The Ontario provincial government is introducing a four-year, $15 million grant program to help commercial vehicles operators investing in fuel-saving technologies.


Under the plan, Ontario trucking companies will be able to apply for grants towards the purchase of anti-idling devices such as auxiliary power units or in-cab heater technologies and hybrid or alternative energy vehicles. Companies will have to collect data on the fuel savings from the green technologies as part of a longer-term effort to reduce greehouse gas emissions.

Applications for the program will be available Nov. 28, and the program is retroactive to August 2007, the launch date of the McGuinty government's Go Green Action Plan, which includes ambitious targets for greenhouse gas reductions by the freight transportation sector.

The Ontario Trucking Association praised the program. The association has been working with the province for the past year in developing the program.

"The current economic times make it tough for the industry to make capital investments," says OTA President David Bradley. "Through the Canadian Trucking Alliance's enviroTruck program, we have been calling upon both the federal and provincial governments to provide incentives to accelerate the penetration of proven fuel saving technologies and devices into the marketplace. While the Green Commercial Vehicle Program is modest in terms of the overall grants available to the industry, it is a good start and something we can build upon. While we have yet to see all of the details, we think MTO is taking the right approach."

OTA continues to pursue other elements of the enviroTruck initiative - weight allowances for wide-base single tires that are equivalent to conventional duals, an accommodation in the dimensional regulations for tractor and trailer aerodynamic enhancements, and longer combination vehicles.

"There is a lot the trucking industry can and is doing to reduce its carbon footprint," says Bradley. "Our economic goals are more aligned with society's environmental goals than ever before so we welcome cooperative initiatives with government."