News Start Your Engines: Big Wheels Bike & Car Rally Website-Registration Opens Whether it's two or 18, truckers sure know their wheels. On Sept. 12 they'll prove it at OTA's inaugural cross-Ontario, Big Wheels Bike & Car ride- 05/24/2013 Reduced Load Restrictions: Northwestern Region Reduced load restrictions have lifted on all designated highways in Area 1, Zones 1A and 1B earlier this week- 05/24/2013 Trailer Wizards Invites OTA Carriers to 50th Anniversary Ontario Trailer Wizards is inviting Ontario Trucking Association members to attend their 50th anniversary celebration on June 6- 05/24/2013 Reminder: MTO to Remove Uncertainty About Drivers Not Medically Qualified for US Code "W" to appear on Drivers Licence Cards and Abstracts after May 26th- 05/23/2013 CITA and OTA Develop Advice on Best Practices in Shipper-Carrier Relationship A group made up of CITA and OTA met with the goal of opening a mutually beneficial dialogue to identify opportunities for efficiencies in the goods distribution system- 05/22/2013 OTA Helps Launch School's Unique Truck & Coach Program Representatives of the Ontario Trucking Association were joined by politicians and education officials in Brampton to mark the official launch of the high school's Truck and Coach program and technical facility- 05/17/2013 MTO Grants 30-Day Extension for May IRP Plate Renewals As reported this week by OTA, MTO has confirmed this morning they will extend for 30 days IRP plates with May 31 expirations- 05/17/2013 Study to Explore Safety, Skills, Literacy Links in Trucking Industry Ottawa will fund a program to examine the links between safety and literacy, and other essential skills of trucking industry workers in Atlantic Canada.- 05/16/2013 Fleet Boss: Truckload Capacity Shrinking 'Quietly' Saddled with aging trucks, higher prices for new, environmentally compliant replacement vehicles and banks unwilling to fund capital requirements, 'fleets are slowly shrinking'- 05/16/2013 FMCSA Chief Officer: Carriers Will Appreciate E-Logs Carriers should be prepared by now for new hours of service rules that go into effect July 1, to be followed by proposed rules for mandatory electronic logs- 05/16/2013 Trucking Capacity and Supply Demand in 'Precarious Balance' FTR Associates reports that trucking capacity and supply “remain in precarious balance at the moment, with very limited demand growth- 05/15/2013 Research IDs Ways to Engage Youth in Trucking Careers New research offers clear insight into the way youth view Canada's trucking industry, and identifies the features of successful programs which could attract the industry's next generation- 05/15/2013 Trucking Industry Foundation Offers More Scholarship Opportunities Parents and their university and college-aged children are urged to check out the many scholarship opportunities offered by the OTA Education Foundation under its endowed scholarship program- 05/15/2013 IRP Modernization Update on Transaction Delays OTA has had several discussions with senior MTO staff and has since learned the ministry will put in additional systems changes to assist in alleviating delays in obtaining IRP plates- 05/15/2013 Sarnia Backs Heavy Haul Truck Corridor Sarnia city council this week supported a $3.5-million permanent heavy haul corridor to transport industrial modules by truck through the city- 05/15/2013 IRP Full Reciprocity Plan to Reduce Burdens, Estimation of Miles Travelled CTA has once again thrown its support behind proposed changes to the International Registration Plan- 05/14/2013 Reminder: Compliance With New HoS Required by July 1 Carriers are reminded that compliance with FMCSA's new hours of service rules will be required by July 1, 2013- 05/10/2013 Michigan Mulls Lifting Ambassador Bridge HazMat Ban Michigan has proposed lifting a decades-old ban on transporting hazardous materials over the Ambassador Bridge at the Windsor-Detroit border- 05/10/2013 Help Needed in Finding Missing Family Member Many members may have already read about the disappearance of Tim Bosma. Tim's extended family has strong roots in the Niagara trucking industry and with the OTA- 05/10/2013 Attention OTA Bikers and Hot Rod Drivers: The inaugural OTA motorcycle and car rally is just a few months away. In the meantime, OTA is looking for photos of members' motorbikes and cool cars and trucks- 05/10/2013