How Do You Rate as a Commercial Vehicle Operator?
Ontario is improving the safety performance of the carrier industry
through a new
Carrier Safety Rating Program.
How it Works
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ExcellentThe Registrar of Motor Vehicles notifies the operator* in advance of assigning their proposed safety rating, or when their rating is changed.
The rating is based on the carrier's Commercial Vehicle Operator's Registration (CVOR) and facility audit (if available).
The operator has 30 days to respond, through a written submission, as to why the proposed rating should not be assigned to them. The decision of the Registrar is final and binding.
Ratings will appear on Public and Carrier CVOR Abstracts which are available from any Ministry Drivers and Vehicles Office.
* An operator is a motor carrier (individual or company) responsible for the operation of a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in the Highway Traffic Act section 16(1).
| A carrier safety rating provides a clear picture of a carrier's overall safety performance and is available to the public, industry and other jurisdictions. All operators will be rated, including those from outside Ontario. |
Business Benefits
…customer loyalty
The rating will help them to
determine how safe the carrier is that they choose to do business with.
…attract new business
Carriers with good ratings can
develop a competitive advantage, using their rating as part of their marketing,
to build customer loyalty with existing clients and attracting new ones.
CVOR
A CVOR (Commercial Vehicle Operator Registration) identifies commercial vehicle operators and allows for monitoring of on-road safety performance. Recent changes to the CVOR system include zero pointing of incidents, including:
- collisions where there was no indication of driver impropriety or vehicle defect
- non-safety related convictions
- overweight convictions less than 2000 kg
CVSA detentions since August 1995 will also be repointed to 1 point per out-of-service defect from 2 points. The maximum points for out-of-service defects per vehicle combination has also been reduced to four from eight. However, the thresholds have not changed. Check your CVOR to see if these changes affect you.
Audit Uniformity
It was originally proposed that mandatory audits of all carriers be conducted every three years. However, to achieve national uniformity, Ontario will now conduct mandatory audits of carriers when:
- an operator's CVOR record reaches the level of a "conditional" safety rating
- an operator's collision record surpasses a pre-determined threshold
- an operator is involved in highway safety related incidents, such as collisions, criminal driving offences, vehicle impoundments and wheel separations
- an operator has had little exposure to enforcement
- requests are received from other jurisdictions to perform audits on their behalf
Operators may also request an audit after August 1, 1999 in order to secure a Satisfactory or Excellent rating. You must have operated in Ontario for at least 2 years to be rated Excellent and 6 months to be rated Satisfactory.
Note: Only audits conducted after Jan. 1, 1999 will be considered during the assignment of a safety rating.
Assess Your Compliance
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The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has developed a new Facility Audit Manual for use by the carrier industry. The manual, which closely follows the process used by MTO Facility Auditors, is designed to allow truck and bus operators to assess their compliance with Ontario's road safety legislation and regulations. |
What's To Come
All Canadian jurisdictions are working together to harmonize carrier safety ratings nationally through the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA). Ontario's new Carrier Safety Rating Program will be implemented as follows:
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the assignment of safety ratings to the most non-compliant carriers on the basis of their CVOR safety record (June 1999).
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the introduction of a new, automated CVOR system which will assist the Registrar of Motor Vehicles in assigning safety ratings to carriers (beginning September 1999). The focus will be on "conditional" ratings. Carriers may also volunteer for a facility audit to secure a "satisfactory" or "excellent" safety rating (August 1999).
- the assignment of a "satisfactory unaudited" rating to operators
with an acceptable performance based on the new CVOR system, but no facility
audit
(November/December 1999).
The implementation of the Carrier Safety Rating Program is allowed under section 17 of the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) and recent changes to Ontario Regulation 424/97. Public guidelines are being developed by the Ministry to accompany this regulation.
ISBN 0-7778-8988-9
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