Ontario's CVOR System

Michael Ludwig

Michael Ludwig

Well-Known Member
Jul 6, 2009
1,955
2,857
113
64
Simcoe, ON
20
I'm having a bit of a slack day, and sometimes the mind wanders on such days. So, I ask you all this ...
Is the CVOR System flawed?
If so, how?
What would make it better?
If not, what is right with it?
 
First and foremost they have to upgrade from DOS computer system and let us look at our records live. We deal with a company called Viggilo and they do amazing things with our US record and provide great info but not with Ontario.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bellcitytransport, Shakey and JN1981
I agree with Lowmiler.

Almost every carrier you look up comes back the same "Satisfactory - Audited"

There is no visibility to inspections the way there is with the FMCSA in the US.

When a broker is "Trying" to make good choices and vetting their carriers before tendering freight to them... it's a gamble when vetting a strictly Canadian carrier.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bellcitytransport and Shakey
I agree with lowmiler, it needs to be modernized so we can actually monitor it. As a carrier, we pull our CVOR every month, but the lag on the data in the report is so delayed its hard to really monitor it. We also use Viggilo for our US monitoring and it would be really nice if we could something similar with Ontario.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bellcitytransport
One thing I would like to see from the carrier side is this, if you are issued a warning, it stays on your record for five years with no way to contest it. (I realize it's only visible if you issue a Lvl 2 abstract, but that's an argument for another day).

When Ontario came out with the Schedule 1 and a line item to add your plate number and Cycle, I had boxes of pre-printed logs, and the local MTO office advised that as long as I manually added that info I was good.

And I was, until the morning I arrived at the scale west of Perth ON and encountered an officer with a chip on his shoulder. He stopped me, met me at the door with orange coveralls and a creeper and was quite put out when I showed him the CVSA stickers that had been applied to my truck and trailer two days prior. He then decided to inspect my paperwork and immediately told me I was in violation for hand writing my plate #'s and cycle on the log. I offered that I was in compliance according to the CVOR office, he muttered something under his breath, literally tossed my paperwork back across the desk and told me to leave. Next time I pulled an abstract there was a notation on my CVOR of the stop in Perth with a warning for two log book violations. I enquired in St. Catharines and was told that as it was just a warning there was nothing I could do about it, so i spent the next five years having to explain the situation to all and sundry.
 
And therein lies the biggest problem with the CVOR system ... you are guilty, period. No opportunity to explain or defend yourself, save one.
That one is to ramp up your CVOR so bad that you have to go to St. Catharines and appear before the panel to explain your poor CVOR record. Then, and only then, do you get the opportunity to have your say. However, you are not adjudicated by a court of law, by either judge or jury. You are adjudicated by bureaucrats that bend with the wind of the day, and the mood they left home with.
The USDOT system exists to make carriers better and roadways safer. The CVOR system exists for one reason only, and that is to fill the government's coffers. They have no real interest in making carriers better, or roadways safer. That is counterproductive to their end goal.
If there ever existed a less-than-zero-value government agency, it is the MTO.

Quick story on how inept MTO really is ...
A couple years ago I met a guy that did highway construction and paving on Ontario 400 series highways via the MTO. As they pave contractors have to take samples of the pavement. MTO has 14 days to test the samples and if they are under spec the contractor has to replace the pavement under warranty. Problem; MTO never gets samples done in less than 30 days, and is quite often several months. If the pavement is under spec, MTO has to pay that crew again, this time by the hour, to tear up the pavement and replace it. This guy told me he ran a small crew and his company bills his crew at $125,000.00 an hour.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom