Fundamentals of Canadian Trucking Law - A Practitioner's Guidebook

Fundamentals of Canadian Trucking Law – A Practitioner's Guidebook is the first book in ten years to address the new dynamics of the Canadian trucking industry. It is intended to guide people in the industry on how to understand the best way to plan their business in the face of the present environment of electronic logs, driver shortages, rising freight rates, a multitude of new trucking company competitors, brokers and new employment standards legislation.

This book is intended for truck company owners, manufacturers (shippers), load brokers, lawyers and paralegals, as well as intermediaries who sell or provide services to the motor carrier industry, such as warehousing, customs, insurance and government agencies. It is also written for students of Canadian and U.S. transport law.

The book is divided into four parts:

The first segment explains the basic concepts and vocabulary of the transportation marketplace – what is a bill of lading, regulation, a highway operator, cabotage, demurrage? What are the differences between load brokers, freight forwarders, intermodal carriers, subcontractors and factoring agents?

The second part of the book explains the infractions and defences available to trucking firms, with particular reference to the Highway Traffic Act and Provincial Offences Act of Ontario. Readers will learn about the rules regarding impounding truck equipment, contesting tickets and reducing CVOR/NSC points.

The third segment is about the conditions and terms which need to be included in contracts between shippers and carriers, brokers and trucking firms, as well as between trucking companies and three types of drivers, i.e., owner-operators, incorporated drivers and employee drivers. There are also guidelines for contracts with dispatchers and sales representatives, as well as non-competition and case law on the confidentiality of client lists.

The last part includes a series of chapters written by specialists on a particular subject related to transportation regulation. These chapters cover U.S. trucking law, Canadian employment law, motor carrier insurance, the rules of the Ontario Small Claims Court, customs law, Workman’s Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) and marine law.

The co-authors of this book are John Petrosoniak, former Crown Counsel, Ministry of Transportation of Ontario and Dr. Richard Lande, transport lawyer with offices in Toronto and
Montreal.

The structure of the book is that each chapter’s title is in the form of a question, and the substance of that chapter provides the answer(s).

Here is a sampling of a few of the textbook’s 129 chapter headings:

• Chapter 4 – What is the importance of a Bill of Lading for a trucking firm and what are the consequences of not having one?

• Chapter 8 – What is the difference between a freight forwarder, broker and a truck operator? Are they all required to have operating authorities?

• Chapter 9 – When Canadian trucking firms transport goods between Canada and the U.S., as well as for return cross-border hauls, does Canadian or U.S. law apply with regards to carrier liability for loss or damage to goods?

• Chapter 13 – Do Ontario brokers have to maintain a separate trust account, failing which the Directors are personally liable?

• Chapter 23 – Can a trucking company in Ontario have more than one CVOR, if the owner’s spouse and/or parent also own or have incorporated trucking companies?

• Chapter 59 – Can a carrier refuse to release a load to a customer who has not paid it for previous freight charges? Do trucking firms have a lien on the cargo they carry?

• Chapter 65 – Can an owner/operator be an employee of a trucking company for part of the year and still be an independent contractor for another period within the year?

• Chapter 68 – What clauses should a trucking company include in its “employment” contract with owner/operators, so as to confirm the latter’s independent status?

• Chapter 76 – If a carrier signs a one-sided contract agreeing not to solicit clients of a broker for several years, is the carrier bound by such an unreasonable contract?

• Chapter 80 – If a truck operator is not paid by their broker, can they successfully sue the receiver (consignee) even if the broker has paid?

• Chapter 85 – What is the interrelationship between trucking law and maritime law when the carriage of cargo requires different modes of carriage, and the trucker not only performs part of the voyage by land transport, but also may be a participant in the multi-modal contractual process?

• Chapter 95 – What is the difference between an Independent Contractor and a Dependent Contractor?

• Chapter 99 – Can carriers subcontract without the services of a licenced broker in the U.S.?

Richard Lande, Ph.D., LL.L

Richard Lande, Ph.D., LL.L. has during the past forty years of professional practice in transportation law written nine books and published over fifty articles on surface and inter-modal transportation. He has made over one hundred presentations to conferences worldwide.  

Richard is the organizer of the Conference on Transportation Innovation and Cost Savings, the original, largest and most prestigious one day educational and networking event for shippers and supply chain practitioners in North America. His well-established experience and extensive professional network provides an unmatched background to put together the very best dynamic conference packed with information and innovation. Every year there are over three to five hundred "top of the field" companies that are represented at the conference.

Richard was the first recipient of the British Railway Medal, Chairman of National Transportation Week as well as Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transportation in North America.

Richard also serves as the Honorary Consul General for the Comoros Islands in Canada and as President of the Importers Transport Council.

Richard is a Member of the Bars of Ontario and Quebec.

John Petrosoniak, LLB, LLM

John Petrosoniak, B.A. (Toronto), LLB (Western), LLM (Osgoode) began practicing law in 1984 and has enjoyed it thoroughly. He has provided advice and prosecuted thousands of cases for 25 years with the Ministry of the Attorney General (Ontario), of his many years at the Bar. Eleven of those years were for Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation.

In his younger years he has driven all manner of large trucks and buses. He also understands the details of the mechanical workings of those vehicles. In his own words, he is a “car nut”. Having worked on his own vehicles (and collected a few classics along the way), he has gained first-hand knowledge of both the physical mechanics of vehicles as well as understanding the legal intricacies of the Highway Traffic Act and its related legislation. This has provided him with the unique opportunity to explain legal concepts about truck transportation matters to courts and tribunals in a simple and understandable manner.