The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) has provided the provincial government with a series of recommendations to update the Truck Transportation Act (TTA). The TTA came into force on January 30, 1989 and ushered in the era of economic deregulation of intraprovincial trucking.
The association is recommending that the minimum statutory requirement of $1 million of PL/PD coverage should be increased to $5 million.
The association also is recommending that the requirement for operating authorities is maintained, arguing that the elimination of operating authorities and the resultant total reliance on 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.
The TTA has certainly achieved its goal of increasing competition and the array of services available to shippers, according to the TTA. But, much of what is contained in the act is now passe, and probably a needless drain on the administrative resources of MTO.
There are many sections that have never been enforced, or that obviously do not accomplish their intended purpose, that could be repealed. This includes such things as the load broker requirements, the owner driver licenses and single source operating authorities, and the customs and immigration conditions (which are a federal responsibility).
Among the things that should be kept, either in an amended TTA or in another act like the HTA, 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. It is likely that shippers would want to keep the requirements relating to cargo insurance. OTA would not oppose this but would want to see some quid pro quo in the form of shipper liability for payment to carriers in the event 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.