Wide Base Single Tyres Given the OK in Canada

Canada’s road haulage industry will be able to utilise wide single truck tyres following approval being granted for their use. The Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety has approved amendments made to Canada’s Memorandum of Understanding on Vehicle Weights and Dimensions. The amendments aim to, states a Memorandum of Understanding document, to “improve the consistency of weight limits applicable to use of these tyres across Canada, while also protecting highway infrastructure, the national standards for weight limits on single and tandem axle groups are being increased to the federal limits currently applicable in the United States.”

The changes come into effect on July 1 and will permit trucks and trailers equipped with these tyres to operate freely between both countries. The approved amendments apply to single tyres used on drive axles with a width of 445 mm or greater. The new weight allowances call for loads not to exceed 7,700 kilograms for single axle and 15,400 kilograms for tandem-axle groups. The Canadian regions of Northwest Territories, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador have registered exemptions to the increased weight limit.

Tyre manufacturers have responded positively to the approved amendments, as this Michelin press statement reveals: “In the wake of soaring fuel costs, this news is welcome relief to truckers and fleets operating between the two countries,” said Marc Laferriere, vice president of marketing, Michelin Americas Truck Tires. “This revised MOU offers a boost to fleet profitability and helps control rising transportation costs for the goods each of us buys each day.”