Saskatchewan’s move to streamline allowable truck weights for certain roads, effective April 1, is expected to benefit the province’s ag and resource sectors.
For one, “the increase in weight for tridem drive B-train combinations on secondary-weight highways will help get product coming out of rural areas to market more efficiently,” Dave Marit, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said in a provincial release Tuesday announcing the changes.
Specifically, the province’s now-amended regulations increase the gross vehicle weight (GVW) for tridem drive B-train combinations on secondary-weight highways to 61,800 kg, up from 54,500 kg previously. B-trains are semi-trucks hauling two trailers.
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The move is a response to a SARM members’ resolution, Marit noted.
The list of primary weight highways where B-trains can operate at the maximum weight of 63,500 kg has now also been expanded, the province noted Tuesday.
Furthermore, semi-trailers with tridem axle groups with axle spread of three to 3.6 metres will be able to operate at axle group weights of 24,000 kg (up from 23,000) on “select highways.” They can operate, the province said, on the same routes as B-trains.
Alberta and B.C. already have such an allowance, the province said, noting its new regulations “continue the work of making interprovincial trucking easier by harmonizing rules between Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. through the New West Partnership.”
Also, tridem-drive trucks (trucks with three rear-drive axles) will now be allowed to tow pony trailers, which may reduce the number of trips, drivers and vehicles required for carriers who need to tow, say, office trailers, RVs or tool cribs.
Granting “more options for transporting goods, depending on the vehicle/trailer combinations and internal dimensions” will allow shippers and truckers to boost efficiency through lower operating costs and “reduced red tape,” Highways Minister Don McMorris said in Tuesday’s release. — AGCanada.com Network
