I have been a Heavy duty…

I have been a Heavy duty diesel emissions inpector for 20 years, there are many improvements than should be made concerning the heavy duty diesel Drive Clean Program.

1) Our records indicate that at least 12 trucks we tested since 2013 passed the j1667 test that should have failed. The limit for 1990 and older trucks is 40.0% not 40.1%,40.2%,40,3%or 40,4%. the limit for 1991 and newer is 30.0% not 30.1%,30.2%,30.3%or 30.4%. as it stands now the current OTU will issue a pass as high as 30.4% and 40.4%. this glitch needs to get fixed as soon as possible. If a database history looked into this matter I'm sure there would be hundreds of vehicles that should have failed.

2) All vehicles in Ontario have their fuel type listed on the ownership. "D" is for Diesel and "G" is for Gas. In my 20 years of testing I have had hundereds of Customers with the wrong fuel type list on their ownership. I always advised them to have it corrected at the MTO so their truck could receive the 2 year exemption. Now with Drive Clean eliminating testing for Gas powered vehicles owners with diesel trucks that are listed as gas on their ownership will not receive the Astericks on their licence renewal and will no longer be required to get an emissions test before renewing licence plates. This is a huge problem!!! Also as far as I am aware anyone can walking into the MTO a change their fuel type no questions asked. I propose an immediate update to the Heavy Duty Drive Clean SOP so all vehicles tested must have their fuel type checked by the Emissions inspector prior to having the vehicle inspected.
I also propose that the MTO will now require paperwork or proof of a fuel type change. This will help reduce the amount of misrepresentation.

3) I propose that All Light Duty Diesels with a registered weight over 4500kg must pass the j1667 snap test and no longer pass the OBD2 test. From now on Light duty diesels should have an opacity test then if applicable have an OBD2 advisory test. It is my opinion that by changing the test to j1667 that hundreds and hundreds of Gross Polluting vehicles will now get identified and be required to fix their black smoking trucks.

4) Tampering with emissions controls is against the law. It has become common place to remove or alter emissions controls in diesel trucks. Starting with trucks that are 2008 to the present, Owners are having emissions controls "deleted" however this is a very complicated procedure and must be done at a shop that specializes in emissions deletes. Deleting emissions controls in 2008 and newer trucks is not something that can be done by a "do it yourselfer" it must be taken to a specialty shop. Despite that its against the law there are hundreds of adds for shops that will perform emission control deletes on Kijiji or social media or even a simple Google search will bring you to the closest shop in Ontario. Why and how are these shops still in business? How are they allowed to advertise this illegal practice?

5) I think that Drive Clean testing of heavy diesel trucks going from 7 years to 5 years is a good thing. It will greatly target polluting or tampered vehicles in Ontario. I also propose that the 2 year exemption for trucks that score 20.0% or less be changed to 15.0% or less in order to receive a 2 year exemption. Many newer trucks score well above 15.0% and this good indication that there is something wrong with the vehicle. However it will still give owners a great incentive to maintain their fleet of trucks.

6) The current OTU vin decoder needs to recognize Vin numbers that end in a " letter and four numbers". The current decoder only recognizes Vin number that end with " five numbers". When a Vin ends with a letter and four number the inspector is now able to enter the wrong year "by mistake or otherwise" this needs to be fixed as soon as possible to ensure the correct vehicle year is entered. This issue has been brought up with to the service provider an exorbitant amount of times with no resolution. The Vin decoder fix is an easy one and should be fixed immediately.