Three highway engineering policies directed at improving truck productivity by increasing size and weight limits have been implemented in the Canadian prairie region within the last 35 years: the 1974 Western Canada Highway Strengthening Program, the 1988 Roads and Transportation Association of Canada Memorandum of Understanding on Heavy Vehicle Weights and Dimensions, and special permitting of longer combination vehicles. As policies change, the trucking industry adjusts its fleets to take advantage of available efficiencies. Evidence of these changes and the lessons learned from the adoption of these policies are provided. Ultimately, as a result of these policies, articulated trucks now carry heavier and larger payloads, have different axle configurations, and have higher axle weight limits than they did 35 years ago. The threefold to fivefold increase in articulated truck volumes that occurred during this period would have been more dramatic had these policies not been implemented. Further research is necessary to understand the interactions among policies, vehicles, and infrastructure.

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There are a myriad of laws, regulations, and policies governing the operating weights and dimensions of trucks. In Canada and many northern states, these regulations form a continuum of basic limits, seasonal variations, and overweight/overdimension limits that are legally permitted. This paper deals with the seasonal aspects of weight limits (winter weight premiums and spring weight restrictions) governing trucking within and to and from the prairie region. This region encompasses Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and the northern tier states of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. The paper presents results of research conducted for the transportation departments of the three prairie provinces and Public Works and Government Services Canada. It discusses existing winter weight premium and spring weight restriction regulations, as well as basic weight regulations in the region, and their technical rationale. It examines possibilities for using advanced technologies to help harmonize and rationalize seasonal truck size and weight regulations and enforcement practices, and identifies immediate opportunities for rationalization and harmonization of spring weight restrictions and winter weight premiums.Key words: trucking, weight regulations, spring restrictions, winter premiums, prairie region, harmonization, rationalization.

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