TORONTO, ON – The Ontario Ministry of Transportation is extending a trial of 60-foot trailers beyond the retail sector.

Permits are now based on Commercial Vehicle Operator Record (CVOR) rather than a semitrailer’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), the Ontario Trucking Association reports. But the permits – one for each semitrailer — will list all VINs included in the trial. Participating carriers are limited to eight permits, and just four in the first year of a trial.

No more than 40 permits will be included in the trial overall, and three carriers are already operating 20 of them.

Given the expense, the ministry is also including a discretionary 10-year grandfather allowance at the end of the trial.

Stephen Laskowski, president and Chief Executive Officer of the association, referred to the approach as “measured”, and echoing the approach originally taken when testing Long Combination Vehicles and extended stinger steer car carriers.

The trial will run until 3.2 million kilometers are accumulated. That target is expected by the end of 2018.

• an earlier version of this article was edited to correct the distance to be covered during the trial. Today’s Trucking regrets the error.