Daily Inspection (Trip) and Maintenance Requirements
Truck and Trailer

(Table of Contents appears below.)

Preface

September 7, 2007
Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2007.
This is an unofficial version of Government of Ontario legal materials. For accurate reference refer to the official volumes. The Highway Traffic Act may be viewed on the internet at: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/index.html

The daily vehicle inspection legislation may be viewed at: Section 107 of the Highway Traffic Act
The daily vehicle inspection regulation may be viewed at: Regulation 199/07 (Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspections)

Educational / Transitional Period For Ontario's New Inspection Requirements

Ontario Plated Trucks:

Operators may continue inspecting vehicles and using inspection reports that comply with former Regulation 575 until January 1, 2008. Operators are expected to transition to the new requirements of Regulation 199/07, which are detailed in this document, as soon as possible but no later than January 1, 2008.

Operators may convert the entire fleet at once from the old to the new or convert individual drivers as they become trained. In either case individual drivers must be in full compliance with either the old or the new rules during this transition period.

Out-of-Province Plated Canadian Trucks:

1. From July 1, 2007 until January 1, 2008, trucks plated in a province or territory, other than Ontario, may operate in Ontario if the vehicle(s) was inspected, and an inspection report completed, in accordance with the daily inspection requirements of:
   • the province or territory in which the vehicle is base plated,
   • Ontario's former Regulation 575,
   • Ontario's new Regulation 199/07, as detailed in this document, or
   • National Safety Code Standard 13, as of May 2005 which is published by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.
2. As of January 1, 2008, trucks plated in a province or territory, other than Ontario, may operate in Ontario if the vehicle(s) was inspected, and an inspection report completed, in accordance with the daily inspection requirements of:
   • the province or territory in which the vehicle is base plated,
   • National Safety Code Standard 13, as of May 2005 which is published by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, or
   • Ontario's new Regulation 199/07, as detailed in this document.

Items 1 and 2 above also apply to out-of-province plated trucks that are driven by Ontario licensed drivers who drive the vehicles only within Ontario.

Purpose Of Daily Vehicle Inspection

The purpose of daily vehicle inspection is to ensure the early identification of vehicle problems and defects before the vehicle is operated on the highway. Inspections prevent the operation of a vehicle with conditions that are likely to cause or contribute to the severity of an accident.

Vehicles That Require Inspection

A Daily Vehicle Inspection Is Required To Be Conducted On:

• a single truck that has a registered gross weight or an actual weight over 4,500 kg (9,920 lbs).
• a truck and trailer combination if a truck has a registered gross weight over 4,500 kg or a truck's actual weight, with the trailer attached is over 4,500 kg.

Vehicles That Are Exempt From Inspection

A Daily Vehicle Inspection Is Not Required On:

General Vehicles

• a truck with a registered gross weight and an actual weight of 4,500 kg or less, whether towing a trailer or not and regardless of the trailer's weight,
• a personal use pick-up truck,
• a truck leased by an individual for 30 days or less to move their personal goods, or to carry passengers without compensation,
• a truck and towed trailer that is being road-tested, for the purposes of repairs, within 30 kilometres of a repair facility where the vehicle is being repaired by the holder of a valid certificate of qualification as an automotive service technician or as a truck and coach technician issued under the Apprenticeship and Certification Act, 1998 or by an apprentice under that Act,
• an empty truck operated under the authority of a dealer plate or in-transit permit,
• a historic truck that has a vehicle permit for a historic vehicle,
• an ambulance, fire apparatus, cardiac arrest emergency vehicle, hearse, casket wagon, mobile crane, and a tow truck,
• an emergency vehicle and towed trailer while responding to or returning from an emergency,
• a truck and towed trailer while providing relief from an earthquake, flood, fire, famine, drought, epidemic, pestilence or other disaster by transporting passengers or goods,
• a trailer converter dolly that is not carrying a trailer, and
• a road building machine.

Recreational Vehicles

• a motor home and a truck camper with the camper installed, including any type of trailer or vehicle towed by the motor home or truck camper,
• a truck, regardless of size and weight, that is towing a house trailer that is being used for personal purposes,
• a house trailer being used for personal purposes, and
• a car tow dolly.

Farm Vehicles

• a two-axle or three-axle truck or tractor, not drawing a trailer, that is primarily used to transport primary products of a farm, forest, sea or lake produced or harvested by the driver or the driver’s employer. (includes farm plated trucks) (primary products include livestock, horses and poultry),
• a self-propelled implement of husbandry, farm tractor or any towed farm equipment, and
• farm equipment towed by a truck.

Terms used in this document

actual weight

in the case of a truck towing a trailer, means the weight of the truck, when loaded or empty, plus any weight transferred to the truck by an attached trailer, including a house trailer, an object, a device or an implement of husbandry. The weight transmitted to the road by a towed vehicle is not included in the trucks' actual weight.

