Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Oct. 22, 2021:
The Ontario government Wednesday announced its intentions to introduce legislation that, if passed, would mandate washroom access for truck drivers at businesses where they are picking up and delivering.
The legislation is the result of consultations conducted by the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee that have indicated that truck drivers, couriers and others are often denied use of a washroom at businesses they serve.
“This is something most people in Ontario take for granted, but access to washrooms is a matter of common decency currently being denied to hundreds of thousands of workers in this province,” said Ontario Minister of Labor, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton. “Workers who deliver and pick up goods have been on the frontlines of the pandemic, ensuring that essential supplies continue to reach the people of Ontario. Providing these hardworking men and women with access to washrooms is a small change that will make a big difference, so they can do their jobs with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
The Ontario Trucking Association strongly supports the proposed legislation.
“Our province’s truck drivers deserve our respect, our support, our thanks and our best efforts to help them do their jobs so Ontarians can put food on our tables and have access to the goods we need,” said OTA President and CEO Stephen Laskowski. “We are encouraged this announcement will give truck drivers access to the necessary facilities wherever they may be working.”
Market conditions for shippers continued to gradually improve in August, according to FTR’s Shippers Conditions Index, improving to the best reading since September 2020 at -6.8, slightly better than the -8.1 July index.
