On the use of liftable axles by heavy trucks.

The economic impact on trucking in central and Atlantic Canada of four alternative regulatory scenarios having different constraints on the use of liftable axles is examined in this paper. Findings indicate that the cost of even the most severe measure, an outright ban, is relatively small, no more than 1.14 percent of total industry cost. This is because there are alternative trucks with comparable payload and operating costs, but without liftable axles, to which the freight can be diverted. A few trucking operations could be faced with hauling cost increases as high as 10 to 13 percent. (A)