As the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) was prepared to begin enforcing stricter criminal background checks for commercial drivers, the government was also seeking public comments on on a proposal that would reduce vehicle weight and ban liftable tag axles for commercial vehicles such as school buses.

The Ontario School Bus Association (OSBA) reported that the MTO is making the changes to criminal record checks to comply with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's interim policy that all Class B and E applicants provide two forms of identification. The policy goes into effect on Oct. 1.

Acceptable ID documents fall under two categories, List A and List B. The first includes valid Canadian or U.S. driver's licenses or passports; a Canadian citizenship card or permanent residency card; secure certificate of Indian status; or a report pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The second list of acceptable IDs are a Department of National Defence Identity Card, student authorization or study permits, a temporary residency permit, a Canadian or U.S. birth certificate, or a record of landing.

Ontario's DriveTest Centre staff will be required to examine both pieces of valid ID and to compare signatures with that on the search request form. Applicants must produce two pieces of ID from List A or one piece from both lists.

Meanwhile, the multi-year Vehicle Weights and Dimensions (VW&D) Reform Project seeks new commercial motor vehicles and trailers to designs that are "Safe, Productive and Infrastructure-Friendly (SPIF)." MTO said these vehicles minimize weight impacts on roads since they are equipped with axles that do not need to be raised for cornering and are designed to automatically distribute the weight between the axles. Safety is promoted by adherence to equipment and configuration rules that maximize operational performance.

The first three phases dealt with all single and double tractor-trailer combinations. Phase 4 covers all remaining vehicles – straight trucks, pony trailers, full trailers, buses and specialty combinations – operating on Ontario highways. According to OSBA, all new vehicles of the types covered by Phase 4 will need to meet SPIF standards or face sanctions that range from a significant reduction in the allowable gross weight of the vehicle to not being allowed to operate on public highways. Phase 4 vehicles built prior to the proposed amendments coming into effect will be grandfathered and may continue to operate at existing weight allowances. Three SPIF bus/recreational vehicle designs will also be regulated.

The first Phase 4 Proposal was issued by MTO in November 2009. The Ontario Motor Coach Association (OMCA) studied it and discovered a number of areas of concern. These included:

• Limiting the weight on a drive axle/tag axle combination (dual tires on drives, single tires on tag) to just 15,000 kg.

• Banning “liftable” tag axles

• Limiting weight on tires to 10 kg/mm of tread width (the current law allows 11 kg/mm) on axles other than the front axle.

MTO consulted with the OMCA and agreed to make substantial amendments to the proposal. A revised Phase 4 proposal was issued in April 2010 to increase the weight on the drive-tag axle from 15,000 kg (33,000 pounds) to a range between 16,300 kg (35,860 pounds) and 17,400 kg (38,280 pounds) depending on the inter-axle spacing.

Also, MTO listened to OMCA’s concerns about the ban on liftable tag axles and have removed this from the latest version of the proposal. However, OMCA was still concerned about the loss of 1 kg/mm of tire tread width (on axles other than the front axle), wrote OSBA in its newsletter this week. For example, a tag axle with single 315 series tires means a weight reduction for the axle of 630 kg (1,386 pounds).

The proposal also required that no axle may be loaded beyond the manufacturer’s axle weight rating and tires cannot be loaded beyond the tire manufacturers load limit. OSBA said it supports both requirements.