continued from page 7 ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER COVER STORY 8 “Under previous legislation, depending on the braking system, the wheels did not have to be removed to complete a safety inspection. New legislation requires a "wheel off" inspection for all heavy-duty trucks and trailers. As you can imagine, on multi-axle units, this adds significant time and cost to perform the inspection,” Jason says. “For a farmer that only uses his truck and trailer a few months of the year, he must now decide if it’s worth owning it or having someone else haul his commodities.” Crosby Devitt, Grain Farmers of Ontario’s CEO, agrees updated safety regulations might be overly onerous for trucks “not putting miles on everyday.” A second concern is the impact such regulations have on smaller garages, particularly those looking at transitioning to another operational generation. If the decision is made to close rather than deal with the headache of additional certification, options for getting trucks certified locally can diminish. Devitt also questions how new drivers are supposed to gain experience in an environment where insurance providers do not, in fact, provide coverage. “If you’re a big carrier with hundreds of trucks, there may be some ways they can spread out that risk,” says Devitt, adding he and others within Grain Farmers of Ontario have been made aware of policy differences between some insurance providers. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS What actions can be taken on the part of grain farmers and grain haulers is not entirely clear. Devitt says active discussions are being held, though, and the Ministry of Transportation has been made aware of the agricultural industry’s concerns. Finding ways to align transportation regulations with those of other provinces has, for example, been floated as a potential regulatory remedy. “What we’re asking for is that someone seriously digs in and works with us and the agriculture industry to see if there are some good solutions. No one wants to be unsafe on the road,” Devitt says, musing whether something like mileage limits could be accommodated before full safety regulations apply. Similar exemptions might be possible for young drivers and insurancerelated barriers. “There could be some ways to look at young drivers or limited distances, not going on the 401, who are going from the farm to the elevator and not into Hamilton…I know it's really difficult to control those types of things, but something might be done.” •
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