EDMONTON, Alta. — A pilot project by the Alberta forest industry has resulted in an increase to the allowable axle weights and the use of new log hauling configurations, FPInnovations, Feric Division has announced.

The pilot was covered in detail by western editor Jim Bray in the January issue of Truck West. It allowed the use of two new nine- and 10-axle log configurations with winter payloads of 53 and 59 tonnes respectively.

The pilot was conducted by the government of Alberta, the Alberta Forest Products Association and forestry companies along with FPInnovations, Feric Division. The pilot found that increasing payloads resulted in fewer trips required to haul a given volume, reducing GHG emissions and improving productivity while maintaining safety.

FPInnovations was assigned with assessing each vehicle type to report on their safety throughout the log truck program.

“It’s safe to say that we played a key role in the process, and that our work helped the Alberta forest industry to obtain new, more productive log hauling configurations that will help to considerably reduce their trucking costs,” said Eric Amlin, head of the Transport Research Group at FPInnovations, Feric Division.

Among the changes, Alberta has announced it will increase axle weight allowances for six different existing log hauling configurations while also allowing the use of two new nine- and 10-axle B-train configurations. Productivity improvements will range from three to 11 tonnes, depending on configuration, FPInnovations reports.