Local Overpass Claims Another

[helmsdale]

Hiring transport seems reasonably priced to me. Always a tire or wheel bearing. Properly insured. Traffic.

What blows my mind... I think anything over 16' requires a permit even if you have an annual overheight permit. 5.1m is ~16-3/4' so either trucker didn't measure (his mistake), or the permit issuer didn't notify the trucker of any and all obstructions.

That said, I realize that $$$'s matter, but the trucking industry pisses me off on so many fronts. Everybody treats it like it's a generalized commodity, and the lowest dollar wins. What is the lowest dollar value including? If it comes in at $1/mi less than nearly everyone else why is that? I'll give credit to anyone that want's to find efficiencies and bust their ass to make sure they're the lowest $ bid, but it cannot come at the expense of safety, or for that matter adherence to regulations!

Couple examples...

Friend of mine got hired to haul 3 bourgault paralinks from the coutts/sweetgrass crossing to I think they were called "redearth farms"(the ones that went tits to the sky up around edmonton). He came highly recommended, but after the first drill was delivered, they baulked at the cost and said it was absolutely obscene that it took him two days to drag such a drill from point A to B. They fired him, and sent another company that said they could EASILY do it in a day. Well when they jumped the bridge deck north of brooks over a creek doing 60mph, busted the main frame of the drill, and sunk the shanks into the pavement, they closed a major highway for 10 hr's as it had to be cut apart with torches and angle grinders for scrap value.

2nd example: We bidded on a contract for 2 dozen loads out of climax/frontier area to feedlot alley in april(think spring weight season). We were right in the thick of it with 3 or 4 other major carriers as we had primary hauls of ammonium sulfate coming out of trail BC to southern saskatchewan, so we thought our rate was VERY competitive. Another company picked it up for roughly 2/3's of our (and most others) rate. We found another backhaul and I followed one of the "winning" bids onto the scale. Well i suppose you can make the rate they bid pay when you haul 68mT gross out over a highway hardly legal for 75% of that.

This is the kind of shit that needs to change!

[Guest]

Here we have the log trucks bumpin er up to about 80 MT with a stupid *** permit
How in the Christ does a permit help these thin pavement hiways
When the local mill shut down for a few years we had perfect hiways
Now they’re doing a major major expansion
Supposedly over a million yards of gravel alone goin over these poor hiways and haulin logs 2-3 hours
Taxpayer subsidizing forestry and highest lumber prices in history

[shortbox]

Here we have the log trucks bumpin er up to about 80 MT with a stupid *** permit
How in the Christ does a permit help these thin pavement hiways
When the local mill shut down for a few years we had perfect hiways
Now they’re doing a major major expansion
Supposedly over a million yards of gravel alone goin over these poor hiways and haulin logs 2-3 hours
Taxpayer subsidizing forestry and highest lumber prices in history

I'm surprised log haulers can get an overweight permit since it's a divisible load.