Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are integrating their economies under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This includes developing more common standards for truck size and weight and safety regulations.
The United States is worried about the safety of trucks from Mexico, and in fact has not yet opened the border to Mexican trucks as required under NAFTA.
But American citizens are also worried about the safety, size and weight of Canadian trucks that the industry wants to run on U.S. highways. American citizens are worried about the U.S. being pressured under NAFTA to adopt the more lax Canadian truck regulations -- trucks that are 70 per cent heavier driven by drivers allowed to work 30 per cent more hours in a shift than in the U.S.
Shouldnt you also be worried as a Canadian road user? Yes. Heres why.
Canadian Truck Weights are Heavier
Truck weights and dimensions are federally-directed in the U.S. For example, the weight limit on the Interstate highways is generally 36.3 tonnes (80,000 pounds). The Canadian federal government does not regulate truck size and weight. In this vacuum of federal non-policy, the provinces are under constant pressure from the trucking industry to allow heavier and longer trucks. The trucking industry promises competitive advantage, lower shipping costs, and economic growth to provinces that increase size and weight limits. Then the other provinces increase their limits to catch up, and everyone is worse off -- more potholes, more dangerous trucks.
As a result, the weight limit on trucks in Canada is generally 62.5 tonnes (137,850 pounds) which is 70 per cent heavier than the U.S. limit.
Heavy trucks :
create more potholes
- damage bridges
- cause more damage, deaths and injuries when they crash
- cut ruts in the pavement, causing water to pond which gets splashed on car windshields
- increase property taxes by damaging municipal roads and bridges
- increase income taxes by damaging provincial roads and bridges
- some designs of heavier trucks allowed in Ontario and some other Eastern Provinces are more inclined to tip over because they allow a higher centre of gravity
- Canadian Truck Drivers Are Allowed to Work More Hours
Truck driver fatigue is a contributing factor in many truck collisions. Trucking companies in Canada can push their drivers to work longer hours. In one shift, truck drivers in Canada can drive up to 13 hours compared to 10 in the U.S.
Truck drivers in Alberta can work up to 105 hours a week. Truck drivers in Saskatchewan can work up to 112 hours a week -- the equivalent of three full-time jobs by one person. The trucking industry says this is required to allow farmers to ship their crops at harvest, yet these excessive hours are allowed for hauling all commodities year-round.
