The Ontario government is introducing legislation meant to cap the speed of
large-scale trucks at 105 km/h by making speed limiters mandatory.
A speed limiter is an electronic device that caps the top speed of a
truck, the province explained in a press release Wednesday. “Speed limiters are proven to lower maintenance costs and improve fuel economy,” the release noted.
An “educational enforcement” period of six months would run
before speed limiters would be made mandatory — the target for which will be 2009.
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If the legislation passes, speed limiters would be mandatory for all trucks built after 1995 with an electronic engine operating in Ontario, regardless of where the trucks come from. Most trucks built in the last decade come equipped with speed limiter technology, the province noted.
The legislation would apply to all trucks with both an electronically controlled engine and a manufacturer’s rating or gross vehicle weight (GVW) rating of at least 11,794 kg.
That rating is either the maximum weight, as determined by the manufacturer, that the vehicle is designed to carry, or the registered weight, determined by the vehicle operator, that the vehicle is likely to carry in the course of conducting day-to-day business.
The legislation would then generally cover Class D farm trucks with electronically controlled engines. Class D vehicles’ minimum GVW is 11,000 kg as long as towed vehicles aren’t over 4,600 kg.
A provincial spokesperson said the province won’t require vehicles with mechanically controlled engines, or self-propelled “instruments of husbandry,” to retrofit to comply with the proposed legislation.
But a truck with farm plates and registered for a GVW of 11,794 kg or more, with an electronically-controlled engine, would be required to have an activated speed limiter, the spokesperson said.