The empty weight of a truck may be found on the vehicle portion of the truck's permit (ownership) beside the VEH WT heading and is in kilograms. Note: VEH WT may have been determined before the installation of the truck's cargo body, equipment, fuel, etc.   (return to reference)

emergency vehicle

means,

• a road service vehicle operated by or on behalf of a road authority,
• a vehicle used by a person employed by or on behalf of a police force, or
• a vehicle used by or on behalf of a public utility.   (return to reference)

historic truck

means a truck that is at least 30 years old, has a vehicle permit for a historic vehicle, is operated on a highway in parades, for purposes of exhibition, tours or similar functions organized by a properly constituted automobile club or for purposes of repair, testing or demonstration for sale, is substantially unchanged or unmodified from the original manufacturer’s product, and does not have year-of-manufacture plates.   (return to reference)

house trailer

includes a cabin trailer, collapsible cabin trailer, tent trailer and camping trailer.   (return to reference)

operator

the term operator is used in this document to describe the person or company who operates a truck and is directly or indirectly responsible for the operation of the vehicle, conduct of the driver and carriage of goods or passengers. The operator may own or lease the vehicle. Operator is also used to distinguish the operator from driver. The driver may be the operator or a person hired by the operator. A person who is the operator and the driver of a vehicle is required to comply with the rules for both the driver and the operator.   (return to reference)

personal use pickup truck

means a pickup truck;

• that has a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating of 6,000 kg (13,227 lb) or less, and
• is fitted with either,
  • the original box that was installed by the manufacturer, which has not been modified, or
  • a replacement box that duplicates the one that was installed by the manufacturer, which has not been modified.
  and
• is being used for personal purposes without compensation, and
• is not carrying, or towing a trailer that is carrying commercial cargo or tools or equipment of a type normally used for commercial purposes.

Note:

• the personal use pickup exemption applies regardless of the pickup's registered gross weight or any actual weights of the pickup or trailer.
• a pickup that is normally used for business purposes, including a farm plated pickup, qualifies as a personal use pickup if it complies with and is being used in accordance with the personal use pickup rules above.
• a trailer that is normally used for business purposes qualifies as a personal use trailer if it complies with and is being used in accordance with the rules above and is towed with a personal use pickup.
• some 450 and 550 series cab and chassis trucks are converted to large pickups or are fitted with fifth wheels for towing house or other types of trailers. This type of truck does not qualify as personal use pickup because the vehicle manufacturer did not install the box and the manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating will likely be over 6,000 kg. If the registered gross weight or actual weight of this type of truck is over 4,500 kg, the truck and any towed trailer, including a personal use trailer, are subject to daily inspection. However, this type of truck is exempt when towing a personal-use house trailer.

The following considerations may assist in determining whether a pick-up is being used for personal use:

• pick-ups towing house trailers, camper trailers, boat trailers, all terrain vehicle and snowmobile trailers, etc. used for recreational purposes are examples of personal use trailers.
• stockcar and racecar trailers, when operated for recreational purposes, are normally considered personal, even though a purse may be involved in the racing.

The following is offered as guidance when towing horses;

• personal use would include moving a horse to or from;
  • fairs, exhibitions, horse shows, ploughing matches, pulling competitions.
  • boarding facilities, where the horse is not included in a for-profit business.
• business use would include moving a horse to or from;
  • a racetrack sanctioned by the Ontario Racing Commission, for the purposes of racing, training or breeding.
  • a horse used for riding by a facility where the public pays a fee to ride the horse.
  • a horse transported by a person in the business of breeding or boarding horses for profit.   (return to reference)

registered gross weight

• registered gross weight (RGW) determines the fee paid for truck licence plates and applies the same whether or not the truck is used for personal, business or farm purposes. Trailers do not have a RGW.
• RGW is indicated on the right portion (plate portion) of a truck's permit (ownership), to the right of REG. GROSS WT and is in kilograms (kg). One kilogram equals 2.204 pounds and one pound equals .4536 (kg).
• Details on how to determine the correct amount of RGW for a truck or truck and trailer combination

(return to reference)

road-building machine

means a self-propelled vehicle of a design commonly used in the construction or maintenance of highways, including but not limited to,

• asphalt spreaders, concrete paving or finishing machines, motor graders, rollers, tractor-dozers and motor scrapers,
• tracked and wheeled tractors of all kinds while equipped with mowers, post-hole diggers, compactors, weed spraying equipment, snow blowers and snow plows, front-end loaders, back-hoes or rock drills, and
• power shovels on tracks and drag lines on tracks,

but not including a commercial motor vehicle.   (return to reference)

trailer

includes, but is not limited to boat, snowmobile, livestock, horse and general purpose utility trailers. Trailer does not include devices such as tar pots, portable welders, portable cement mixers, portable compressors, car tow dollies or farm implements such as wagons, balers, etc.   (return to reference)

truck

includes, but is not limited to truck tractors, straight trucks, pickup trucks, curb side/cube vans, business use trade vans/panel trucks, and passenger vans and two and four wheel drive sport utility vehicles while being used to transport cargo, other than personal effects, with one or more of the vehicle's rear seats removed. This applies regardless of how the vehicle is plated, e.g., car, truck or farm plated.

Truck does not include a road-building machine, crane or a self-propelled implement of husbandry.   (return to reference)

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