MTO has notified OTA of some program condition changes to Ontario’s LCV and ESSAC program aimed at reducing operational burdens to support the efficient movement of goods. Highlights of the program changes include:
Long Combination Vehicles (LCV) Program Conditions
- After previously removing GTA time-of-day operating restrictions, MTO also ‘temporarily’ suspended all province-wide LCV long-weekend and holiday operating restrictions as part of its COVID response.
- At OTA’s urging, MTO has now permanently removed the long-weekend and holiday restrictions from the Program Conditions.
For details of the MTO LCV communication, please click here:
In addition to the latest amendments, OTA has also requested MTO work with government partners in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to further streamline their LCV program conditions to allow the movement of freight not requiring and emergency response assistance plan (ERAP).
This issue was identified as an inter-provincial trade barrier in the Canadian Trucking Alliance’s 2025 Report, as well as the need to complete the twinning of Hwy 185 in Quebec to allow the seamless movement of LCV’s across eastern Canada.
“We understand the inclusion of non-erap freight on LCVs in eastern Canada is on the upcoming agenda of the National Task Force on Vehicle Weights and Dimensions. We look forward to the results of those discussions and commend the Task Force and the Council of Deputy Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety for working with OTA and CTA in removing this trade barrier,” said Geoff Wood, OTA’s Sr. VP Policy.
Extended Stinger-Steer Auto Carrier (ESSAC) Program Conditions
- In response to changes to US laws allowing longer stinger-steer auto carriers, MTO introduced the ESSAC program in 2017 to allow longer auto haulers to operate in Ontario under special permit.
- Based on program experience and OTA’s and participating carriers’ requests and feedback, MTO has now updated the program to better meet carrier needs while maintaining safe operations.
- The program now focuses on two types of ESSAC configurations due to no uptake of the third ‘Transitional ESSAC’.
- The ‘Full-ESSAC’ (equivalent to US allowances) may only operate on designated routes and to and from approved destinations for which a route engineering assessment has been performed.
- The ‘ON-ESSAC’ is compatible with US regulations but includes some key dimensional limits to better control dynamic performance, including the amount of front and rear outswing when turning. It can operate on all public highways and to any location.
- The revised conditions remove limits on the number of special permits each carrier may hold once a successful ‘probationary’ year of operation is completed.
- Driver qualifications are reduced from 5 years of previous tractor-trailer experience to 2 years. The requirement for orientation training remains.
- Monthly trip-reporting requirements for ON-ESSACs have been streamlined so they are compatible with automated reporting systems and less cumbersome for carriers.
- To ensure ESSAC semi-trailers properly meet program specifications, carriers must now submit a certified VIN-specific OEM spec sheet with the permit application.
For details of the MTO ESSAC communication, please click here:
“The ESSAC program in Ontario is a text-book example of how government and industry can work together to design and update an adaptable permit regime that considers the realities of today’s automobile transport industry. Work has been completed or is nearing completion to allow similar ESSAC regimes across eastern Canada for direct dealer access,” says Wood. “MTO has championed this work with support of the Task Force members, the Secretariat and the Deputy Ministers. We look forward to seeing another one of the trade barriers identified by the Canadian Trucking Alliance fully removed to allow the free flow of this specialized trucking equipment across eastern Canada.”