Brampton rallies behind ODTA in SPIF row
The Brampton City Council has unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the Ontario Dump Truck Association (ODTA) in its fight with the province over the enforcement of a weights and dimensions regulation.
The province began implementing Ontario Regulation 413/05: Vehicle Weights and Dimensions for Safe, Productive, Infrastructure-Friendly (SPIF) Vehicles on New Year’s Day.
The regulation was introduced in four phases during 2000-11, and operators have had nearly 10 years of grandfathering period to comply with the rule.
That deadline expired Dec. 31.
Trucks with SPIF configurations are allowed a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 36 metric tonnes while non-SPIF vehicles will be restricted to operating at a GVWR of 27 tonnes.
The ODTA, which has been holding protests against the regulation, wants the province to grandfather their vehicles for their full lifespan without any weight restrictions.
The Ministry of Transportation has rejected that demand.
The ODTA has said that most of its members cannot afford to retrofit their vehicles with steer axles and weight distribution systems because that would cost between $25,000 and $40,000.
Impact on livelihoods
Voting on a motion moved by Gurpreet Singh Dhillon on Wednesday, the Brampton City Council urged the province to review the regulation.
The council said the enforcement of the law will significantly impact the livelihoods of a large number of dump truck owners and operators, many of whom are from Brampton.
“Many Bramptonians are employed in the industry, and will suffer a great financial loss, up to $40,000 per truck, if they are forced to accept the new regulations” said Dhillon.
“I sincerely hope that the provincial government will listen to the request of Brampton Council, and work collaboratively with the Ontario Dump Truck Association and dump truck owners everywhere to come up with viable solution.”
The council said Brampton’s mayor will now seek a meeting between the ODTA and the province to discuss the issue.
Have your say
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I agree!
Many people new to canada by or lease old trucks. I think all trucks under 10 years of age and meet the new standards should have a minimum rate of $90.00 per hour for a tri axle . All gov. road contracts should require trucks of the newer standard. All dump truck drivers of 30,000 kg or more should get $24.00 per hour on payroll plus overtime after 10 hours per day.
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100 percent
what about the guys that bought the new Spif trucks or already retrofit them will they be compensated for following the rules , Or have a class action lawsuit
the law is the law comply
I have been involved in the trucking industry for 50 plus years,
I have been aware of this regulation since 2010,
Personally I feel if you were to closely examine the Brampton dump truck community you would find a very high percentage of the operators in that area have compliant to the SPIF regulations, which leads me to believe that Brampton City Council, or any other municipal council for that matter should be involved in this!
This regulation has been around long enough for people to comply!
It is probably a good thing that 10 to 20 year old trucks are limited to lesser gross weights to prevent structural damages to the older vehicles!
If this is a real concern why did this group wait. Until 11:45th hour to demonstrate?
Just my two cents worth!!