During a meeting on internal trade issues, premieres from across Canada agreed on accelerating the removal of intraprovincial trade barriers and identified several trucking-specific issues in need of attention.

In their official communication, the premiers stated:

“Some differences in provincial and territorial regulations may be appropriate to address local safety considerations but the trucking industry has raised some differences in regulations that can constitute barriers to fair competition and effective trade. Examples of barriers include restrictions on the use of wide base single tires, size and weight restrictions, and an area for future cooperation, electronic logging devices.”

The statement released by the premiers is meant to provide leadership guidance to the work of the Regulatory Reconciliation and Cooperation Table (RRCT) established under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement to break down trade and regulatory barriers.

“The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) applauds the premiers for taking leadership on these important issues in our sector. We look forward to working with the RRCT and other government bodies to address these matters,” said CTA president Stephen Laskowski.

The premiers have also recognized CTA’s request to ensure that all provinces duplicate ELD requirements for intraprovincial fleets across Canada:

“As provinces and territories consider mandating for intraprovincial travel, a consistent in approach will enable more accurate monitoring of a drivers’ HOS, enhance road safety, and provide a level and competitive playing field for all carriers,” the communication states.

“ELDs ensure the highest level of compliance with federal hours of service rules for truck drivers, so the quicker we get them in every truck that currently requires a paper log book the better and safer we’ll be as an industry,” said Laskowski. “We want to see an ELD rule enforced on every commercial truck in Canada by 2020. Hopefully, this announcement by the premiers will remove any barriers which might have been in the way of achieving that timeline.”

The premiers also addressed single, wide-based tires by identifying a series of patchwork regulations and barriers for trucking companies wanting to use this fuel-efficient technology, as well as noting the many different spring weight restrictions across each province.