Manitoba to allow old 160 km HOS exemption for provincial truckers
WINNIPEG -- Because new record-keeping rules for regional Manitoba carriers and drivers are proving to be quite burdensome, the province is apparently allowing truckers to continue to operate under the old 160 km exemption. The Manitoba Trucking Association says the new HOS paper requirements (which takes affect in that province on March 1 -- see today's lead story for more) is excessive for drivers operating less than 160 km. The association says it has addressed the issue with Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation, which has agreed to apply the former wording in section 11 of 193/89 to provincial enforcement. MTA General Manager Bob Dolyniuk says in a note to members that he believes that there will be an opportunity to fix the 160 "error" contained in section 81 of the new federal reg. "Thus, Manitoba’s enforcement approach will be to allow Manitoba based extra-provincial motor carriers the same flexibility contained in 193/89 as we will be for intra-provincial carriers. We believe that this flexibility should not cause an issue since we will be utilizing the 6-month soft enforcement period for this accommodation," he says. Dolyniuk stresses that this approach will not be honored outside of Manitoba at this point in time. Therefore, any extra-provincial carrier who utilizes a 160 exemption must comply with Section 81 if their trip takes them outside of Manitoba’s provincial boundaries."