Paper Details

TRB 90th Annual Meeting (January 23-27, 2011)

Event Number:	405
Event Title:	Using a Performance-Based Approach to Truck Operations and Regulation
Event Date:	Jan 24 2011 7:30PM- 9:30PM
Event Location:	Shoreham, Congressional
Event Description:
Event Agenda:

Canadian Truck Size and Weight Policy Development: Are There Lessons for the United States? (11-3866)

Canada has ten provinces and three territories, each with responsibility for truck size and weight regulations. These regulations became increasingly diverse by the mid 1970’s, and resulted in many vehicles with undesirable dynamic performance and/or excessive impact on infrastructure. The provinces determined that the diversity in regulations was a barrier to internal trade, and collectively, created a process that has now effectively harmonized them. This paper documents the history of changes made by the provinces through the 1970’s and 1980’s, the process used to harmonize them, and describes how the process continues to be used today to maintain the regulations. The paper identifies steps taken in the 1970’s and 1980’s that resulted in unexpected and undesirable outcomes, and steps taken during the harmonization process that resulted in the intended outcomes. These provide useful technical lessons, which may be of use to the U.S. federal government, a state, or a group of states, if any should choose to make changes to their truck size and weight regulations. The process used in Canada was administrative and non-political, and it had a well focused purpose of achieving size and weight harmonization to increased transport efficiency and national competitiveness. The subject matter contained was complied for a research project titled “Review of Canadian Experience with Large Commercial Motor Vehicles” sponsored by NCHRP.

Authors
Woodrooffe, John , University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute