QUEBEC CITY, Que. — The Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ) announced it is lifting the ban on the movement of long combination vehicles (LCVs) for all statutory holidays for a period of three years. This measure comes into effect on Sept. 6.

A ministerial order was published in the official gazette on Aug. 21.

“Due to the benefits of using large longhaul trains in terms of manpower, greenhouse gas emissions, logistics and their road safety record, it is timely that LCVs be authorized to circulate on statutory holidays in Quebec for an extended period,” said the MTQ in a press release.

This announcement is a victory for the ACQ, which has been strongly demanding this change for several years. For Marc Cadieux, CEO of the ACQ, this announcement improves the competitiveness of Quebec carriers.

“The ministerial decree ensures that the industry will be able to benefit from the legislative change as of the next holidays, without having to wait because of the deadlines imposed by the usual adoption process,” said Cadieux. This three-year period will therefore give the Quebec government time to include the amendment in future legislation.

“This is excellent news,” said Eric Gignac, CEO of Groupe Guilbault, when we informed him of the announcement. “It is a sign of openness from the government towards a proven approach and a tool it gives us to alleviate a little the problems of driver shortage with which the industry must contend.”

This announcement will also make life easier for carriers.

“It was a headache to plan the use of LCVs and drivers according to the holidays. Now we will be able to plan much more easily knowing that these configurations will be able to run 365 days,” said Gignac, who hopes now that we can finalize the discussions on the hours of use of the LCVs.

“We are indeed working, also, on the liberalization of the hours of use of LCVs,” confirmed Cadieux.