Rocky View councillors were on board with Alberta Sand and Gravel Association’s suggestion to require aggregate operators to register their trucks with the association, during a meeting Dec. 18.
“I think this is a great idea to have a registry like this,” said Councillor Lois Habberfield.
She said because the program would require trucks to have a visible sticker on the back with a phone number for complaints, it will weed out the bad truck drivers.
“It’s a good way to recognize those doing a good job,” she said.
Teri Muhlbeier, with the gravel association, said truck registry adds accountability to vehicles and takes the burden of complaints away from the municipalities when people phone in to complain about haulers driving on local roads. She said the association is asking all municipalities with aggregate operations to require an operator have their trucks registered as a condition of their development permits or as a condition of the haul road agreements. She said two counties that have started this program include Parkland and Lacombe.
Penalties vary but may include everything from 24-hour suspensions to shutting down a truck driver from accessing hauling roads for the rest of a season.
Muhlbeier said each aggregate company would register the trucks and haulers they use on the association’s website. Each truck is given a four-digit number and a decal is sent to the registrant. The decal then goes onto the vehicle. A phone number for the association is included so if drivers have issue with a truck cutting them off or doing something else inappropriate on the road, they can phone in and complain.
The complaint is then followed up and addressed with the driver and owner of the vehicle. The committee accepted the report as information.
Byron Riemann, manager of infrastructure and operations for the county said he would look into how this condition could work with Rocky View’s development permit program and said he will present a report to council when councillors vote on whether or not to adopt the change.
