The U.S. and Canadian governments should work more closely together on regulations aimed at improving competition in the trucking industry, make the highways safer and reduce trucking's environmental footprint
, according to David Bradley, CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance. In an address to the 42nd annual Transportation Law Institute meeting in Washington, D.C., Bradley called for increased coordination between the two countries on trucking standards.

"While no country should be asked to give up its sovereignty, given the extraordinary level of economic and social integration that exists between Canada and the United States, you would think this (working more closely together) would be self-evident," he said.

He said that he believes the trucking industry in both countries "is in the midst of a cultural change where carriers want competition to be based on service and price, where price includes the true cost of compliance for all."

Bradley also stressed the importance of new technologies and existing technologies, and suggests they be key elements of North American safety standards.

"Governments should also be working with industry to accelerate the penetration of Smartway vehicles and equipment and its Canadian counterpart CTA's enviroTruck initiative. The industry's economic goals are more aligned with the effort to combat global warming than ever before."

He also recommended that U.S. policy makers look to Canada when debating over the issue of heavier trucks and an expansion of the long combination vehicle network.

"Policy-makers need only look north to see how Canada has benefited from a more productive truck weights and dimensions regime and how we are now approaching national coverage for LCVs," he said.