Mike grew up on a beef farm in rural Southwestern Ontario in Huron County. Mike began his career in the Trucking Industry in 1990 at the age of 18, spending three years working for a local carrier Hauling Livestock and bulk agriculture products. At the age of 21 Mike went to work for a long Haul Refrigerated and general freight carrier and spent 5 years hauling all sorts of freight in all 48 US Mainland States and 6 Canadian Provinces. The Carrier then opened a Certified Driver Training School in 1998 and Mike came off the road and become one of the Schools first Certified Driver Trainers. In 2000 Mike Transitioned into Safety and Compliance for the Fleet, while still working part time as a Trainer for the School. In 2002 Mike moved over to a Private Fleet and became the Safety, Compliance, Maintenance and Training manger for the Hensall District Co-operative’s Commercial Trucking Fleet. Mike spent the next 12.5 years with Hensall and oversaw the Fleets as it grew from 40 Trucks in 2002 to over 140 in 2015. In January of 2015 Mike moved into the Trucking Association business and was named the President of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, where he remains in his current role.

Columnists,Mike Millian |
July 11, 2019

On June 12th Canada’s long awaited ELD posting in Canada Gazette Part 2 finally occurred. As far as the PMTC and it’s members are concerned, this announcement is a positive step forward for the industry and one that brings us into the modern age of Hours of service recording, replacing the antiquated and fraught with opportunities for creative writing that is currently in place with paper hours of service record keeping. The ELD file is one the PMTC has been heavily involved in with Transport Canada and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators from the very beginning, dating back to 2010, and we congratulate both groups on the work that has been done over the years to get us to this place.

This regulation effects Federally Regulated Carriers who are required to keep logbooks, with a few exemptions in place for engines manufactured before the year 2000, as well as exemptions for those operating a rental vehicle on a short term rental of 30 days or less, and those operating under an HOS Permit or an MVTA Exemption.

According to the federal regulations, vehicles that have a Manufactures Gross Vehicle Weight rating of more than 4500kg’s, are commercial Motor Vehicles, and therefore must comply with the Federal Hours of Service regulations if operating outside of their own Province or Territory. (note, if you do not travel beyond a 160km’s radius of your home terminal, you are not required to keep a logbook, and therefore will not need an ELD. You will still be required to comply with Hours of service regulations and recordkeeping requirements)

When Provincial and Territorial Regulated Carriers will be required to comply, and who will be required among then, will depend on when each individual Jurisdiction decides to adopt the regulations, and if they make any adjustments to the regs before they adopt them into their regulations. Initial Indications from most Provinces and Territories is that they will adopt them, but until they do their own consultations, they can’t commit to a timeline, or whether amendments will be made, or if it will be adopted as is. The PMTC and the rest of the industry will continue to work with the CCMTA and regulators in hopes of seeing harmonization across the land.

The original posting occurred in Canada Gazette part 1 on December 16th of 2017. In the original proposal there was to be no 3rd party certification, allowing manufacturers to self certify (a regime that is in place in the US and has been fraught with many devices being self certified that are in no way compliant if checked). The PMTC was very vocal on this type of certification regime not being repeated in Canada, and we are happy that in the Gazette 2 posting this was addressed. All Manufactured ELD devices that are going to be operated in Canada will have to be certified by an accredited certification body that is approved by Transport Canada. While the accredited 3rd party or parties have yet to be approved, Transport Canada is working through this process, as well as the testing procedures, and is aware that this process must be completed in a short time frame to allow the certification process  to begin, and to allow certified compliant devices to be on the market place as soon as possible. Although this is the case, the technical standard that devices are going to have to meet has been posted, and this is something you can talk about with your current or potential supplier to find out their knowledge level, and if they are prepared to meet the standard, and how long it may take, or the steps that will be required to make the certification possible. To see the full technical standard, click on this link. https://www.ccmta.ca/en/national-safety-code/canadian-eld-standard

The other big change in this file is in regards to the compliance date and grandfather period for existing devices. In the Gazette 1 posting, this was a 2 year and 2 year period. While the compliance date remains at 2 years, coming into effect on June 12th of 2021, the grandfather period has been removed.

The PMTC does have concerns about the removal of the Grandfather period for those who have previously installed devices, as we believe this may leave Carriers who previously installed devices prior to the regulations, in a disadvantaged position to those who did nothing.  We have made Transport Canada aware of our concerns and will continue to monitor the progress of the Industry as this file progresses, and will work with PMTC Members, the industry and TC to keep them informed of the transition status. I personally hope it does not become an issue and that the industry is able to transition in time. Click below to access the entire regulation.

http://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2019/2019-06-12/html/sor-dors165-eng.html

One more note, if you are a carrier running into the US, the date you are required to transition from an AOBDR, to a self-certified compliant ELD is approaching quickly, coming into effect on December 16th. If you have not begun this process yet, you may want to get started, all indications are that the FMCSA has no plans to extend this, and their stats show a large portion of the industry has yet to begin this process…..

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Mike grew up on a beef farm in rural Southwestern Ontario in Huron County. Mike began his career in the Trucking Industry in 1990 at the age of 18, spending three years working for a local carrier Hauling Livestock and bulk agriculture products. At the age of 21 Mike went to work for a long Haul Refrigerated and general freight carrier and spent 5 years hauling all sorts of freight in all 48 US Mainland States and 6 Canadian Provinces. The Carrier then opened a Certified Driver Training School in 1998 and Mike came off the road and become one of the Schools first Certified Driver Trainers. In 2000 Mike Transitioned into Safety and Compliance for the Fleet, while still working part time as a Trainer for the School. In 2002 Mike moved over to a Private Fleet and became the Safety, Compliance, Maintenance and Training manger for the Hensall District Co-operative’s Commercial Trucking Fleet. Mike spent the next 12.5 years with Hensall and oversaw the Fleets as it grew from 40 Trucks in 2002 to over 140 in 2015. In January of 2015 Mike moved into the Trucking Association business and was named the President of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, where he remains in his current role.