years ago my brother used to bid on contracts to plow the roads. For years a 12,000 front end was good, the same as ministry used. Then they required a 16,000 front axle even though their trucks still had 12,000 . So every one started combing the wrecking yards for 16,000 front axles . 2 years into that they said no longer can you replace the axle you had to prove it was built from the factory with a 16,000 front axle. My brother stopped bidding and they were calling asking him to bid.

I wonder how they discern how much damage comes from these dump trucks vs every other truck on the road.  I will say that if those middle axles don't steer it must make the trucks a bull to drive, especially in slippery conditions.  It almost doesn't make sense that they ever would have been designed without steerable lift axles in the first place.

That said, 10 years is a long time, probably the lifespan of most trucks that are used a lot, as a work truck would be expected to.  Sounds like a money thing only to me, where some truckers or companies could not afford to upgrade, or didn't want to take a hit on their profit margin and were hedging their bets that it wouldn't go through, or that they could apply political pressure to get away without it.

IMHO, companies knowing that this ruling was coming for 10 years should have put it in their budget to purchase trucks with steerable lift axles, or to upgrade before the regulation came into place.  Nobody should be whining that they didn't see it coming.

But... I'm not a trucker or in the industry, so this is only a layman's opinion...

Politics...

The reference to the steerable lift axle is that it must be SPIF compliant. I am not familiar with lift axles, but from what I have read is that these type axles are controlled by sensors and a control module and need to be programmed by the installer. The biggest complaint is that the driver has no control over the lift axle, its all done by the module (computer). So if there is a problem the driver cant use the truck until its repaired or reprogrammed. The old style axles that I was familiar with had an air switch for the up/down and a regulator with a gauge to adjust the pressure. Many drivers with the old none steerable lift axles would lift the axle on a low speed turn, such as turning at an intersection to avoid wheel scrub to allow the truck to turn easier. In support of the owner/ operators the MTO has changed the regulations several times on these axles in regard to the control systems. I can understand why the confusion with the dump truck people.

SPIF. Safe, Productive, Infrastructure-Friendly

Truck pictured above at start of this post looks like the 2 front axles steer which is not what the problem is, I think it is likely this type of trick that is the problem. With that big spread between the back 2 axles amd the third lift axle, at a light a fully loaded truck would put a lot of scrub stress on a road. Lifting that axle to make a turn would make the remaining axles extremely over legal weight and would also cause a lot of road damage.

Is it illegal to order a new one of these trucks? Wonder when it became illegal and if they could grandfather the existing units? These setups have never been legal in the Atlantic Provinces, maybe legal in Quebec or at least something similar, maybe even 4 axles with 2 being lift axles.

-- Edited by DonSSDD on Friday 16th of April 2021 04:37:42 AM

Come to Manitoba.... There are no GOOD roads to worry about.... Was just thinking this morning it's a good thing I drive a 4wd truck and not a little car through this garbage.