TORONTO – Today, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, and Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation issued the following statement on supporting truck drivers during the COVID-19 outbreak:
“In these extraordinary times, we have extraordinary heroes. Our truck drivers are these heroes. They are working long hours, day and night delivering food and equipment and other essential supplies for Ontario families.
Our truck drivers deserve our respect, our support, our thanks and our best efforts to help them as they continue to make sure we can put food on our tables and pick up other necessary items.
We have heard from those working within the trucking industry of the treatment that truck drivers have faced while traveling on our roads. In response, we are calling on all business owners to support truck drivers when they are stopping to rest, get gas or use washrooms.
This will better keep our truck drivers safe and healthy and on the road.
We expect businesses who rely on truck drivers to provide necessary facilities for these heroes. We need everyone to do their part to make sure drivers can keep doing their jobs safely.
As a government, we are working closely with truck drivers and associations to respond to the issues they face on the road.
We are providing more safe places for truck drivers to stop and rest across the province and are keeping all 23 ONroute travel plazas open for take-out, grab and go and drive-through services, including washrooms with enhanced cleaning. We are also providing portable washrooms at 32 truck inspection stations so trucks have a place to stop and rest safely.
These actions build on measures announced last month that allow the 24-hour delivery of goods without the restrictions of municipal noise by-laws, and the extension of the validation of driver’s licences, Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration certificates and other products that expired on or after March 1, 2020.
Ontario is committed to supporting the trucking industry and we would like to thank commercial carriers and truck drivers for everything that they’ve done to keep goods moving during the COVID-19 outbreak.”
