GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. – Quebec’s Transport Minister Julie Boulet has backed out of a promise to hold off on mandatory speed limiters until other Canadian jurisdictions jump on board the bandwagon, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is complaining.

So far, Ontario is the only other province to pass speed limiter legislation requiring truckers to set engine speed settings to 105 km/h. As todaystrucking.com was the first to report last week, both provinces are aiming for a ‘soft enforcement" implementation date of Jan. 1, 2009.

In a press release, OOIDA denounced Boulet for the "changé l’esprit." Last December, Quebec trucker and OOIDA member Jean Catudal insists he was given assurances by transport officials that Quebec would hold off on its proposed rule until the rest of Canada enacted similar legislation and Transport Canada released its own studies on the effectiveness and safety issues of speed limiters.

OOIDA hopes Ontario and Quebec’s speed limiter
plans aren’t infectious and spread to south of the border

Transport Canada unveiled that series of reports this past summer, and while an initial press release from the minister’s office chose to tout the environmental benefits of speed limiters, the completed studies, when read fully, don’t exactly paint a rosy picture of mandatory engine governors (as we reported at the time in an exclusive feature, found here).

"Our members are furious," said Rick Craig, OOIDA’s director of regulatory affairs. "Not only is Minister Boulet going back on her word, she is also disregarding the grim implications this decision will have on trade at a time when Canada and the U.S. can least afford it."

The 160,000-trucker strong, Missouri-based group — backed by its Canadian counterpart, the Owner-Operators Business Association of Canada — is forging ahead with plans to sue the provinces if they go through with the enforcement of speed limiters. OOIDA says the rules are an affront to NAFTA.

"If Minister Boulet follows through with this announcement, thousands of truckers throughout Canada and the U.S. will effectively be barred from operating in Quebec. That is a serious anti-competitive move that cannot go unchallenged.”

The large trucking companies who are pushing for a speed limiter mandate "well know it will not increase safety or benefit the environment as they’ve advertised," Craig added, reiterating a common concern of many independent operators. "They’re in it for limiting competition and harming the little guy."