W.S.I.B. - Get Current! Your only cheating yourself if you don't

Inbound Specialist

Inbound Specialist

Member
Oct 31, 2009
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I'm noticing a lot of Carrier that I'm trying to contract freight to are not able to provide W.S.I.B. Certificates or legitimate Exemption Papers.

I always get excuses at first, but after pressing for it I get a buttered up version of the truth.

The most common excuses are:
I'm in the process of dealing with them (or something to that extent)
I have Owner Operators and don't require a W.S.I.B certificate and I don't need exemption papers
I called for the new certificate but couldn't get through. :rolleyes:


Carriers that day will come when W.S.I.B. will audit you and your going to have some serious problems.

I suggest bite the bullet and get current.
Not only is it the right thing to do, but you may actually need it one day.

I'm sure you'd hate to see a person you work with get injured and have to watch as their family struggles because they can't get any compensation.
If this doesn't bother you than your just cold and don't even deserve the time of day.

Ultimately its your decision.
Just make sure your able to live with the consequences.

What do you think?
 
Another necessary evil as far as I’m concerned. Just one more thing the government has stuck their nose into that would be better for employers and employees to handle privately. I would love to hear from just one person who has had a favorable experience with the WSIB when they got hurt and had to claim.
 
I agree. It's the law. And if somebody gets injured, your going to be in a world of trouble without it.

About the excuses you are getting... I have to say, if someone is telling you they called for the certificate and couldn't get through, or if they are saying they faxed a request and WSIB is not getting back to them, they "may" not be lying... In my experience with WSIB staff, they are some of the most lazy government employees around. I have sent certificate requests to them that they have just not responded to. When you send a request to these lazy WSIB people, you have to make sure you receive the certificate, don't just assume that they will do their job. Anyway, that's my rant about the WSIB...
 
The "I couldn't get through" excuse is rubbish!!! We have to renew every 60 days & all I do is call & within 10 mins the new updated WSIB's are faxed to me :)
 
Although it is space consuming, we keep copies of old certificates (we are now scanning them and keeping electronic copies) which allows us to show a pattern at least. The key is to do your due dilgence.
 
I agree, the new certificate procedure is almost eerie in it's efficiency. Sometimes the certificate is coming through the fax before I hang up the phone.
 
As someone that has been audited - I can attest that it is not fun. We had to provide our payables list for the last fiscal year and a certificate or exemption certificate for each and every one. The two we were missing and were unable to collect we had to pay 20% of the payable to the WSIB.
 
I am shocked that WSIB is not more efficent on there follow ups when you report a carrier that does not have coverage...There is more and more carriers that are effecting this industry with improper authorities...and forging documents...
 
I can understand everyone's frustration but dealing with these people is not as easy as you think.
We are a single truck (o/o by owner of company) so the driver is exempt, we had been asked many times by brokers for WSIB and this is what I encountered.
1. You cannot get a blanket exemption certificate....I have called twice about this and they say no way.
2. I was told that you have to have an exemption certificate for each company you do work for and it takes at least 2 weeks to process. There is no quick way to get this, so if I find a load on link for a company I have not done work for before, I cannot do that load if they ask for WSIB.
3. I completed the forms to apply for a certificate for a broker that we use regularly. I included everything they asked for. I thought I would get the process started...ha ha. THEY SEND IT BACK TO THE BROKER FOR MORE INFORMATION!! They do not even read to see that it came from us. And to add insult to injury, the form required that we include 5 copies of our invoices for different brokers. So now our broker saw 4 other invoice for different companies. NOTE I have been doing administration work for over 30 years, so I have no trouble understanding the forms.
4. I call them and am told that the broker needs to send in the form. I checked the instructions AGAIN and sure enough, nope, it clearly states that the information should come from the carrier.

So you decide....is the person who made out the form an idiot, the person I talked to, or is the whole WSIB system ridiculous.

Oh, and by the way....yes, we can opt into WSIB......for over $2000.00 per year.....Sorry....just don't have that kind of extra cash lying around.

Also...still have all the paperwork here...(the broker gave it to us)...I am too frustrated to pursue this further.

My rant over...thanks
 
HHT I'm confused if you own and operate the truck you would not need to deal with WSIB. You can get private insurance the will cover you 7 days a week 24 hours a day a lot cheaper than WSIB and a lot better coverage. So if you are at home and break an leg you are covered but if it is WSIB you are only covered when actually working. It is really frustrating that we could get much better insurance for our drivers but are forced to use WSIB and at $5.70 for every $100 in revenue it is not cheap.
 
This issue is not whether your exempt

The issue for a broker is not so much whether you are covered or exempt. Most brokers now are pretty diligent about gettin WSIB certs. The issue is if you are exempt, he's going to have problems with WSIB for using you. They way the WSIB defines broker is a company who contracts with other independent contractors who have their own WSIB coverage. They are VERY concerned with Brokers who are putting together a collection of non-covered or exempt Owner Operators to provide a "trucking service".

This is a problem for brokers because their staff, if rated as a broker pays like 0.02 per hundered for WSIB coverage. If they get classed as providing a "trucking service" they have to pay like over $6.00 per hundred for coverage. It would be big bucks (before everyone yells at me, yes I do understand trucking companies have to pay this)
 
lowmiler88 said:
HHT I'm confused if you own and operate the truck you would not need to deal with WSIB. You can get private insurance the will cover you 7 days a week 24 hours a day a lot cheaper than WSIB and a lot better coverage. So if you are at home and break an leg you are covered but if it is WSIB you are only covered when actually working. It is really frustrating that we could get much better insurance for our drivers but are forced to use WSIB and at $5.70 for every $100 in revenue it is not cheap.
Click to expand...

The problem is trying to get that Exemption certificate, which is what the brokers are asking for.

And I would love to know where to get a reasonable accident insurance coverage.
 
Pablo
I understand the problems of the brokers.....but.....WSIB has got to get their act together. I feel that we are punished because of the stupidity of the WSIB.

I would love to give each broker an exception certificate, just like I have no problem giving them an insurance certificate (which I can get "in their name" in about 5 minutes from my insurance company).

The system for getting the Exemption certificate needs to be easier.

I don't mind paperwork and red tape, but they are ridiculous and stupid.
 
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