OTA applauds road safety blitz

TORONTO: The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) is praising the Ontario Ministry of Transportation for its specialized efforts to ensure the safety of commercial vehicles hauling live animals on provincial roads. The blitz targeted roads that are not part of the major highway system.

“A significant percentage of kilometres traveled in Ontario by livestock haulers do not involve travel along provincial highways monitored by stationary enforcement stations,” said Randy Scott, chair of the OTA livestock transporters’ division. “This effort on the part of MTO will help make sure vehicles and drivers moving live animals on all Ontario roads are held to the legal safety standards.”

The enforcement effort took place November 22 and 24, and included almost 80 inspections across southwestern Ontario and the Halton region, resulting in six charges and six out-of-service violations.

“Numbers generated in targeted safety blitzes should not be taken as an indication of overall safety standards and practices by the industry, but should be seen as exercises in removing the gross violators from the road,” said OTA vice-president of operations, Geoff Wood.

Earlier this year the OTA livestock transporters’ division issued a discussion paper on the future of livestock transportation in the province. One of the paper’s recommendations was to ensure that safety standards related to drivers and equipment used in livestock hauling were upheld on roads and by carriers in Ontario.