HALIFAX — One Maritime province down; one to go.

We’re referring to the battle to eliminate the high-mounted trailer lights on the backs of long combination vehicles (LCVs).

They’re no longer required in Nova Scotia.

In September, todaystrucking.com first reported these were the only two provinces that required the installation of signal, braking and tail lights mounted near the top of LCVs.

Furthermore, Wes Armour, the outspoken boss at Armour Transportation Systems thought the requirement was a nuisance, unnecessary and — because the drivers had to physically climb up to install and remove the lights on these trailers when they weren’t in use as LCVs — dangerous to boot.

Armour, whose trucks are participating in an LCV pilot along with fleets like include Midland, Sunbury, and Day and Ross, asked leadership of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association to lobby for a change.

Newly elected APTA chair Shane Esson of Moncton-based Keltic Transport, said APTA would take up Armour’s motion.

And apparently it worked. This week, Nova Scotia saw the light and removed the requirement.

Transportation minister Bill Estabrooks essentially echoed Armour’s observation. "There is no proven safety benefits to the lights," the minister said in an official statement.

New Brunswick’s a different story.

That province is, thus far, sticking to its high-light guns.

So LCV drivers heading west from Amherst, N.S. or east into Edmunston, N.B. will have to add extra time and cost to their trips by pulling over, climbing out of their cabs, dragging their cold butts to the back of their long, long vehicle, risking an LTD claim by climbing up the back and adhering the useless energy sapping lights to their already costly equipment.

Real bright.