On April 1, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) introduced a revision to the Facility Audit Program. According to the ministry, the goal of the program’s revision is to harmonize Ontario’s facility audit with federal inter-jurisdictional requirements and to make it a better and fairer evaluation of industry safety management practices.

The old facility audit was a performance based assessment of the on-road activity of an operator. The audit is a risk-based assessment of the elements known to cause or contribute to commercial motor vehicle (CMV) collisions. To reduce the likelihood of commercial motor vehicle collisions, the new program examines the operator’s safety management controls that are in place to ensure drivers are:

1. Qualified to drive the operator’s equipment
2. Conducting the proper inspections of the operator’s equipment and report deficiencies whenever they occur
3. Compliant with the driving limitations and rest requirements of the hours of service regulation

These three areas are evaluated in the new facility audit. The total scores of these three profiles contribute to a carrier’s safety rating. Each profile represents the percentage of overall compliance that the carrier has achieved, and each profile consists of sub-sections weighted according to the level of risk to road safety.
 

CVOR standard scoring system

The Commercial Vehicle Operators Record (CVOR) is a standard scoring system that evaluates a carrier’s on-road safety performance. The CVOR is a very important part of the transportation industry; without it a carrier can’t operate. Just like a driving license, a CVOR has points, which can get used up quickly each month by having a couple of company drivers get a speeding ticket.

A CVOR operator is the person who is responsible for the operation of a commercial motor vehicle. The carrier is responsible for: conduct of the driver, mechanical safety condition of the vehicle, and shipping of goods or passengers in the vehicle.
 

Responsibilities

The carrier does not necessarily need to be the vehicle owner, but must hold a valid CVOR certificate when using vehicles that are leased or contracted. Carriers are responsible for all the drivers and vehicles in their operation. For example, these responsibilities include:

• Employing qualified and licensed drivers
• Monitoring the safety performance of drivers, including hours of service
• Resolving driver safety issues when they are identified
• Keeping vehicles in good, safe condition at all times
• Ensuring load security
• Ensuring daily and annual/semi-annual inspections are completed
• Keeping records on file (e.g. vehicle repairs, kilometres travelled per year, annual inspection reports, etc.)
• Notifying the Ministry of changes such as name, address, telephone numbers, fleet data, travel distance, and changes in corporate officers, etc.