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Gravel Haulers Protest Milton MTO Weigh Station
Posted: Apr 27, 2012 12:00 AM | Last Updated: Apr 30, 2012 12:00 PM

MILTON, ON - - Seventy four tractor trailers and 142 truckers occupied the eastbound MTO weigh station Thursday afternoon to register displeasure with what they perceive as inconsistent, unfair, and unnecessary enforcement of rules that, they say, don’t make sense.

One of the protest leaders was Michael McCallum of Woodbridge, ON-based KH  United Trucks.  He said that the truckers hope to have another meeting with Ministry officials Friday morning in Brampton to discuss their concerns.

“This is my first act of civil disobedience, ever,” he told todaystrucking.com. 

At the heart of the grievance, McCallum said, is that gravel haulers feel the rules that proscribe axle-weight loading specs are arbitrary and almost impossible to obey because the drivers are not allowed to interfere with the staff at gravel pits who load their trucks.

The day before the demonstration, McCallum said, he left a gravel pit loaded knowing that he was 3,100 kg over on his rear axles but drove directly to the MTO station to show the inspector that yes, there was an infraction but that the driver wasn’t able to do anything about it.

“The whole issue is how we have to balance our loads properly,” he said.

“Everybody is fed up with it,” he said. “But until now, nobody’s had the stones to stand up to them.”

Update: Bob Nichols, senior media liaison officer with the MTO, sent us this letter:

 As a ministry, our first concern is the safety of those using our highways. Safety is our top priority.

Aggregate haulers are protesting at one of our highway weigh stations after being charged for over-weight loads.

The rules we have in place about truck inspections and vehicle weight restrictions are designed to ensure that our roads are safe.

Ministry staff have met with representatives, and have scheduled an additional meeting for Friday (tomorrow) to get a clear understanding of their concerns and requests.

As always, we are open to listening to our partners’ concerns and to working with them on solutions.

We want to stress that the concerns being raised do not pose a threat to road safety.

We’re continuing to conduct truck inspections in the area. Trucks are being inspected at nearby stations, including at Whitby and Putnam.

 
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Filed Under: MTO Gravel haulers Milton
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Graserguy

2012/06/10

at 10:57 AM

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-11
51
62
The solution is SIMPLE! Make the shippers accountable if the truck leave their facility in violation. If the driver is unable to legalize the load at the shipper's facility and forces them to take it then the shipper should be held liable. I have been in facilities where it's been "you take what we give you or we will call your company and have you fired" and I have also been in facilities where you CANNOT leave until your gross and axles are legal! there are times when the driver is forced to leave with an overweight load. The shipper gets paid per tonne so what do you think they are going to do? If they were held accountable for the overweight load maybe they'll change their tune. If the provincial government would pass a law similar to that in Saskatchewan then it would be a level playing field.

Anonymous

2012/05/20

at 11:18 PM

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-4
62
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This is not a scale problem at all. If the rates to haul gravel or freight were where they should be you wouldn't care to dump a few thousand kgs off at the pit. Everyone has to undercut everyone to the point that your doing illegal things to just make a few dollars more a day. As for the not knowing your axle weights when you leave the pit, thats a complete joke. We use to have the scale house guy keep track of the numbers on the screen as we drove onto the full length scale. He would write them down on a piece of paper. Then you just subtract your steers from your drives etc. Its a pretty close estimate. There is no excuse to be going down the road overloaded. Way to shoot your mouths off and not look intelligent boys!

Anonymous

2012/05/03

at 1:36 PM

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-1
78
79
It's very hard to even have an open mind with your issue when I share the raod with you daily. Today, going into Toronto I got to share the road with 2 gravel trucks running side by side. The first one one had one brake light, while the other had no brake or signal lights at all, Stop and go traffic and changing lanes back and forth. I'm thinking his plug cord had to be out. To top it off the one truck takes to the collector ramp and passes everyone to get ahead. I motioned with a head shake to the other, only to get the finger from him. I'm glad retirement is just around the corner, but my family and freinds are using the same highways as you substandard drivers. Think about it ????

401 DRIVER

2012/04/30

at 8:33 PM

Rating
14
81
67
As a highway road user and coming from the industry, these rules are all in place for specific reasons. Top of the list being SAFETY and secondly securing the longevity of the roads/highways after US the taxpayer pay to build them. Axle weights are allotted for each configuration, KNOW THEM. You are the "professional drivers" and should know your equipment. If axle weights apply to van trailers, steel haulers, log trucks, oversize loads etc..what makes the gravel guys to special? Makes me wonder if they are helping their cause everytime they protest.

