OHTA.ca

First off, this is not in response to an offence notice received. I am asking purely for compliance purposes.

I have an antique truck, 1974, tandem axle, weighs 6300 kg empty (weigh scale verified) and has a load capacity of 5 tons for a total weight of 11300 kg.

I restored the truck, maintain it meticulously and keep it for parades, historic vehicle shows and my personal pleasure of driving it. On very rare occasions, I use it for picking up loads to use around the house, such as top soil or gravel for the driveway. Personal use only - neither the use of the vehicle, not its ownership is commercial in any way. The vehicle itself was designed and operated by the military and never in commercial use. The original US title of the vehicle for civilian ownership lists the type of vehicle as "pickup truck". I have a copy and the MTO used this document as basis for issuing a permit. The vehicle is parked over the winter and only driven in the summer (insurance records exist to verify this).

Registering the vehicle was, ahem, complicated; whichever MTO office I went to and whoever I talked to communicated different requirements. I finally cracked and brought the truck to the MTO office and parked it in front of the window (yes, an offence; insurance, but no plates, yet) for the clerks to see so that they could make an informed decision.

They did (but I am not expanding on this here).

So, in your educated opinion, what is my vehicle in the eyes of a law enforcement officer, how does this vehicle need to be registered, what does and does not apply?

- can I get a historic vehicle permit ("historic plates")?

- if not, which vehicle permit can/should I get?

- do I need an IFTA sticker for use in Ontario? If I drive it to QC? Across the border to New York state?

- do I need to register for the CVOR program? Do I need a yellow commercial inspection sticker?

- when I approach an active weigh scale, do I have to pull in and report to the officer at the scale?

I asked a police officer friend and his answer was "you got plates, leave it alone, don't even go there". My desire is to be compliant - as long as the requirements are in some way reasonable. I am worried that my hobby truck might be pushed into the same category as a commercially owned and operated heavy hauler, from which the Province wishes to secure significant tax revenue.

Finally - should I take my friend's advice and just leave the whole thing well enough alone?

Some tidbits:
The HTA states:

"commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle having permanently attached thereto a truck or delivery body and includes ambulances, hearses, casket wagons, fire apparatus, buses and tractors used for hauling purposes on the highways; ("vehicule utilitaire")

"historic vehicle" means a motor vehicle that,

(a) is at least 30 years old, and

(b) is substantially unchanged or unmodified from the original manufacturers product. 2000, c. 29, s. 1 (2).

I could not find any reference to weight, but was informed by two MTO offices that the truck does not qualify for historic plates due to weight. I believe to remember that 4,500 kg was the cutoff mentioned. Not to be found anywhere. There is a cutoff of 3000kg for Year of Manufacture plates. This is important, because the status "historic" influences further requirements below.

However, I did find the definition "historic truck" that appears in the Truck and Trailer Daily Inspection (Trip) and Maintenance Requirements http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/trucks ... html#def03

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 manufacturers product, and does not have year-of-manufacture plates.

The Highway Traffic Act

ONTARIO REGULATION 199/07

COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTIONS

states

1. (1) In section 107 of the Act and in this Regulation,

"commercial motor vehicle" includes a school purposes vehicle but does not include,

(f) a commercial motor vehicle that is a historic vehicle within the meaning of section 1 of Regulation 628 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 (Vehicle Permits) made under the Act and that has a vehicle permit for a historic vehicle,

It also appears that there is no mention of historic vehicle in the safety standard certificate inspection requirements http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/trucks ... ions.shtml

I interpret this to mean as my truck not requiring a SSC/yellow sticker IF it has a historic vehicle permit (which MTO did not want to issue due to weight).

C V O R:

The CVOR system tracks the on-road safety performance of the following vehicles:

Trucks that have a gross weight or registered gross weight over 4,500 kg (9,920 lb) and

Buses that have a seating capacity of ten or more passengers.

The goal of the CVOR system is to improve road safety for all users of Ontario highways by having an effective monitoring and intervention system for all carriers. Poor performance may result in the loss of privileges to operate commercial motor vehicles.

Vehicles that require a CVOR

A CVOR certificate is required for commercial vehicles that are:

Plated in Ontario,

Plated in the USA, or

Plated in Mexico.

I have found no mention of applicable CVOR exceptions for my situation. This is onerous and expensive.

I F T A : http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/tax/ifta/

Do you qualify to register for IFTA with Ontario?

You should register for IFTA with Ontario if:

Your commercial vehicles are considered a qualified motor vehicle. This means a motor vehicle used for business purposes and:

has three or more axles, or

weighs more than 11,797 kilograms (vehicle or vehicle and trailer).

I should be ok without the IFTA sticker - the truck IS NOT USED FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES.

If no historic exemption, would fall under all the rules if the Registered Gross Weight (RGW) is over 4,500kgs the vehicle falls into the same category as all transports

- annual safety

- CVOR

- log book (outside 160km)

- daily inspection report

If it is in fact a RGW of 11300 kg, need a class D licence to drive it.

Personal exemptions are only up to a RGW 6,000kgs, however that is only an exemption for the log/cvor/daily inspection.

FYI... HTA 107 deals with "daily inspection reports" and HTA 85 deals with the annual safety (yellow stickers)