"Mostly drivers who commute on long routes outside Ontario are unhappy with the new law," Nachhattar Singh Chohan, President of Peel-based Indian Trucking Association, told SA Focus.

According to the Ministry of Transportation, limiting the speed of trucks will promote a cleaner environment, enhance road safety and pave the way to a stronger economy.

In Canada, the law is in effect in the jurisdictions of Ontario and Quebec.

"Personally, I totally agree with the government. Limiting speed is good for the environment, it's safe and it's cost saving. But being president of a trucking body, I must convey the drivers' concerns to the ministry," said Chohan.

The law came into effect Jan 1, 2009, but the first six months were educational to allow carriers install speed limiters during the normal course of maintenance, avoiding unnecessary additional costs to comply with the legislated requirement.

Effective this month, the law is now fully enforced and violators will get a minimum $250 ticket.

After Quebec, Ontario is the second province in Canada that has mandated the installation of speed limiters in all commercial trucks. Both provinces are now working together to jointly launch and implement speed limiter regulations.

Chohan said before passing the law in November 2008, Transport Minister Jim Bradley had sought suggestions from the trucking associations.

"At that time we had announced and requested the drivers to put forward their ideas and suggestions, but they didn't show any disagreement," said Chohan.

"Now when it has become an enforceable law, every second driver is complaining about things like hardship, driving long hours and frustration at being behind other drivers. They say it's 'unfair' on part of the government," he said.

"Especially drivers face frustration on long routes to Vancouver, California or somewhere in Mexico, or while going uphill outside Ontario where the speed limit is more than 105kmph," he said.

Setting truck speed limiters at 105kmph on all heavy trucks in Ontario would save about 100 million litres of fuel a year - the equivalent of 280,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, says the 2007 Transport Canada study.

It said reducing the speed of a vehicle will result in lower fuel consumption that helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and saves money on fuel purchases.

Police and MTO enforcement officers are equipped to verify the activation of a vehicle speed limiter at the maximum 105kmph limit. The use of portable electronic testing units will provide access to the vehicle engine data and confirm if the limiter has been activated at a speed of 105kmph or less.

It will be necessary for officers to plug into a data port located in the cab of the truck. But any driver with a tampered device will face further charges.