At a meeting held last week, the Ministers asked the CCMTA to examine potential options to deal with trucking companies that have problematic safety records and continue to operate across jurisdictions despite there being prohibitive measures in place within a province or territory.

“The Canadian Trucking Alliance applauds the directive from the Ministers. It’s in line with what CTA has been asking of CCMTA since 2008. We believe the measure will directly affect companies that operate under the Driver Inc. model,” said Geoff Wood, CTA’s senior VP, Policy. “Next steps must include a focused and coordinated push by all levels of government and responsible industry stakeholders to bring meaningful action. This is essential to secure the integrity of the highway safety oversight system for trucking companies.”  

Not only does the sprawling Driver Inc. system undermine established tax law and the Labour Code, but it also takes advantage of gaps in the oversight systems for truck safety between the provinces and territories. 

The directive will help stop this non-compliant activity, says Wood.  

“The safety fitness certificate regimes in Canada are well established and complex. However, there are meaningful measures that should be discussed and implemented in the short term and medium term and then work on the longer-term items in due course,” said Wood.  “CTA is steadfastly committed to working with all parties to make the necessary changes to the safety fitness certificate regime for benefit of professional truck drivers and all road users, as well as trucking businesses that abide by the law.”