Big Truck Sizes

Michael Monheit, Esquire of Monheit Law, P.C.

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Source of this story

National and provincial guidelines for trailer lengths have increased from 7.5 metres (25 feet) in the 1940s, to 12 metres (40 feet) in the 1960s, 13.5 metres (45 feet) in the 1970s, and 14.4 metres (48 feet) in the 1980s. Many provinces also allow 15.9 metre (53 feet) trailers. Double 28 foot trailer trucks are allowed in Canada up to the maximum weight limit of 137,850 pounds (62.5 tonnes) (with some small variations). This rig is 42 times more heavy than the 1.5 tonne car with which it shares the road.

Four provinces -- Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec -- allow even bigger trucks, so-called longer combination vehicles (LCVs). Some of these trucks are 120 feet long, as long as a ten storey building is high. There are three types of LCVs:

A Rocky Mountain double has a full size semi-trailer (48 foot) plus a 28 foot trailer. These are often allowed to use two lane highways.
A Turnpike double has two full semi-trailers (usually 48 feet each). So far, they have usually been limited to four-lane highways or vicinity, but Saskatchewan allows them on two lane roads.
A Triple has three 28 foot trailers. So far in Canada they have usually been limited to four-lane highways or vicinity, but trends in some U.S. States where they are allowed indicate pressure will come to allow them on 2 lane highways..

The trucking industry would like the opportunity to extend the operation of LCVs into other areas of the country. But all provinces will be affected, even those that currently allow LCVs. Because LCVs are allowed in less than one-half of the U.S. States, north-south traffic to Canada often has to move in single semi-trailers. If longer trucks are allowed on north-south highways, the number of longer trucks in provinces that already allow them would increase due to increased cross-border longer trucks.

When the trucking industry first proposes to operate longer trucks, it talks about using divided highways and the best drivers. Over time, however, shippers off the designated corridors lobby for extensions. Experience in the U.S. suggests that longer trucks eventually wind up off the main Interstates. Rocky Mountain doubles operate on 51,000 kilometres of non-Interstate highway, Turnpike doubles on 17,000 kilometres, and triples on 12,000 kilometres. For example, Oregon first introduced triples to selected portions of Interstates, then to all Interstates, and to some non-Interstate highways only in fair weather. The restriction on operations in rain has been dropped because it is too difficult to enforce

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