Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for allowing the Alberta Motor Transport Association to participate in the review of the Canadian transportation regime regarding safe transportation of dangerous goods and the safety management systems.
I understand that this committee has heard from the Canadian Trucking Alliance and other provincial associations in the past week, and as AMTA is a member of CTA we are continuing to support the use of electronic logging devices, roll stability for newly manufactured trucks, speed limiters, and mandatory entry-level training for truck drivers.
In the oil patch of Alberta, there are two major means of transporting oil and gas products, namely by gathering lines or pipelines and by truck from battery to either a distribution point such as a pipeline terminal or a cleaning plant. Only 10% of the produced petroleum crude is transported by truck on our roads and all moves are within a stringent Department of Transport-regulated environment.
I believe that road transportation of bulk class-3 dangerous goods will never be an option for the oil and gas industry for a long haul, because on a user-pay program we would not be a viable option for any of these long-haul movements. Just the number of trucks to haul the volumes that move on 100-car trains would be a burden and, I believe, with the upcoming driver shortages, not even possible.
In addition to the oil-related products, there are many types and quantities of dangerous goods that move in the less-than-truckload and full-truckload market to many sectors, including household goods. These are also transported by road within the same Department of Transport regulations.
The carriers that move dangerous goods are all subject to facility audits by the provincial governing bodies to ensure that their safety management systems are order, internally audited, and followed. Also, the truck drivers on our highways are subject to daily roadside inspections to ensure that their training is current and paperwork is in order and in compliance with all Department of Transport and/or transportation of dangerous goods requirements.
The driver’s training in the dangerous goods is part of a total package that all carriers must do to ensure shared safety on our highways. Drivers are trained to understand the paperwork presented for the transportation of dangerous goods, but the shipper must also be held accountable for training their employees in this classification, and for the accuracy of paperwork, and all safety marks required for their products, including placards presented to the driver with every shipment.
Our industry works together every day to improve highway safety to reduce accidents, and a high standard is there for incident reduction at all loading and unloading facilities. The AMTA sponsors our members and works with them daily to ensure safety on the highways.
Thank you for your time, and I'm open to any questions, Mr. Chair.