TORONTO, (June 2, 2004) — By hauling both food and garbage, Wilson Logistics is by default an indispensable part of the average citizen’s life. But the latter part of that business may come to an end, as new U.S. hours-of-service rules may propel the termination of a 20-year agreement between the Toronto-based waste hauler and the city of Toronto.

Wilson recently signed a 20-year contract with the City of Toronto to haul 1.3 million tonnes of residential trash to Michigan. However, mounting costs associated with U.S. hours-of-service rules is biting severely into the company’s bottom line.

“It was evident that under the new rules, 40 per cent of the trips could not be completed in one day,” Wilson spokesperson Gord Haugh told Today’s Trucking in an interview. “Most drivers could make their first trip of the week. But if the trip takes him more than 14 hours, which, when you consider border tie-ups and wait times, it usually does, then the next day, he’d be illegal because he didn’t get the 10 consecutive hours of rest.”

In response, Wilson drivers coming from transfer stations in Toronto are now required to stop in London, transfer the load to another driver who takes it the rest of the way across the border.

But those additional 150 drivers and equipment is weighing down the company, which is losing 1 million a quarter on top of the hit it has already taken in delays and setbacks associated with the SARS, Mad Cow, and the blackout crisis of 2003. “HOS is the proverbial straw,” says Haugh.

As a remedy, the carrier has asked the city of Toronto to renegotiate their contract. So far the city has refused, forcing Wilson to take their case before a three-member arbitration panel. A preliminary hearing took place May 19. “It’s not a court case, so the only thing the panel can do is agree with Wilson’s declaration of ‘Uncontrollable Circumstances ,'” Haugh says. If that happens, the contract can be dissolved and Wilson can walk away.

On the surface, it seems neither party can afford not get a deal done. Wilson would be forgoing an enormous slice of their total business, and the city would be hard-pressed to find another specialized carrier to handle the size and scope of the operation.

While carriers and shippers of all stripes are putting together new contracts in the face of HOS, Wilson, by dealing with North America’s fourth-largest municipal bureaucracy, is in a unique situation. “It’s not like a line-haul guy who goes to his customer, who knows what the transportation issues are,” says Haugh. “We’re dealing with politicians who don’t really see the problem, and don’t understand the hoops Wilson is jumping through.”

For the complete story, check out the June issue of Today’s Trucking.