Keeping big rigs rolling, while improving highway safety in Ontario is the idea behind two new tech initiatives by the provincial government.
Transportation Minister and Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek announced Thursday a pilot program that will see new pre-screening technology installed at Ontario truck inspection stations in Putnam, Vineland, Whitby/Oshawa, and Lancaster by this summer. The screening devices will automatically look for safety defects such as tire, wheel and brake failures and over-weight loads. The information will then be sent to Ministry of Transportation enforcement officers, speeding up the inspection process.
Trucking companies will also be able to download a mobile app called Drivewyze that will allow trucks with good safety records to bypass inspection stations. Meanwhile, those flagged as "high-risk trucks" would trigger an alert to enforcement officers to pull the tractor-trailer in for a full inspection.
"This will reduce delays, get goods to market faster and improve safety," said Yurek, who used London trucking firm The Rosedale Group's Commerce Road location as a backdrop for the announcement. "Sometimes we get unsafe road conditions when truck drivers have to make up time for either being stuck at the border or stuck at inspection stations. This will take care of the inspection station process so that they are able to stay within speed limits and get from point A to point B in a timely manner."
The software for the pre-clearance technology was created by Canadian-based Intelligent Imaging Systems Inc. and is in an investment of $8.4-million by the province. There is no cost associated with the Drivewyze app.
"This technology investment is going to make roads safer by helping better focus enforcement resources on the small percentage of those in our industry who need it, and at the same time, eliminating red tape issues for the vast majority of drivers and trucking fleets who make road safety a priority each and every day," said Ontario Trucking Association President Stephen Laskowski in a statement.
