TORONTO, Ont. – The province of Ontario has agreed to reissue moratoriums on axle weight penalties and restrict enforcement only to gross vehicle weights on a temporary basis, a move the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) will help resolve the long-standing issues for gravel and dirt carriers.

“The Ontario Trucking Association wants the province to implement an enforcement system that will hold all members in the supply chain accountable for the overloading of vehicles, including those loading the vehicles and those owning and operating them,” said Stephen Laskowski, president of the OTA.

Each Canadian province restricts different truck configurations to a certain gross vehicle weight, or carrying capacity, as well as requiring the weight to be distributed in a specific manner throughout the vehicle to mitigate impact on roads, and the OTA says Ontario has the most productive and safety-focused truck configuration laws in the country.

“Based on today’s announcement, the Province of Ontario must move quickly to ensure that all trucking companies and businesses that own or control the movement of dirt and gravel will have the capability to comply with Ontario weight laws,” Laskowski said. “Most carriers are compliant members of the business community and most shippers are committed to following the rules.”

Though the OTA said many trucking companies and aggregate businesses load and move products legally, Laskowski suggested the government could raise the compliance bar by enforcing shipper liability laws and implementing new contractual requirements for suppliers bidding on government projects.