The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) wants to eliminate any speeding by trucks. Recently, the OTA board of directors endorsed the principle that speed limiters on trucks should become mandatory. The association will spend the summer months meeting with stakeholders to nail down the details of its policy, which it hopes to then ratify this autumn.
In June, OTA Chairman Scott Smith led a delegation on a fact-finding mission to Europe to: (1) confirm that the perception that speed limit compliance and lane discipline by trucks is better in Europe than it is in North America; and (2) determine why this is so. OTA representatives visited carriers, drivers, associations, legislators, regulatory officials, and enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, and France. Maximum truck speeds in the European Union have been controlled by the mandatory use of speed limiters — sometimes called governors — for years, and according to OTA, the system works extremely well.
The carriers expect some resistance from some trucking companies and truck drivers. But, says Scott Smith, “the benefits (of mandatory speed limitation) far outweigh the costs.”
Besides meeting with equipment manufacturers, government, enforcement agencies, and insurance providers, OTA has also engaged a company to conduct focus groups and one-on-one interviews with truck drivers.
Once a comprehensive OTA policy has been developed and adopted this autumn, it will be forwarded to the national level in Canada and after that to the United States trucking industry for consideration.