This is almost scarey.
I don't know why, but I do not even like to drive alongside a loaded logging truck.
Plus we have those drivers starting at 3 A M and still on the roads in the afternoon.
They surely must be extremely weary at times, and still behind the wheel.
I feel justified in feeling fear.

People have every right to feel threatened by the increase in logging traffic. Even when there is no increase in traffic I'm in fear. I travel the highway west on a regular basis and try to stay away from some of the wingnuts driving logging trucks these days. if they want to speed and drive down the middle of the road, then continue to do it only on logging roads where they only injure themselves. Some of these drivers have the USA Syndrome, big is first, and drive like they own the highway just because they are bigger. Who is going to pay for the damage these heavy loads cause to our roads? I don't imagine it will be anybody else but the good old taxpayers. Just a different form of subsidy for the logging industry. I wish for a safe winter for all the public traversing our highways.

Highway 97 going south is already showing long stretches of grooving again from the heavy traffic. When it is raining hydro-planing can be quite a problem.

Can't some of these logs be transported by train?

Just a note on who will pay for the damage done to the roads do you guys realize each of these trucks burn somewhere between 300-500 litres of fuel a day add up that tax bill.The hyways are definitly getting some bad groves but I feel the condition of are local roads have been getting better in the last few years.This does not include the city roads however.

Firstly you have to determine how many trucks a day are presently being hauled, then you can add the 1000 per day ((which I think is high)) and you will get a better idea of how many trucks are being hauled. You also need to know for what period of time will they be hauling 1,2,3,Months. Can the local mills utilize all that timber or will it be held in storage. If it is going to be stored, then what is the big rush in getting it into town. 1000 trucks per day would be 41 trucks per hour every 24 hours, over and above what we are hauling now.

This sound more like a truckers story than anything factual

OK, let't talk about public safety. I live off Gauthier Road west of the city. There are many more logging truck in the last year travelling the highway. Should we have the speed limit reduced to ensure safety? The weather last year presented very icy roads. Getting to and from work over this short distance is dicey. The problem is with impatient drivers, driving too fast for the conditions. I don't see more police traffic control. Oh well. What the hell is a life or two worth? Something has to be done! Will it be you, me, or one of our family members that die? How will we feel about ourselves when this happens? Enough now, something has to be done, and done yesterday.

Palopou ...

It appears you have not heard Roy Nagel's message in the news media and other places for the last several years .....

Stumpage Bingo .... Logs are harvested and moved during specific periods of the year for both physical and artificial reasons ....

the physical is the reality of the weather and soft road conditions in the fall and the spring ....

the artificial is the stumpage rates which are controlled by government and are adjusted quarterly .... thus as much timber is harvested during low stumpage rates as possible and that timber must be moved through the scales in order to be assessed at those rates.

Read the top right of the CILA newsletter of March 2003 ... niothing new, and the government has still not budged .....

no one is budging ... everyomne is pointing fingers ... people are getting killed and injured and roads are being demolished ....

the entire thing is pathetic ... and it is the entire system which is to blame .....

and we are here sitting as armchair quarterbacks watching the whole thing just happen .....

http://www.cila.bc.ca/fax/fax218.pdf

Some numbers

The AAC (annual allowable cut) for the Prince George TSA (Timber Supply Area) in 1996 was about 9.4 million cubic metres which, at an average of 35 cubic metres per truckload means about 270,000 trucks.

In 2002 that was lifted to 12.2 million cubic metres which becomes 350,000 truck loads

In October 2004 that was lifted to 15 million cubic metres or 430,000 truck loads.

I do not know if it has been lifted again.

On average, the hauling season is anywhere between 25 to 30 weeks. Let us assume a working week of 6 days; that means 180 hauling days.

Thus, in 1996 the average hauling day would require 1,500 truckloads per day and in 2004/05 2,400 truckloads per day.

We also know that half of the truck movements are for empty trucks going to pick up a load. So, the 1,500 full truck movements per day becomes 3,000 truck movements and the 2,400 becomes 4,800 movements. So, that equates to an increase in 1,800 truck movements per day in the PG TSA. They obviously do not all go through PG, but the number which do has been increased primarily through PG since much of the logging has moved to the west.

So, I think the loggers are quite right in that the AREA highways have been seeing an increase and will see a considerably higher traffic volume of logging trucks than has been traditional. In addition to that, a considerable portion of that increase will show up at the Domano-Hwy 16 interchange, already the highest accident intersection in town.

If one reads carefully what Owl has researched, one realizes this site is of good value for those who want to acquire knowledge, whether they use it constructively, or just like to learn.
There will surely be a heavy price paid, not only with wear and tear on the roads, but the accident rate can be horrifying, and this area will not be exempted from disasters.
Last year we had roads that were literally sheets of ice.
Residents drove only if necessary.
The log haulers drove to make a living for their families.
Those men must have been under a tremendous amount of stress, and basically lived in fear while behind the wheel.
It must be one hell of a way to have to make a living.
They deserve every dime they earn-but you can bet-I sure want to stay out of their way.

I dont dispute that their is a significant increase in log hauling in the last five years, and that this is a major safety problem, that all people concerned will have to get involved to ensure that safety is the number one priority.

My point is that with all the increases up to and including 2004, it seems that an additional 1000 trucks per day as stated in the above article is a little high. I doubt that the mills in this area can process that kind of additional tonnage, and therefore it will go into storage or it will stay in the bush.