The Ministry of Transportation’s booth was a popular destination during the Ottawa Valley Farm Show
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Farmers attending the Ottawa Valley Farm Show took an interest in law enforcement.
Producers waited in long lineups to visit with officers from the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to ask questions about vehicle and trailer compliance, said Charles Cadieux, an enforcement supervisor with the MTO.
“The top question would’ve been requirements for drivers’ licences and knowing the differences between the G, D or A licenses,” he told Farms.com. “Other questions we received had to do with annual safety inspections as far as small and large pickup trucks and trailers.”
Growers also wanted to find out information about registered gross weights on vehicles and trailers, and where to locate those weights on the equipment, Cadieux said.
One of the reasons the lineups were so long was because MTO officers looked up individual vehicles and assessed what steps a farmer needed to take to get his or her truck and trailer into compliance.
Making sure vehicles and trailer requirements are up-to-date will benefit farmers in the long run, Cadieux said.
“Being at the farm show, we were able to look things up based on farmers’ specific needs,” he said. “We looked up when individuals needed annual inspections based on the types of vehicles and equipment they had. I was also able to tell them what we would be looking for if we stopped them on the side of the road.
“The problem, though, is that if we’ve stopped them on the side of the road, it’s more than likely going to result in enforcement.”
More information on truck and commercial vehicle compliance can be found on the MTO’s website.
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