Get ready people, here come the road trains or "long combination vehicles" as is known in the industry. Ontario is proposing a one (1) year trial period for these trucks. When did Ontario move to the southern hemisphere and become part of the Australian outback?

The Ministry of Transport (MTO) states that these monstrous rigs will provide "environmental benefits and lower shipping costs that come with having one truck haul more cargo". And that there will be "strict restrictions on when, where and how fast they can drive and how much weight they can carry". Well, let’s look at each of the issues:

• Speed: max 90 kph; the highway is posted at 100 kph and the trucks are now mandated to be electronically limited to 105 kph, anyone see anything wrong with this picture?
• Weight: trucks are already regulated for weight, now it will be times 2, and when one of these rigs jackknifes and the load spills, it won’t be one trailer load to clean up, it could be 2 trailer loads which will double the time.
• Where: These rigs will probably be restricted to the 400 series highways; and if there is an accident outside of the GTA, these rigs will not be allowed off the highway to bypass the accident—where’s the economic savings?
• Lower shipping costs: Guess who’s not going to benefit by this? That’s right, you, the consumer.
• Environmental benefits: If the government is really concerned about this topic, why don’t we get the trucks off the road and put the costs on trains? We already have the modal rail terminals in and around Toronto, from an environmental standpoint, this makes more sense.

Finally, automobile drivers are frustrated by the lack of professionalism of truck drivers where one truck tries to overtake another at a snail’s pace (and this was before the 105 kph mandate). Now picture two of these rigs heading west on the 401 where’s it only two lanes uphill and you have these side by side. At what level will the frustration be? Might this be a good example of "road rage"?