Heavy Truck By-law

1.  In this by-law,

“Agricultural Purposes” means land where animals or birds are kept for grazing, breeding, raising, boarding, training, or for the tillage of soil rowing, harvesting of vegetables, fruits, field crops or landscaping materials;

“County Engineer” means General Manager Public Works Operations or any employee or agent of the Corporation designated by the said General Manager Public Works Operations to act on their behalf;

"Commercial Motor Vehicle" means a motor vehicle having permanently attached thereto a truck or delivery body, and includes ambulances, hearses, casket wagons, fire apparatus, motor buses and tractors used for hauling purposes on the highways;

“County” means The Corporation of Haldimand County;

"Council" means the Council of The Corporation of Haldimand County;

"Heavy Truck(s)" means:

i.  any commercial motor vehicle which has a registered gross vehicle weight exceeding 5 tonne (5,000 kilograms or 11,023 pounds) according to the current permit or vehicle registration which has been issued under the Highway Traffic Act, or its foreign equivalent for such vehicle, regardless of the actual weight of such vehicles, or

ii.  a trailer that has a manufacturer’s gross weight rating exceeding 1,360 kilograms, regardless of the actual weight of such trailer, but does not include a vehicle operated by or on behalf of the Corporation or a school bus which  is in the course of transporting children or mentally challenged adults to and from school;

“Highway” means a common and public highway and includes one or both of the following:

i.  any street, road, avenue, parkway, lane, driveway, boulevard, sidewalk, square, place, bridge, viaduct or trestle, any part of which is intended for or used by the general public for the passage of vehicles or persons, or

ii.  the area between the lateral property lines of any highway or road allowance including any curbs, gutters, boulevards, culverts, ditches and retaining wall;

"Motor Vehicle" includes an automobile, motorcycle, motor assisted bicycle unless otherwise indicated in this by-law, and any other vehicle propelled or driven otherwise than by muscular power, but does not include a street car, or other motor vehicles running only upon rails, or a motorized snow vehicle, traction engine, farm tractor, self-propelled implement of husbandry or road building machine within the meaning of the Highway Traffic Act;

"Municipal By-Law Enforcement Officer" means a by-law enforcement officer appointed by Haldimand County Council;

"Municipality" means the municipality of Haldimand County;

“Non-Truck Route” means any Highway or part thereof within the County not set forth in Schedule A of this by-law and further not signed as a Truck Route.

"Person" includes any individual, driver, vehicle operator, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind;

“Reduced Load Limit” means and refers to a Heavy Truck restricted to a limit of a maximum weight of five (5) tonnes per axle for any vehicle travelling on the said Highways during the Reduced Load Period in any year;

“Reduced Load Period” means the period between March 1st to April 30th inclusive in any year;

"Road Allowance" means all allowances for roads, except in so far as they have been stopped up according to law, made by the Crown surveyors, all highways laid out or established under the authority of any statute, all roads on which public money has been expended for opening them or on which statute labour has been usually performed, all roads dedicated by the owner of the land to public use, and all alterations and deviations of and all bridges over any such allowance for highway or road;

2.  Heavy Truck Routes

a.  No Person shall operate or permit the operation of a Heavy Truck except on a Truck Route, unless otherwise exempt or provided for in this by-law.

b.  The County Engineer is hereby authorized to cause the Highways listed in Schedule A attached hereto with signs identifying the Highways as Truck Routes.

c.  The County Engineer is hereby authorized to cause the Highways not listed in Schedule A attached hereto to be marked with signs to prohibit their use by Heavy Trucks.

3.  Reduced Load Limit

a.  The Highways set out in Schedule B to this by-law are restricted to a Reduced Load Limit during the Reduced Load Period.

b.  The County Engineer is hereby authorized to erect such signage as is required to properly designate and identify the Highways listed in Schedule B of this by-law as having Reduced Load Limits during the Reduced Load Period.

c.  No Person shall operate or permit the operation of a vehicle on a Highway that does not comply with the Reduced Load Limit during the Reduced Load Period.

5.  Every Person who contravenes any of the provisions of this by-law and, if the Person is a corporation, every director or officer of the corporation who knowingly concurs in the contravention, is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable:

a.  On a first conviction, to a fine of not more than $10,000; and

b.  On a subsequent conviction, to a fine of not more than $10,000 for each day, or part thereof, upon which the contravention has continued after the day on which the Person was first convicted.

6.  Notwithstanding Section 5 above, where the Person convicted is a Corporation, the maximum penalty that may be imposed is:

a.  On a first conviction, a fine of not more than $50,000; and

b.  On a subsequent conviction, a fine of not more than $25,000 for each day, or part thereof, upon which the contravention has continued after the day on which the corporation was first convicted, and not as provided in subsection (a).