National Trucking Week

NATIONAL TRUCKING WEEK - 11 I TRUCKING B Y G E O F F K I R B Y S O N AS THE VOICE OF AN INDUSTRY THAT TOUCHES VIRTUALLY EVERY MANITOBAN IN SOME WAY, THE MTA ISN'T AGAINST REGULATION, JUST BAD REGULATION. The executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association, Terry Shaw, knows regulation is inevitable in a sector where safety is paramount but streamlining some of the bureaucracy could go a long way to reducing accidents, administrative waste and costs for his member companies. That's why he's encouraged by the Pallister government's commitment to making truck- ing regulation more efficient. In a submission to the province earlier this year, the MTA said its goal is to reduce ineffective and cumber- some regulation with questionable or un- known purposes. (In fact, Shaw admitted there are even cases when increased regu- lation could prove beneficial where some public safety or economic interests are unad- dressed.) In particular, he wants to focus on the policies and regulations governing the hiring of drivers, licensing trucks and getting safeties on trucks. Here's a prime example Shaw stated: U.S. trucking companies are exempt from the safety fitness framework of Canada's National Safety Code while operating on Manitoba roads. Any domestic operator has to apply for an NSC number and every time they interact with enforcement officials across North Amer- ica, such as passing or failing an inspection, being put out of service or receiving a citation, it goes on their profile. U.S. companies are ex- empt from that oversight in Manitoba. "There's no legitimate reason for that exemp- tion," Shaw said. "There's a huge gap in road safety because (officials) aren't looking at all of the people they should be looking at." There's also a requirement under the Highway Traffic Act that trucking companies must file an annual document showing they have re- viewed the driving records of their employees and that they meet the minimum qualifica- tions for safe driving. That sounds reasonable until you realize there's no requirement to share this informa- tion with any governing body and no regula- tor appears willing or able to verify it. "Why is the industry being asked to maintain these documents other than current regula- tions say that they must?" he said. If you don't think efficiency in the trucking industry affects you, think again. First of all, practically everything we buy has seen the inside of a truck at some point along the sup- ply chain. Trucking plays a crucial role in in- dustries such as wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, construction and agriculture. Secondly, there are more than 25,000 people in the province working in the truck trans- portation sector and the transportation and warehousing industry employs nearly six per cent of Manitoba's labour force. Shaw realizes there will always be regulatory challenges but he would love to see the day where the MTA could dedicate more resour- ces to value-added projects such as safety and compliance training and embracing new technologies. "We need to approach the regulatory en- vironment from the point of view of, 'what's good for the industry 10 years from now?' We know that regulators at a strategically high level are trying to improve road safety but are we doing that? What are the key perform- ance indicators? Who is benchmarking this?" he said. The more red tape can be eliminated for trucking companies, the easier it will be for manufacturers to get their goods to market and at a lower cost. Those savings will trickle down to consumers, he said. Shaw realizes there will always be regulatory challenges but he would love to see the day where the MTA could dedicate more resources to value- added projects such as safety and compliance training and embracing new technologies. In honour of National Trucking Week we are celebrating our Dispatchers, Mechanics, Drivers and all the 400,000 men and women in the Trucking Industry that keep Canada's freight moving. A salute to the Trucking Industry! thank you to those who make the miles count

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