Round 2: Put the Brakes On the 70% Increase in Commercial Vehicle Plate Fees

The ongoing campaign by Ontario Trucking Association to put the brakes on the government’s proposed 70% increase in commercial vehicle licence fees is having an impact. Thanks to industry support, Round 1 of the campaign generated over 1,100 email messages to MPPs. The Ontario transportation minister was reviewing the situation. But now the Province has a new Premier with a new Minister of Transportation and a new Minister of Finance. The new Premier, Kathleen Wynne, wrote to OTA during the leadership campaign to say that she would meet with OTA to discuss the matter were she to become premier. (She was the only one of the leadership hopefuls to respond to OTA).

That is a hopeful sign but we can’t leave anything to chance. Your voice needs to be heard again.

OTA is now launching Round 2 of Put the Brakes On the 70% Fee Increase campaign and is  asking everyone in the trucking industry – company owners, owner-operators, company drivers, employees, and suppliers (including those who participated in Round 1) – to send an email message to the new Minister of Transportation, Glen Murray, and the new Minister of Finance, Charles Sousa.

It’s easy to participate in the campaign. All one has to do is to go to www.ontruck.org and click on the ‘Put the Brakes on 70%’ icon. You will be asked to enter your name, company, address and postal code (you must enter this information in order to receive a reply from the ministers); hit send; and a message (which you can see) will automatically be sent from you to the ministers telling them how you feel about the 70% fee increase and what should be done about it.

The more people from the industry that participate, the more impact it will have.

Time is of the essence as OTA is expecting to meet with the Ministers and the Premier in the next few weeks and the next Ontario budget is just around the corner. Please send your email messages as soon as possible and pass this call to action along to others in the industry with your encouragement to voice their opinions as well.