August 25, 2015                                                                                   

Ministry of Transportation Delays Implementation of New Road Building Machine Definition

The Ministry of Transportation has delayed the implementation of the new definition of road-building machine (RBM) under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) for one year, from 2016 to January 1, 2017.

The implementation will be followed by a one year of educational enforcement period until January 1, 2018.

The Ministry of Transportation is reviewing the current definition of a road-building machine (RBM) under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA). RBMs are exempt from many obligations under the HTA and other legislation that relies on the HTA for vehicle classifications.

In the 2014 Provincial Budget, the government noted that proposed amendments to the Highway Traffic Act would include imposing registration and licensing requirements on non-traditional road‐building machines that use public roads and highways. Additional fuel tax revenue would result from these licensed road-building machines that would not be permitted to use tax-exempt fuel.

Since the introduction of the budget proposal, ORBA has worked closely with the Ministry of Transportation to ensure any definitional changes do not have unintended industry effects. ORBA attended the public information sessions held in March regarding the propose changes of the RBMs definition.

ORBA also submitted its written comments to the MTO last fall on the proposed RBM definitional changes. In its submission, ORBA noted its concerns on how a change in the definition of a traditional road-building machine would impact a company�s Commercial Vehicle Operator�s Registration (CVOR) rating as the CVOR system is deeply flawed and bringing any additional machines would compound the system�s issues. ORBA submission has been attached to this bulletin.

The ministry will continue to work towards the development of a new definition to distinguish between traditional types of RBMs built to operate on construction and maintenance right of ways and those built on truck chassis able to operate at highway speeds and meet federal manufacturing requirements. Vehicles that do not meet the new RBM definition will be classified as commercial motor vehicles, and as such, will be required to comply with safety regulations.

For more information, please contact Nadia Todorova (nadia@orba.org or 905-507-1107 ext. 225). 

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