Where is the OTA coming from? They have a world of their own!
There have been many letters written in this magazine about speed regulators, hours of operation and most of the letters tell it the way it is on the highways.
In the last edition, Mr. Lanthier explained in a letter to the editor what the OTA will create if it goes ahead and ignores the advice of truly professional drivers with many years of experience. We are fortunate to have many excellent professional drivers in Canada, and it because of these dedicated people that many accidents are avoided. Accidents are avoided by backing off or speeding up. Take one of these options away and you are creating more dangerous situations on our highways.
Surely, stopping reckless drivers is the responsibilty of our police of which there are not enough. Their presence on the highways shows that there are not enough of them.
At the end of the day most Class 1 truck drivers find that the technology does not work. How about the Blue Ribbon Panel showing their colours, and include more than 13 people to make such conclusions that have been made.
If safety is the aim, look back at all the good letters posted in this magazine by people that have the right to be heard.
Speed limiters on trucks at 105 km/h? I think not, 120 might be a better option. I usually drive 105 but have needed 120 now and then, and it nice to know it there when you need it.
I have been following this story about the plan that the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) has proposed to force all trucks operating in this province, no matter where they are from, to have a speed limiter installed. Although the arguments sound good and the results almost sound fantastic, I can believe how far the OTA is willing to go to have its wish granted. As I understand it, they are now even willing to have the Ontario Government pass a new law that would make it illegal to run in Ontario without one.
I read with interest the latest story in the January issue of Truck News written by James Menzies, especially the quote by OTA president David Bradley where he says, drivers are the safest of drivers on our highways, the least likely to be excessively speeding and the least likely to show poor lane discipline. these words fall as nothing more than empty compliments, like a politician speech during an election. Somehow, you just know there must be more to what he not saying.
I have to agree with OOIDA president Jim Johnston, an American who is outside of this province. If indeed safety, fuel conservation and so on are their real goal, then let them lead by example; let those members of the OTA who are in agreement with this plan limit their fleets by free will, not by government intervention. But, if they have a hidden agenda, such as keeping drivers wages low while increasing profits, then this plan starts to make sense.
I, as a truck driver with over 20 years and well over a million accident free miles, would like to add my voice against Air Jordan 12s such an obviously ridiculous concept. Not that speed limiters are an idiotic plan, but that the OTA would welcome an increase in government intervention into our business has to be, in my opinion, the most idiotic thing I have heard of since I started my driving career.
For the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) to be recommending speed limiters in all trucks that operate in the province is totally ludicrous!
Why don we just go back to the old days of regulation because that exactly what it boils down to! First off, who is going to pay for implementation of this pipe dream of all the trucks being governed? It shouldn be the owners because they already pick up the bill for every so called safety improvement or regulation that made.
I read the original article where the Task Force came back from Europe raving about how wonderful the system was over there. What they never bothered considering is that our country is unique in that we can drive across it, let alone most of the provinces in a day.
Just because it works Air Jordan Future over there doesn mean it will work over here. If they can see that or sit down and objectively discuss it, then they should start thinking about finding new jobs because there won be enough trucks around to have to worry Air Jordan 3s about having an association.
I can not speak for others but it seems to me that the mandatory use of speed limiters would be an infringement on people human rights.
If there are going to be speed limiters on trucks then every vehicle on the road cars, pickup trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, motor homes, buses should have them.
As far as I concerned, this policy would spell the end of my 27 year career. I had the chance to drive a tractor trailer unit with a governed speed on it and it made passing a slow and difficult thing to do. I feel doing this is just more intervention in a industry that already has more than enough rules and regulations.
The answer to speeding trucks is enforcement, not speed limiters. Enforcement is a joke in Ontario. I have had other trucks pass me and a cruiser at high speeds and nothing happened. drivers being told that they can run 70 mph and get away with it. states?
By the way my truck has the cruise set at 100 km/h and top end at 110 km/h to give me flexibility in the 65 mph states I run in. The OTA should worry more about the loss of older experienced drivers because of the onerous re testing at 65. Ontario is the only jurisdiction to do this.
Hello Lou and James. I sent this to both of you as you have both done your opening editorials on this subject in the January issue, and I would like to bring forward a few points I feel they should be better aware of. First of all let me say I not a speeding lunatic or someone that has to do it to make my business survive. But I feel there may be some safety factors with speed limiting. Maybe I wrong, but let me tell you why Air Jordan 6s I think it will not be a good idea.
First scenario: Two trucks running together, governed to the same speed. The one in the lead Nike LeBron 12 is running not as fast as the other for one reason or another (some fleets governed at 90 95 km/h or weight differences). The second one doesn want to pass to speed at over 100 km/h, let just say he can maintain the speed limit and the lead truck keeps slowing. They get to a passing lane, now the second truck can get a temporary run of speed and there they are, running side by side, plugging up traffic because the second couldn get any momentum to complete the pass quickly. Now everyone gets road raged and starts taking stupid chances.
Scenario two: Rain or snow covered road. Conditions that are not anything to bother an experienced driver. Now you come up on a four wheeled motorist doing 80 in a 90 km/h zone. You in Northern Ontario where double lanes are few and far between. You on a time schedule. You finally come up on a straight away and now instead of being able to get that burst of speed to overtake and get back in your own lane quickly, there you are hung out to dry needing all t
he time in the world to crawl by. Not to mention the road raged four wheelers behind also trying to get by. There are those situations where you need to get by another vehicle (not so you can speed like an idiot) but it would be a lot safer to have the ability to speed for a moment to overtake quickly and safely.
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