Ontario Making Life Easier for professional truck operators
Friday, 08 November 2019 04:33.PM
- Associate Minister Surma Meets with Ontario Trucking Industry. -
(Ministry of Transportation) - The Ontario government is continuing to connect people and businesses to places by reducing regulatory burdens and removing barriers to job creation and income growth.
Today, Kinga Surma, Associate Minister of Transportation and Deepak Anand, MPP for Mississauga-Malton, met with leaders from Ontario's trucking industry to discuss a proposed multi-year action plan that will make life easier for professional truck operators to do business in Ontario while remaining focused on safety.
"The trucking industry plays a very important role in Ontario's economy because it helps get goods to market," said Minister Surma. "Our government is listening to the Ontario trucking industry and we are taking action to ensure we support a safe, productive and competitive industry for years to come."
"We will continue to work towards improving road safety, reducing burden on industry and ensuring Ontario is open for business and open for jobs, including within the province's trucking industry," said MPP Anand.
On October 28, the Ontario government introduced the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act to simplify and modernize regulations while eliminating requirements that are outdated or duplicative. If passed, professional truck drivers and companies will save time and money as the government combines separate inspections for emissions standards and vehicle safety into a single inspection.
Additionally, Ontario will continue to make it easier for trucking companies to do business and help them be more competitive and efficient through proposed changes to Ontario's Long Combination Vehicle program and to the International Registration Plan program.
Changes to Ontario’s Long Combination Vehicle (LCV) program will ease: conditions around peak travel restrictions within the Greater Toronto Area; cargo restrictions; and allow the Parry Sound lay-by to be used as an Origin/Destination location where carriers can ssemble/disassemble LCVs.
The International Registration Plan (IRP) program in Ontario will stop mailing renewal packages to registered fleets prior to their expiry. As of January 1, 2020, all carriers must obtain their renewals online through the Permitting and Registration for International Registration Plan and Oversize/Overweight System. This will allow all IRP carriers to access the IRP renewal application online eliminating the need for mailing them out.