TORONTO — When the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) first unveiled to trucking journalists its plan to get speed limiters mandated on all trucks in the province, it’s safe to say that not many people in the room — aside from the presenters — truly thought it would ever happen. Yet, two years later, it looks like the OTA is as close as ever to closing its most ambitious lobbying effort.

As TodaysTrucking.com reported in July, Ontario Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield indicated that her government plans to legislate a 105 km/h-speed limiter rule for all trucks if the party wins the upcoming Oct. 11th provincial election.

Judging purely on the Liberals’ previous pre-election promises, speed limiters are far from a sure thing. Still, there’s no doubt the announcement has galvanized the plan’s proponents and troubled its critics, including long-time opponent Joanne Ritchie, executive director of the Owner-Operator’s Business Association of Canada.

Ritchie says she’s surprised with Cansfield’s decision considering all the questions still being raised about the issue at the federal level. “I think it’s very irresponsible of (Cansfield) to thumb her nose at the rest of the country and go it alone,” says Ritchie.

Transport Canada recently authored a discussion paper for the Council of Transport Ministers, which looked at the impact of limiters on traffic speeds for truck and road users, environmental issues, trade issues and just-in-time freight, and experiences with the technology in the EU and Australia.

The deputy ministers concluded the issue was complex, says Mark Schauerte, acting chief of Motor Carrier Policy at Transport Canada, but likely has merit and needs to be studied further. They then ordered additional research, which is currently underway.

When asked if a speed limiter rule is needed for cars
too, Transport Minister Cansfield’s office said no.

“There were safety concerns regarding how it would affect traffic ­patterns,” Ritchie says of the meeting. “They questioned the actual environmental impact in terms of what the actual reduction levels might be.”

Furthermore, stakeholders were said to be keenly interested in the reports of tampering coming from countries like Australia, where the compliance rate is only about 70 percent. Officials in Oz have complained that it requires a substantial investment in time and enforcement resources to keep up with the tampering.

OTA President David Bradley, who naturally was buoyant after the MTO announcement, says the all these issues can be worked out over time. He’s indicated many times that now is the time for action.

“We now have a political commitment. It’s something we’ve been waiting for,” says Bradley, who adds that about half the trucks in the province already have their speed governed. “It’s a sign of the maturing of the business. We want competition to be based on service and service where price includes the cost of compliance. Those who fly under the radar of compliance won’t be able to provide service on false underpinnings. And it will help adjust the pricing mechanism.”

Cansfield, who reiterated the OTA line that speed limiters would reduce severe crashes and improve the environment, admitted that the OTA played an important role in the government’s decision.

Asked if speeding trucks are so much of a concern that legislation is a necessity, a spokesmanfrom Cansfield’s office told Today’s Trucking: “There’s obviously an issue or it wouldn’t be discussed.”

The available facts, however, paint a different picture. Responding to a query from the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada (PMTC) last year, the MTO admitted it does not specifically keep statistics on speeding trucks. Though, records for 2003 show that nearly 20,600 class ‘A’ drivers received speeding tickets compared with 587,000 class G (passenger car) licence holders. Plus, we know that a majority of violations occur on highways with posted speeds of 80 km/h or under, so an imposed limit of 105 wouldn’t have much on an impact there.

So, with class G licence holders speeding 30 times the rate of heavy trucks, is the MTO considering a speed limiter rule for passenger car operators as well? Cansfield says no.

It may make little difference, however, who ends up ruling the throne at Queen’s Park. John Tory, leader of the opposition Conservatives, is on the record in support of the idea. It remains to be seen, though, whether a possible Tory government quickly adopts the Liberal bill, starts from scratch, or pushes the issue to the bottom of its docket.

— To read the complete story be sure to pick up the August print issue of Today’s Trucking.