(CHAT News file photo)

By rdnewsNOW staff

delivering the essentials

Temporary regulation changes to help keep supply chain moving

Apr 9, 2020 | 5:34 PM

Alberta is temporarily modifying some regulations for truck drivers and railway operators to protect the supply chain and ensure Canadians can access necessities like medical supplies, groceries and fuel during the COVID-19 crisis.

Regulation changes will temporarily allow commercial truck drivers transporting essential supplies in direct support of the COVlD-19 relief efforts to:

· Work for longer periods of time, provided all safety conditions are met.

· Apply for fewer municipal and provincial overweight permits by increasing the limits on weight of loads some vehicles can carry.

· Be exempt from road bans.

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· Be exempt from municipal bylaws that restrict the hours they operate and park.

These temporary adjustments are being offered as part of pandemic response efforts, provided all safety conditions are being met.

The regulation changes also allow provincially regulated railways to temporarily delay audits and retesting of existing operators’ skills and medical fitness, to ensure physical distancing requirements can be met.

“These temporary changes are necessary to ensure the critical movement of essential supplies as part of the COVID-19 response. It is important that we keep the supply chain open and moving, so that Albertans can access the supplies they need, including groceries, medical supplies and fuel, during the pandemic,” says Ric McIver, Minister of Transportation.

Certain regulations are also being temporarily modified to allow Albertans to practise physical distancing:

· Albertans and businesses will have until 30 days after the public health emergency ends to file appeals to the Alberta Transportation Safety Board and 30 days after the ministerial order ends to file judicial reviews of the board’s decisions.

· The expiry dates of vehicle inspection certificates and decals will be extended to May 15 for those certificates set to expire between March 17 and May 15.

· Government is extending the timeline for most drivers who require a medical evaluation to provide their completed medical form when applying for or renewing their licence.

Quick facts:

· Unless another deadline is specified, these temporary changes will remain in effect until the ministerial orders end. The ministerial orders will end on whichever date is earliest:

· August 14 or 60 days after the public health emergency order ends, if it ends before June 15.

· Another date determined by the minister or cabinet.

· The expiry date for the following inspection certificates has been extended until May 15, if the certificate was set to expire between March 17 and May 15:

· Commercial Vehicle Inspection certificates and decals

· Out of Province Motor Vehicle Inspection certificates

· Salvage Motor Vehicle Inspection certificates

· The deadline to file appeals to the Alberta Transportation Safety Board is 30 days after the public health emergency ends. The deadline to apply to the courts for judicial review of the board’s decisions is now 30 days after the ministerial order ends.