The Ontario government has temporarily waived some of the work rules governing truck drivers to help cope with the province's fuel supply crunch.
The waiver will let petroleum haulers work longer hours until the situation stabilizes, and is to remain in place until March 15, the Ontario Trucking Association said Thursday.
Among the waived rules is the regulation that drivers and operators cannot drive after accumulating 70 hours on-duty in a seven-day period.
Association president David Bradley said the rule change should help ensure that fuel haulers don't run out of hours before making their deliveries.
"We anticipate that there will be long line-ups at the fuel-loading depots for the next while," Bradley said.
The shortages followed a Feb. 15 fire at Imperial Oil's Nanticoke refinery, which severely limited the company's ability to provide fuel supplies to its Esso outlets. With Esso stations running dry, that sparked a demand crunch at Petro-Canada and Shell stations as those two companies struggled to keep up with supplies.
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The waiver will let petroleum haulers work longer hours until the situation stabilizes, and is to remain in place until March 15, the Ontario Trucking Association said Thursday.
Among the waived rules is the regulation that drivers and operators cannot drive after accumulating 70 hours on-duty in a seven-day period.
Association president David Bradley said the rule change should help ensure that fuel haulers don't run out of hours before making their deliveries.
"We anticipate that there will be long line-ups at the fuel-loading depots for the next while," Bradley said.
The shortages followed a Feb. 15 fire at Imperial Oil's Nanticoke refinery, which severely limited the company's ability to provide fuel supplies to its Esso outlets. With Esso stations running dry, that sparked a demand crunch at Petro-Canada and Shell stations as those two companies struggled to keep up with supplies.
more
