TORONTO — The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) has created a Private Carrier Council (PCC) to grow its private carrier membership and to better represent all carrier sectors.

“We have always had private carrier members but in recent years, interest in joining the association has grown significantly,” says OTA President David Bradley.

The OTA currently has about 50 private fleets including companies such as Canadian Tire, Domino’s Pizza, Frito Lay, Gordon Food Service, HBC, Labatt Breweries, Loblaw, Mill Street Brewery, Pioneer Petroleums, the Beer Store, and Tim Horton’s.

Bradley says private and for-hire carriers have a common interest in most major policy and compliance issues, including areas of safety, environmental regulation, vehicle weights and dimensions such as LCVs, taxes and fees, as well as the driver shortage.

Bradley adds: “But we also recognize the unique nature of the private carrier role, so we wanted to create a forum where they can come together to discuss the issues that matter most to them and share best practices.”

 The new OTAPCC will have its own chair and vice-chair. An as-yet-to-be-determined number of seats will also be reserved on the OTA Board of Directors specifically for private carriers. (OTA’s next board elections are in 2016). Private carriers will also continue to enjoy a cap on their OTA membership dues that is significantly lower than the limit in place for for-hire carriers.

The council will meet twice a year: the first meeting of the OTAPCC will be held on June 26 at the association’s offices in Toronto; the second meeting of the council will be held on Nov. 4 at the kick-off of the 2015 OTA Convention and Executive Conference.

For more information you can contact OTA’s Lak Shoan at lak.shoan@ontruck.org or 416-249-7401, ext. 235.