Sample Sidebar Module

This is a sample module published to the sidebar_top position, using the -sidebar module class suffix. There is also a sidebar_bottom position below the menu.

Sample Sidebar Module

This is a sample module published to the sidebar_bottom position, using the -sidebar module class suffix. There is also a sidebar_top position below the search.

Mike Millian on Spring Weight Restrictions

Details
Category: Issue 2

Spring weight restrictions, or frost laws, have been around since 1949. They vary by jurisdiction, but for the most part reduce loads allowed on designated secondary highways by 10 to 50% of the normal allowance. Most provinces exempt certain commodities and essential services from these limits.

 The reason for frost laws are justifiable. Reducing loads during thaw periods limits damage to roadways and saves significant dollars over a road’s lifecycle. Each jurisdiction has its own variance of regulations, so I’ll focus on Ontario regs. In Ontario, the reduced load period runs from March 1 to April 30 in the South, and  March 1 to May 31 in the North. Vehicles operating on these roads are limited to 5,000kg per axle.

The PMTC agrees these laws are needed, however we need to realize that life and industry must continue for businesses that operate and are located on these roadways. Exemptions in place currently in the HTA demonstrate governments of the day were aware of this, however these exemptions have not been updated since they were put in place 60+ years ago.

I’ll go through the reduced load limit exemptions as listed, and explain where, in our view, the problems exist with how they are currently written.

5,000kg on all axles, including steer axles creates a major problem that cannot be rectified by the carrier. Many vehicles today come with 9,072kg front ends. The weight on the steer axle of these vehicles is over the 5,000kg limit when empty. These vehicles can’t legally operate on the road at all under current regs. A simple solution is to exempt the steer axle from this reg or increase the limit to 7500kg on the front steer.

Partial exemptions allowing certain vehicles to carry 7500kg on the axles is a good compromise. It shows that legislators understand certain vehicles still must be allowed to operate at reasonable weights for business to continue. The problem in this case is the limitation of who can utilize it. The list includes two-axle tank trucks used for heating fuel and two-axle trucks used exclusively for feed. While these laws made sense decades ago, they are extremely limiting and no longer serve the purpose for which they were created. Farm operations and associated business have changed. Most of these operations are no longer small operations with a few hundred acres or animals. Many are now big enterprises, operating thousands of acres of land and animals. The amount of product that  must be delivered has increased dramatically and is delivered with multi-axle vehicles. When the laws were created, most vehicles in this sector were two-axle trucks, which is no longer the case, and has not been for decades. This exemption has to be updated to 7500kg per axle, regardless of the number of axles on the vehicle. The current regulation in today’s reality amounts to no exemption at all.

The 7500 per axle exemption is already in the HTA, as any truck transporting live poultry is allowed 7500kg per axle, regardless of the number of axles. It would make sense to extend these exemptions to the trucks that supply heat and feed to these animals. Our members also question why this exemption exists for poultry only. It’s just as important to remove and supply all forms of livestock. Exempting only poultry is simply baffling.

Full exemptions exist for municipal trucks, waste trucks, public utility vehicles and milk trucks. We understand the need to exempt the first three categories. What we don’t understand is why a milk truck is exempt, while a truck supplying livestock, feed and heating fuel is not? One is just as important and essential as the other. The same exemptions should be in place for all. Under this exemption, trucks removing milk are exempt, however the trucks that supply the feed or heat for the animal that produces the milk are not. If we have no heat or feed, there is no animal to produce the milk.

One of the P.C. Party of Ontario’s current slogan’s is Open for Business. The reduced load file in the HTA must be updated for this to be true for the agriculture and heating fuel sectors, as these laws currently cause their businesses undue hardship. These sectors are, in fact, ‘closed for business’ for a significant portion of the year.