Anonymous

2012/04/30

at 2:11 PM

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6
77
71
I have been a commuter through this stretch of 401 from #6 to 407 for over 15 years. The gravel haulers are THE WORST truck drivers on the road. They are giving the rest of you a bad reputation. Most transport trucks who I share the road with are safe and respectful drivers who I believe have a very difficult job navigating most of the idiot car drivers on a daily basis. Not so with the gravel haulers!! Reckless! Speeding! Unsecured loads with rocks and gravel showering out from the trailers. Hope they stay parked forever!!

J Zulerons

2012/04/30

at 1:54 PM

Rating
-11
76
87
So if you know that you are over, have them remove a bucket or two or spread the load out more evenly. That's your responsibility as a driver is to ensure that you are in compliance.

passionwing

2012/04/30

at 1:30 PM

Rating
13
84
71
I have no support for these drivers. I believe the bottom line is they have undercut contract prices and now want to haul heavy to make a buck. Gravel haulers are no different than I am as a produce hauler. A shipper puts on 29 pallets and I can only handle the weight of 28 to have a good axle weight then I have to have 1 pallet taken off. These drivers should be doing the same. You get loaded and go scale the load. If you can't handle the axle weight, you go back and have some taken off. And, don't give me the crap of how far you'd have to go to get scales. I load in Saint John, NB and the closest scale is 3 hrs away. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Better yet, find a different job. Law apply's to all of us so suck it up.

Anonymous

2012/04/30

at 11:12 AM

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8
74
66
a lot of the issue is that some of the gravel haulers have an extra axle allowing them to haul a little more than the average guy, they also pay for that permit for them to do so, but still the MTO gives tickets for being overweight, how are you gonna tell me thats justified when the trucker PAYS for the permit allowing them to be overweight?!

Anonymous

2012/04/30

at 8:37 AM

Rating
-13
74
87
Hi ! Many people do not understand the axle weight law acording to what I read !!! common guy's we know very well that we can be alright on gross weight and not by axle ! then why they don't adjust the law or make all scale able to weight by axle ! When people goes to the groceries would you like the clerk to tell you "you have about 2kg of meat" no you would say I want to know excatly what it weight so you can pay ONLY for what you have ! then you are asking for precision weight ! yeah that is exactly what we are asking for !!! is that very hard to get !!!! André

Adrian

2012/04/30

at 3:38 AM

Rating
2
83
81
come on now folks dont make the rookie set yall straight. Today its gravel haulers stuck between a rock and a hard place standing up for themselves... What about tomorrow, what about the EOBR mandates and legislation going around in the states as well as in Canada? Its been kept qiuet but theres talk in Ontario about mandatory EOBR stuff. When do yall suppose this will end? when your retired? what about my generation? (23) I do this because I LOVE it. 9 months and counting and I would still do it for absolute free, to me trucking is like being retired I love every aspect of what I do, im no steering wheel holder, I cant imagine doing anything else. What I lack in years I make up for in sheer passion and love for what I have the privilege of doing for a living. So if we want to hold this industry together and prevent it from going down the tubes we need to stand up for ourselves, who cares what you would do in these peoples, shoes, all you know it alls have an answer for everything. Well heres my answer to you: If we dont start making a stand now, by the time we do its gonna be too late, you think its regulated now? wait till its regulated out the ass, then your gonna be sitting there lookin the fool wondering why you never did something. THAT is what yall need to be taking from this article, for the first time in a long time theres a bunch of truckers making a stand for whats fair and right. Who gives a bleep what you would do in their shoes with a load or whatnot, what matters is we should be supporting these guys for what they are doing. so you had to wait in traffic for 5 extra minutes going past the scale.... these guys are fighting for their livelyhood, they got mouths to feed, stop being so darn selfish. Ill leave you with this: In the UK truckers brought the governemnt begging and pleading to them on its knees when the tanker drivers got fed up and just didnt roll, massive widespread fuel shortages, the public outcry was directed at the government, they didnt get mad at the truckers, they understood the truckers needed better working conditions. Without us they/we dont have a country, never be afraid to stand up for whats fair and right for us. Stop hating, support our brothers, give em some horn when you roll on past.
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