RCMP ignores axle laws
Officer ordered to ‘ suspend action’ on trucking enforcement
EDMONTON — RCMP have stopped enforcing regulations governing lift axles on transport trailers because of a disagreement with Alberta Transportation over whether the devices are dangerous, according to internal RCMP documents.
RCMP K Division ordered an officer who raised alarm about the dangers of lift axles to “cease all enforcement actions” in May 2013, despite tests showing transports with axles lifted are less stable and more difficult to stop, according to emails obtained under the federal access to information act.
The use of axles that can be raised to lift sets of wheels of transport trailers off the road is permitted in Alberta to reduce tire wear and fuel costs when the trailers are being pulled empty.
But concerns were raised about the devices in 2010 after RCMP and industry officials conducted tests in Hanna and Namao.
Alberta Transportation has downplayed the risk and RCMP note there are no known traffic fatalities attributed to lift axles.
Documents obtained by the Herald through a third party indicate the two authorities “have a contradiction of opinion” over lift axles.
In an email dated May 15, 2013, K Division Traffic Services Supt. Howard Eaton ordered Cpl. Barry Red Iron to suspend any further action on lift axle enforcement “until we can resolve the inconsistencies in enforcement and interpretation of the law,”
“I fully appreciate your concern for safety on the highways and your motive for taking on this issue,” Eaton said in the email.
“However, as it stands right now, we as an organization ... are not supported by the people who regulate commercial vehicles, or the people who inspect them on behalf of the provincial government.”
He advised Red Iron that should trucking companies challenge the law, “we would end up having conflicting evidence tendered between you and the provincial representatives at any judicial process.”
“This would or could put the legislation in turmoil and cause a rift between our contract partner ( the province) with the provincial police force,” Eaton said in the email.
Red Iron expressed concern about the situation in an e- mail to Sgt. Sam Hewson, saying that if called to testify in court, he would have to admit the RCMP knew about the safety issue but did nothing about it, except advise Alberta Transportation.
“We had the ability and knowledge and lawful authority to do something, but we did not choose the righteous path,” he noted in the email. “We went political.”
Red Iron told Hewson he is worried about the consequences if someone is killed or injured in an accident attributed to the devices.
“I just do not want the civil side to come after us ... representing a deceased or injured party and saying: ‘ You knew about this and you did nothing? You were aware that these systems were out there and you did not enforce anything?’ ” Eaton declined an interview. “This is a complex issue which involves a number of enforcement and government agencies and a variety of opinions concerning lift axles,” he said in an email. “There is no simple answer.”
RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Sharon Franks said Thursday “the difference of opinion is basically whether there is or isn’t a safety issue with the lift axles.”
Franks said Alberta Transportation doesn’t believe lift axles pose a danger, but RCMP have concerns about the safety of the devices.
“The mandate for that regulation falls under the Ministry of Transportation,” she said.
“Those would be the folks that would enforce that if they chose to do so, but at the moment they are not.”
Alberta Transportation has declined to comment on the issue because the matter is before the courts. An Alberta lift axle manufacturer is suing the ministry, claiming it approved devices manufactured by other companies that aren’t as safe and secure as its own product.
“I have been advised not to comment on it while it is in the courts,” Transportation Minister Wayne Drysdale said Thursday.
RCMP referred the issue to a provincial enforcement committee made up of Alberta Transportation officials and Alberta police chiefs, but the committee is awaiting the outcome of the court case, Franks said.
Boyd Rideout, a retired RCMP collision analyst who participated in tests of transports equipped with lift axles, said the testing was conducted to determine whether raising the axles on loaded transport trailers affected their safe operation.
While provincially approved lift axles are designed to automatically lower when trailers are loaded, RCMP wanted to see what happened if the mechanism failed or was bypassed, he said.
“The big thing we were looking for was how dangerous would it be in the event that one of the fail- safe mechanisms were to fail and the axles were to be raised when they shouldn’t be,” he said.
“Sometimes things go wrong. What we found in very preliminary results was it was very dangerous to run these vehicles with the axles lifted while they were loaded. That was an extremely dangerous condition.”
Rideout said the distance required to stop loaded tanker trucks when the lift axles were raised was much greater and they became very unstable on the test track.
Rideout, who served with the Mounties for 29 years, said trucking companies install lift axles on trailers to save money on tires and fuel when the trailers are empty.
But unscrupulous operators could raise the axles on loaded trailers to reap economic benefits, particularly if they know no one is enforcing the rules, he said.
“All in all, it’s cheaper for the trucking company to run with fewer wheels on the ground,” he said. “... It’s illegal, but that might not stop someone from trying.”