The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) has provided the Canadian provincial government a series of recommendations to update the Truck Transportation Act (TTA), which came into force Jan 30, 1989.
OTA recommends that the minimum statutory requirement of $1 million of PL/PD coverage be increased to $5 million. The agency is recommending that the requirement for operating authorities is maintained, arguing that the elimination of operating authorities and the resultant total reliance on commercial vehicle operators registration (CVOR) would have a negative impact on safety and create a non-level playing field within the industry. Without an operating authority, the notion of the “operative CVOR” would disappear, and all any carrier, load broker, or other business would have to do to avoid CVOR liabilities and sanctions would be to hire owner-operators with their own CVOR numbers.
Many TTA sections have never been enforced, or do not accomplish their purpose, and could be repealed. This includes load broker requirements, owner driver licenses and single source operating authorities, and customs and immigration conditions (that are a federal responsibility).
Among the things that should be kept — either in an amended TTA or in another act — is the requirement that out-of-province carriers have an agent in Ontario, the conditions of carriage and the requirements for a bill of lading. Shippers likely would want to keep the requirements relating to cargo insurance. OTA would not oppose this but would want to see some substitute in the form of shipper liability for payment to carriers in case of non-payment by a load broker. Finally, OTA believes the TTA should be amended to clarify what documents can be seized when a vehicle is stopped by an enforcement officer.