In The News
Speed limiter activation could suck millions from trucker pool
TORONTO -- If Ontario's plan requiring speed limiters on trucks comes to pass, owners would be looking at fees of about $120-150 to set the road speed parameter in the engine's ECM to the mandated limit of 105 km/h.
Today's Trucking called several heavy truck service outlets in southern Ontario asking about the cost of the parameter change, and three service managers told us the process takes about an hour of shop time.
The customer would be billed at the prevailing rate.
"If it's just a parameter change, I'd guess it would be an hour flat-fee, so about $110 plus tax. That's our labour rate here," said a rep at Cummins Canada's Mississauga facility.
A rep at Harper Freightliner, also in Mississauga, said the time and the rate would be about the same, but he cautioned that if there are existing passwords in the ECM, the fee could be considerably higher.
"It would be hour's labour under normal circumstances, but if they have a used truck, an old fleet truck with a password on the ECM for example, we'll need to break that password and there's an extra charge for that," he says.
"Depending on what engine and what ECM, it could be from $250 to $500. If he has the password, it's going to save him money."
A rep at Sheehan's Volvo in Burlington, Ont. also told us that the charge would be around $100, while Toromont Caterpillar in Concord, Ont. said the fee hadn't yet been determined.
So, by basic math, if Ontario's 30,000-plus owner-ops and small fleet operators have to visit a dealer to have the work done, activating road speed limiters could suck up to $4.5 million out of truckers' pockets.