{"id":3168,"date":"2021-07-28T17:25:22","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T17:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/editorial-nowhere-to-hide\/"},"modified":"2025-01-10T16:44:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T16:44:06","slug":"editorial-nowhere-to-hide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/editorial-nowhere-to-hide\/","title":{"rendered":"EDITORIAL: Nowhere to Hide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nowhere to Hide\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Stephen Laskowski<\/em><\/p>\n

Robert Kennedy once said that\u00a0\u201cevery society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Kennedy was right. For too long, the trucking industry and the enforcement community have turned a blind eye to cheaters who have run transport businesses based on non-compliance and a disregard for safety and the environment and civic responsibility. Of course, I\u2019m referring to\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc. \u2013 a misclassification scheme at best and a dangerous criminal enterprise at worst \u2013 which for too long has grown unchecked without recourse and fear of enforcement consequences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, five years ago, OTA and CTA developed a plan to wage war against the underbelly of our industry that built their businesses unfairly using\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc. We lobbied every level of government and agency who had jurisdiction and oversight over certain aspects of our industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At first, there was mixed reaction to the campaign. Some even\u00a0thought\u00a0that\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc. carriers were part of the next contemporary wave of the trucking industry and \u2013 like pioneering disrupters in the tech space \u2013 were an advanced breed of trucker whose innovative tactics would take over the industry. Except, of course, there\u2019s one major difference. Unlike tech \u2018disruptors\u2019 who brought us smart phones and bedroom furniture to our doorstep,\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc\u00a0companies haven\u2019t conceived anything special, brought consumers value or think outside the box. They just do what bottom feeders have done in every industry since the beginning of time \u2013 they break the law, cut corners\u00a0illegally\u00a0and manipulate the labour pool to drive down their costs. Granted, they can be clever, as they spent an immense amount of time and resources looking for any conceivable hole in the system to avoid compliance costs and staying a step ahead of regulators. Healthy and fair competition has always been good for the trucking industry \u2013 it\u2019s mainly how we\u2019ve become the most efficient and productive for of transportation on earth.\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc. is not healthy or fair competition and must be driven out.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what is the plan? It first started by focusing on tax evasion and labour misclassification. OTA began lobbying the WSIB to educate them. Upon investigation, WSIB found the problem so pervasive, it stopped all random audits and began focusing exclusively on\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc\u00a0audits, which has resulted in about 100 gross violators totalling millions of dollars in fines in a very short time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next, ESDC\u00a0began to review and utilize the WSIB list\u00a0of\u00a0noncompliant\u00a0companies and targeted audit results. ESDC, under the leadership of Minister Hadju and Minister Tassi, always worked with CTA on this file from the start but the challenge was how to target enforcement. By working with the WSIB\u2019s gross violator list, as well their own targeted list, ESDC have launched a targeted labour misclassification\/Driver\u00a0Inc\u00a0campaign in Ontario. The results of these audits will be a big industry-government discussion point in the fall and winter of 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The next step will be to expand the ESDC enforcement net throughout Ontario and in other regions of Canada, which should also assist Canada Revenue Agency\u2019s impending approach to enforcement. Although CRA has not yet taken a firm stance on a\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc\u00a0enforcement like ESDC and WSIB have, it is engaged in the issue as a tax avoidance scheme that siphons away more than a billion dollars a year in unpaid taxes. Additionally, we (and CRA) are well aware there\u2019s a link between\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc\u00a0violators applying for CEWS.\u00a0How can a company of \u201ccontractors\u201d apply for CEWs?\u00a0CRA has taken an important step of mandating the issuing of T4As in the trucking sector, but it needs to do more\u00a0in the area of enforcement. \u00a0If ESDC and WSIB have come to the game in full force, do\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc\u00a0carriers really think that CRA isn\u2019t close behind?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Driver\u00a0Inc. carriers aren\u2019t terribly difficult to spot. That\u2019s because cheating is wired in their DNA; So, whether it\u2019s cutting corners or breaking rules on safety, the environment, tax and labour, insurance, all you have to do is follow the pattern of illegal bread crumbs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On insurance, we worked with the Facility Insurance Association and member truck insurers to uncover significant fraud by many of the\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc\u00a0violators who grossly misrepresent fleets size, exposure etc. This effort has led IFTA and IRP to ask questions about similar types of fraud being committed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next, delete kits. The issue of emission control operation\/maintenance and the impact on fuel efficiency are well known in the industry. The compliant industry\u00a0has delivered improved air quality for Canadians at a\u00a0great cost. The\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc. contingent has instead invested millions of dollars \u2013 not in improving air quality for millions of Canadians and future generations \u2013 but instead in high-tech delete kits devices that circumvent control of harmful emissions and illegally pollute Canada\u2019s air. CTA and OTA worked with the various ministries of environment to put an end to this practice; Ontario is leading the way with on-road blitzes of vehicles and garages, while changes to annual inspections (which can\u2019t be bypassed by crooked garages) coming as well. The federal government and various provinces will be examining the issue of delete kits this fall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s third-party certified ELDs. Why, you may ask, does Canada mandate third-party certified ELDs, unlike the U.S.? In some ways you can thank\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc\u00a0companies for that too. You see, since we all know\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc. carriers exhibit patterns of cheating on pretty much every area of their business, we proactively ensured our ELD regime would be prepared. The third-party certification system designed for ELDs will stop\u00a0cheat\u00a0devices\u00a0from entering market,\u00a0ensuring everyone plays by the same hours of service rules and makes\u00a0the roads safe for the motoring\u00a0public. (To learn more about the availability of third party ELDs from the leading\u00a0ELD\u00a0vendors in North America please go to the Team Canada section of the CTA website at\u00a0<\/span>www.cantruck.ca<\/a><\/u>).<\/p>\n

Driver\u00a0Inc. is the scourge of labour, tax, safety and environmental compliance. These carriers are not a borne out of regulatory ignorance,\u00a0they are businesses\u00a0\u00a0motivated by a\u00a0growth\u00a0plan based on\u00a0noncompliance and\u00a0the\u00a0costs associated with compliance. CTA and OTA are firmly committed to ending the various schemes\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc. participate in and we will not stop demanding that\u00a0Driver\u00a0Inc\u00a0carriers receive the full weight of enforcement from all levels of government. Our great and proud industry deserves a business environment that allows the compliant, most innovative and best managed fleets to proposer; not the most relentless cheating companies to thrive. We\u00a0are the path to achieving this goal. To quote an old sixties song: \u201c<\/span>Nowhere to run to baby, nowhere to hide<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nowhere to Hide\u00a0 By Stephen Laskowski Robert Kennedy once said that\u00a0\u201cevery society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is every community gets the kind of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,53,44,28,62],"tags":[1141,71,1194,1142,31,73,32,912,440,26,1428],"class_list":["post-3168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admin-tax","category-editorials","category-environment-fuel","category-labour-hr-driver-shortage","category-operations-safety","tag-competition","tag-compliance","tag-cra","tag-delete-kits","tag-driver-inc","tag-elds","tag-enforcement","tag-esdc","tag-insurance","tag-taxes","tag-wsib"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cantruck.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}