New Weigh Scale Gets 'Thumbs Up'

By 250 News

Transport truck passes over new Weigh-in-Motion scale at Red Rock

Red Rock, B.C. -  The Central Interior Logging Association is pleased with the new high-tech commercial vehicle inspection station at Red Rock.

CILA Executive Director of Member Services, MaryAnne Arcand, says, "It's nice to have state-of-the-art in the north for a change."

Arcand attended a weekend ceremony at the Red Rock Inspection Station where Transportation Minister, Shirley Bond, officially opened the new Weigh-in-Motion scale, which has been quietly running a pilot over the past month to calibrate the scales. 

Click on photo at right for more coverage of Saturday's opening.  With the WIM technology, truckers can carry a transponder that remotely transmits height and weight data, as they remain at highway speeds, travelling over sensors built into the roadway.

Arcand says, "We're hoping it reduces the number of times our members have to stop and, therefore, reduces loss of production time."  She adds, "Part of the challenge and frustration for truck drivers is the 'stop and go' and you never know if you're going to get pulled over for an inspection and how long it's going to take sitting at the side of the road, so this is going to make the whole process a lot smother and, I think, better for everybody in the end -- the enforcement guys and the truck drivers, themselves."

The CILA exec says log haulers are weighed every time they go into a millyard anyway, so they're very conscious of compliance with weight restrictions.  She says she hasn't heard any complaints during the pilot, "which is a good sign." 

"The only concerns I've heard is with the approach and slopes (at the new inspection station) and wondering what it's going to be like with winter driving, but I know it's been well-engineered, so I really don't think that's going to be an issue.

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