WINNIPEG, Man. – The city elders here have finally approved intra-city movements of RTAC equipment, so all that stands between one set of weight thresholds across all of Manitoba is for the new bylaw to be proclaimed – which was expected on Dec. 15.

“This has been an issue since 1988,” says Bob Dolyniuk, general manager of the Manitoba Trucking Association. In the beginning there were about five years when no RTAC equipment was allowed in the municipality. Eventually Winnipeg fleets demanded the right to move in and out of the city with the configurations so administrators developed a permitting system for inbound and outgoing loads only.

“Next they removed the permit requirement because there was too much of an administrative burden,” says Dolyniuk. The only restriction that remained was on intra-city loads like delivery trucks or aggregate haulers and even that was negotiable if a fleet could prove the restriction put it at a competitive disadvantage.

Dolyniuk explains that public misconceptions probably made the 11-year fight longer than it had to be.

“The perception was if you allow RTAC weights we were going to have a huge increase in the number of big trucks in the city,” he says. “In reality, when we’re talking about RTAC vehicles it could simply be a straight truck,” he says. Under the old system the limit in Winnipeg for straight trucks was 23,300 kg, under RTAC that goes up by 1000 kg. n