The Provincial Government of Ontario has announced that under the new changes to the Highway Traffic Act Bill 173, road-building machines (RBM) operating in the region will be reclassified as commercial motor vehicles (CMV).
The reclassification comes into effect on July 01.
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The new legislation is more restrictive and no longer defines RBMs as vehicles that can operate at highway speed. The following types of RMBs will be counted as CMVs once the bill comes into full force two months from now:
- Mobile equipment vehicles
- Mobile cranes that are not exclusively for off-road use.
- Excavators that are not exclusively for off-road use.
- Street sweepers that are not considered low-speed.
- Vehicles constructed on a truck chassis
Vehicles that comply with, or are intended to comply with, Canadian federal safety manufacturing standards for highway vehicles or comparable standards from another jurisdiction, such as vacuum trucks, hydrovacs and water trucks.
In response to the changes, insurer CNA recently released a statement to notify its commercial insurance clients how the new rule affects them.
“The operators of vehicles now defined as CMVs will be required to have a commercial vehicle operator’s registration, certificate, plating, motor vehicle insurance, safety and emissions testing, hours of service regulations, weights and dimension regulations and fuel tax,” the insurer advised.
Other commercial auto insurers operating in the province are expected to follow suit and guide their clients in securing proper coverage for their reclassified heavy equipment.
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