The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators says the final draft of its regulatory text on cargo securement has now been completed. According to the May 10 edition of Today's Trucking Magazine, the new text is consistent with the final U.S. rules on cargo securement, which came into effect on Jan. 4 of this year.

Although the two policies contain some subtle differences, the Canadian trucking publication's Web site reported, it represents the culmination of about 10 years of work by Canadian and U.S. officials from both government and industry under the North American Cargo Securement Project.

The document still needs to be approved by the Council of Deputy Ministers. The recommended effective implementation date is Jan. 1, 2005, allowing the industry lead time to prepare for the new rule and enact provincial legislation.