* USA - Pushes For Heavier Trucks On Roads
Washington,DC,USA -Dow Jones/NASDAQ, by Josh Mitchell -17 Nov 2010: -- U.S. trucking companies and other freight haulers, seeking to haul bigger shipments on interstate highways, are stepping up a campaign to allow heavier trucks on federal highways in the face of opposition from labor unions, safety advocates and the rival freight-railroad industry... Trucks driving on federal highways in Maine and Vermont have been allowed to run up to 100,000 pounds--25% above the current 80,000-pound federal limit-- under a year-long pilot program. A 100,000-pound truck weighs about as much as 30 midsize cars, such as a Honda Accord... Now, with the program scheduled to expire in December, Sens. Susan Collins ( R., Me.) and Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) want to make the weight exception permanent in those states... Supporters of raising weight limits say the change will allow truckers to move more goods in fewer trips, saving gas and labor costs. Trucking groups say allowing heavier loads on federal highways encourages truckers to drive on interstates, and get off narrow local and state highways..."You're shifting the trucks out of surface streets, which go through communities," said Darrin Roth, highway operations director for the American Trucking Associations . "Obviously it's safer to do that" ... Fred McLuckie, a Teamsters lobbyist, said the union's chief concern is not about potential job losses or lower wages but safety... Bigger rigs "take longer to stop, longer to merge," he said... (Photo from roadtransport: International B double truck)
* Canada - Saskatchewan raises B-train weights on more roads
Regina,Sask,CAN -Truck News -Nov 17, 2010: -- Saskatchewan continues to remove barriers for trucking companies, most recently amending its Vehicle Weight and Dimensions Regulations to allow B-trains to operate at 63,500 kgs on more roadways... The new weight limit matches that in Alberta and B.C. and adds about 1,000 kg of payload, the province announced. This will improve productivity by 2.5%... Saskatchewan also has approved the use of tridem-drive trucks and truck tractors, allowing them to be used without special single-trip or term permits. And it also amended the regulations to allow the wider use of aerodynamic evices, wide-base tires, lift axles that automatically deploy and other features that lower emissions and reduce operating costs... (Photo from therackonline: Rack Petroleum Ltd., fuel supplier in Saskatchewan)Labels: heavier super trucks debate
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