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Michael Ludwig

Well-Known Member
20
So, the other day Trucknews posted this article about MTO inspection quotas and their effect on the safety of Ontario's roads.
Of course it goes without saying that I posted my opinion on the situation ... or at least attempted to. I penned my thoughts in the early afternoon of the 24th. As of 4:30 PM on the 25th, "Your comment is awaiting moderation". Perhaps James Menzies doesn't like me? Regardless, I thought I would post my response for you all to enjoy :)

"Michael Ludwig says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
February 24, 2020 at 1:11 pm

Perhaps the industry itself holds the solution?

This tact taken by MTO is quite reminiscent of Toronto Police Service’s Stop & Frisk campaign. In the end, that didn’t work out so well for them.

Maybe it’s time for good carriers, drivers, and operators of new equipment to make the complaint, individually, through their elected representatives, and through their industry associations, that they are unfairly, and disproportionately, targeted because they have “easy-to-inspect” equipment and the chance of a violation is highly unlikely, resulting in less work/more inspections by MTO enforcement officers.

The targeting of good carriers, drivers, and new equipment owners also costs these people more money by having to waste time going through unnecessary inspections. This unfairly “un-levels” the playing field as the unsafe and uninspected carriers do not have the inspection expense, nor do they have the expense of proper repair and maintenance required of safe trucks and drivers.

On the other hand, it could very well be that the profitable thing for good carriers to do is to follow the age old axiom “If you can’t beat them, join them”. Let’s face it, the moral high ground has never been profitable anyways.

Maybe we should all have half a dozen CVOR numbers to fall back on, rent our equipment from a bogus 3rd party, adopt the Driver Inc. model, forgo safety standards and maintenance, register only 10% of our fleets with facility insurance and lie through our teeth about where we travel. Take the industry for all it’s worth, and get out while the getting is good !!!

Truth be told, the chances of getting caught really are pretty slim. As evidence, I present the state of the industry as it is today.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating behaviour that borders on the criminal, but without some sort of intervention, government support, and meaningful enforcement, the trucking industry in Ontario, and by extension the rest of Canada, is going to become the Wild West of yesteryear.

Is that what we really want ???"
 
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