The Federation regularly receives requests from carriers who have been intercepted by peace officers and have received either a warning or a statement of offense on the grounds that the charter permit number was not registered, in full, on the contract of carriage. For example, some carriers indicate on their contracts the number M000239, whereas this one is in fact, when written long, 8-M000239-009A.

One of the arguments raised by carriers is that some systems do not allow the full number to be entered. For others it seems that license numbers often change during renewals, except those at the center, and it becomes inconceivable to change them at every opportunity.

Please note that section 52 of the "Regulation" provides that:

52. A holder of a chartered transportation permit who is on a trip must conclude before the trip with his client a contract that contains the following information:
(...)
2 ° the number of his license; (...)

Article 52 does not specify whether the number should be entered in full. However, it must be recognized that the permit number refers to that granted by the Commission des transports du Québec at the time of issuing the permit, which takes the complete form "8-M000239-009A".

In addition, a carrier also has the obligation to register on each bus that he uses the number of his license. The language provided for in section 52 of the Regulations is the same as that in section 20:

20. The holder of a bus transportation permit must indicate on each bus that he uses his name and the number of his permit.

The SAAQ, as well as the Ministry of Transports, agree that none of these provisions provides any flexibility to allow the registration of a partial permit number. As worded, sections 20 and 52 mention that the permit number must be written on the bus and on the contract of carriage, implicitly one must conclude that all the numbers and letters constituting the number, and particularly the numbers, are required. Last 3 digits, which establish the legality and the type of transport movement.

However, we invite you to send us your irritants regarding this requirement, so that the Federation can submit just requisitions during an upcoming revision of the Bus Transportation By-law.