Ontario Trucking Association Calls for Speed Governors

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rucking companies attending last week’s Ontario Trucking Association meeting adopted a policy calling requiring all trucks that operate into, out of or within Ontario to use speed limiters, also known as speed governors, on their trucks.

They approved setting limiters to make the highest speed a truck could go at no more than 105 kph, the equivalent of about 65 mph.

A speed limiter is a built-in microchip that allows a truck engine’s top speed to be preset; all trucks built in the last decade come equipped with this technology, OTA said.

OTA said that while truck drivers are the least likely of all drivers to be operating at excessive speed, there are good environmental, safety and economic reasons for making the activation of speed limiters mandatory.

The group said the fuel savings could reach about 2,310 gallons of diesel a year for a typical tractor-trailer, reduce greenhouse gases and improve safety.

OTA President David Bradley said the OTA plan “demonstrates the industry’s commitment to ensure all trucks on the highways operate at a safe speed and that incidents of tailgating and improper lane changes are reduced.”