy and culture of non-compliance,” he said.

“In essence, what you are seeing played out on your roadways at the local level is downstream of a much larger scheme that exploits loopholes in the tax, labor and immigration systems, as well as the provincial safety, licensing and training regimes.” 

He urged the provincial and federal governments to increase enforcement and help restore a culture of accountability.