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SALISBURY, N.B. - The following is the second part of a cautionary tale about the fate of one trucker who ran afoul of inspection officers in the Maritimes:
The Scales
The Salisbury West fixed scale facility was installed in the spring of 2005 and a period of soft enforcement followed in order that staff and industry be educated about the scale
The weigh in-motion device acts as a sorting tool that identifies vehicles that may be at or near regulated weights and dimensions, plus it identifies a randomly selected number of vehicles that are directed to report to the scale for inspection. Under the Motor Vehicle Act, all vehicles must report when directed to do so.
Should a driver be unsure of the directive, normally, he should err on the side of caution and report to the scale.
The scale was installed and maintained by IRD (International Road Dynamics) whose Canadian operations are headquartered in Saskatchewan.
According to IRD spokesperson Kirsten Bergan, there are nine WIM scales in operation in Canada for weight screening at enforcement stations. There are approximately another 50 sites throughout Canada, which use WIM sensors for planning and data collection purposes only. Another three or four installations are planned at new sites over the next two years.
Bergan told Truck News that the WIM Scales "are not used for enforcement, but only for screening trucks that are suspected of being overweight from those within weight and dimension regulations. When...