TORONTO — Recognizing that the threat of a pandemic outbreak of the avian flu is, in the government’s words, “a matter of when – not
if”, the Ontario Trucking Association and the Canadian Trucking Alliance have begun work on a strategy to help carriers deal with such an
emergency.

The associations are contacting government agencies and business continuity planning consultants to determine what the industry can do to prepare itself for a pandemic, the OTA states.

“During the SARS crisis in Toronto a number of carriers were impacted by quarantines and other business disruptions and we want to make sure
that, to the greatest extent possible, we are better prepared for the much greater threat posed by the avian flu,” OTA says.