QUEBEC CITY — Quebec has revised the cost of the special permit required to use wide-base tires in La Belle Province and could eventually do away with a fee altogether.

According to the Ministry of Transportation, wide-base single tire permits can be as low as $10 dollars compared to hundreds of dollars depending on the configuration.

Some carriers will see substantial savings. For example, the cost of a tridem setup with wide-base tires was $630 and is now $10.

The permits allowed full weight uniformity between single tires and a set of duals. Without them, the load limit for wide base tires is 1000 kg less per axle.

"The cost of the special permit was established in order to distribute, between the users of this technology, the costs associated to the additional damage caused in roads," explains the MTQ.

The MTQ says it re-evaluated its policy based on recent studies on the environmental, fuel-saving benefits of the wide-base tires as well as Ontario’s decision to allow parity between duals and single tires at 9000 kg on tandem 53-ft trailer.

The new cost of $10 "corresponds with the administrative expenses normally required for a permit."

But even this cost might completely disappear within the next few months. The MTQ says it has proposed to the government a legislative amendment that would completely eliminate this permit.

President and CEO of the Quebec Trucking Association (QTA), Marc Cadieux, is happy with the decision.

He says when the MTQ imposed penalties on weight and a permit was required, the association "swallowed the pill" because the revenue from the permits was supposedly set for a special road fund.

"The Ministry understood that some damages potentially attributed to the wide-base tires are widely compensated with these (environmental) benefits," said Cadieux.