Manitoba Introduces Bill Aimed at Chameleon Carriers

In March 2023, the Manitoba government introduced amendments to The Highway Traffic Act aimed at "chameleon carriers," trucking companies that shut down and reopen under a new name to escape their safety problems. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk announced the bill on March 8, 2023, in a provincial news release.

The problem the bill targeted

The province described chameleon carriers as motor-carrier businesses that close and later reopen under a new name to avoid dealing with safety issues. Manitoba said the amendments were aimed at unsafe carriers and would have minimal impact on carriers that complied with safety regulations and had satisfactory on-road performance.

Piwniuk linked the bill to the province's response to a 2019 Office of the Auditor General report on the oversight of commercial vehicle safety. He said safety on Manitoba's roads was his department's "highest priority."

What the bill would do

The release said the change would let the department initially assign a "conditional" safety rating to a suspected chameleon carrier. Carriers would be able to appeal decisions to the Licence Suspension Appeal Board.

The bill text posted by the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as Bill 21, The Highway Traffic Amendment Act, set out the mechanics in more detail. Under the first-reading version:

• An operator would need a safety fitness certificate to drive, operate or tow a regulated vehicle on a highway, unless exempted by regulation.
• Applicants would have to provide information about any "related operator," and the director would base the initial safety fitness rating on both the applicant's own record and information about related operators.
• The director could refuse a certificate for false, misleading or incomplete information, missing insurance, an unsatisfactory rating, or other reasons set in regulation, including reasons tied to a related operator.
• Certificates could not be transferred or assigned, and drivers would have to carry a copy and produce it for an inspector or peace officer.
• Operators could appeal a rating, a refusal, or a suspension or revocation to the appeal board within 30 days.

The bill's explanatory note added that every 12 months an operator would have to obtain the driving records of the people who drove for it and review them within 30 days to decide whether each driver was fit to keep driving. Details such as the qualifications of an operator's safety compliance officer and identifying marks on vehicles would move into regulations. The act would come into force on a day fixed by proclamation.

Earlier changes in Manitoba

The bill followed other changes to Manitoba's carrier oversight. According to the release, the province updated its safety rating framework in 2022 to align with National Safety Code Standard 14 and tightened safety fitness certificate renewals. Under the updated Safety Fitness Criteria and Certificates Regulation, new carriers had to identify a certified compliance officer and submit a safety plan before receiving a safety fitness certificate, and existing carriers with a conditional rating had 180 days to certify a compliance officer.

For carriers already operating safely in Manitoba, the province's message in March 2023 was that little would change. The bill was aimed at operators that tried to leave a poor safety record behind by changing their name.

Archive: this article describes rules and events as of March 2023. Regulations may have changed since, so check the current rule before relying on it.