David Bradley, chief executive officer of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), has responded to the announcement by Transport Canada that the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations will be amended to require new manufacturing standards for trailer underride guards.
“While Canada's new requirements may provide drivers of small vehicles with the best level of protection anywhere in North America, any safety benefit from the new standards will be diluted unless it is adopted concurrently by Canada and the United States,” said Bradley.
The new requirements announced by Transport Canada will apply to newly manufactured trailers with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or more. Trailers with a low chassis or those whose wheels or structure prevent or limit underride will not be affected.
In recent years, CTA had participated in the consultations with Transport Canada that took place before the initial publication of the proposed regulation. The alliance had hoped that before the regulation came into force that Transport Canada would have reached agreement with US Department of Transportation representatives upon a common standard and implementation schedule.
“To my knowledge, the US has made no firm commitment to move forward on underride protection in concert with Canada,” said Bradley. “We are concerned by the lack of a North American safety standard and have asked Transport Canada to advise us on the steps the department is taking to foster a harmonized North American approach to underride protection.”