May 8, 2008

VINCE VERSACE

In an attempt to bring attention to issues such as excess loading and rising fuel costs, about 150 dump truck drivers took to Toronto’s main highways in a slow-rolling protest.

Rolling dump truck protest takes to the highway

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

A convoy of 150 dump trucks recently roared its way from a muddy Brampton parking lot and on to Toronto’s main highways to protest excess loading and skyrocketing fuel costs.

The Ontario Dump Truck Association (ODTA) organized the rolling protest, which started at Derry and Dixie roads on Thursday, May 8. The ODTA wants to send a message to contractors, excavators, road builders and pavers that they cannot continue to face financial hardships and strain.

“The diesel costs over the last five years have soared from 50 to 60 cents a litre to $1.35,” says Raj Banipal, a dump truck driver.

“We cannot survive such big increases, which is why we want a raise.” ODTA drivers currently charge $75 an hour for their services and they want to immediately increase this to $90 an hour.

Truck maintenance and increasing insurance costs also are placing a strain on dump truck operators, the ODTA says.

“Simply put, without an increase, we can no longer continue to operate in a safe and profitable manner,” states Gary Grewal, president of the ODTA, in an open letter to excavation and construction industry officials.

The ODTA says its rolling truck protest is both a public awareness initiative and a call to all dump truck operators to come together, with one voice, and demand a standard hourly wage.

The overloading of trucks is a major health and safety concern, says Banipal. The trucks are designed to haul around 21 tonnes but at the times they can carry up to 30 tonnes.

“We can refuse to the carry load, but then there is a chance you can never return to that work site,” explains Banipal.

The convoy of dump trucks headed west on Derry Road to Hwy. 410, south to Hwy. 401 and east across Toronto to the Don Valley Parkway. The trucks then rolled south to the Gardiner Expressway, west to Hwy. 427, north to the 401 and then west to the 410 to where they started, completing their protest in three hours.

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