TORONTO — The City of Toronto has just over a month to find a new trash hauler as its current transport provider has announced plans to back out of its contract.

Wilson Logistics was only five years into a 20-year contract with Toronto to haul 1.3 million tonnes of residential trash to Michigan. The city has until March 31 to hire a new carrier.

Toronto’s general manager of solid waste Richard Butts told TodaysTrucking.com that the city was in negotiations with a new service provider, but he said he could not disclose which trucking company was interested in the job.

Etobicoke, Ont.-based Wilson Logistics had been threatening to walk away from the contract for almost two years. In June 2004, the city rejected Wilson’s request to renegotiate the deal because the carrier was experiencing escalating costs due to diesel prices and a new hours-of-work regime implemented in the U.S.

Former Wilson spokesperson Gord Haugh told Today’s Trucking at the time that 40 percent of the trips to Michigan could no longer be completed in one day after the U.S. HOS rules took effect.

The additional 150 runs and extra equipment weighed down the company, which claimed to be losing $1 million a quarter on top of the hit it already took in delays and setbacks associated with the SARS, mad cow, and the blackout crisis of 2003.

The company argued in front of a three-member arbitration panel that it should be allowed to walk away from the contract because it faced “uncontrollable Circumstances.”

However, says Butts, Wilson sat down with city officials in the fall of 2005 in order to try to reach a newdeal. “In good faith, we did agree to talk to them about those issues, but still we couldn’t reach a resolution,” says Butts, who adds that the city was prepared to up the ante at the time.

Calls seeking comment from Wilson Logistics were not returned.

Asked if the new carrier would be able to ramp up enough capacity in time to start hauling trash by the end of March, Butts said “it’s our belief that from a resident’s point of view, no one will notice a difference.”

To keep pace with rising costs Toronto has set aside an extra $4.2 million for 2006. That translates to about 60 a tonne, compared to $55 for both transportation rates and disposal fees. Wilson’s cut from that was reportedly $33 a tonne.

The city has been trucking one third of its garbage to Michigan since closing down its own Keele Valley landfill in 2002. The cost of dumping trash north of the city was $12 a tonne at the time.

But there’s a slight possibility Toronto may have to look once again in its own backyard for alternatives as some Michigan lawmakers are vowing to ban Toronto’s trash. However, it’s unlikely that the state can restrict Canadian trash outright, as it would violate NAFTA trade rules.

Meanwhile, some Michigan and Toronto officials will be meeting at Michigan State University’s Canadian Studies Centre next month to discuss possible solutions to the contentious problem of solid waste shipments from Ontario to Michigan.

Toronto Councilor Jane Pitfield and Brad Van Guilder from Ann Arbor’s Ecology Center will review the controversy’s background. The Sierra Club of Canada’s Rod Muir will examine a plan for Toronto to recycle its way to solution and perhaps drastically reduce shipments. Representatives from the U.S. Congress and International Trade Canada will also be on hand to discuss current efforts to block solid waste exports.