This does help explain why dump truck drivers blow red lights so ruthlessly:
“Our trucks are supposed to carry 21 tonnes. But every time we are pulled on a scale, it’s around 28, 29, sometimes 30 tonnes in there.
“That’s dangerous, not only for the driver, but for everyone else on the road. The brake system is designed for a load of 21 tonnes. When the truck is eight or nine tonnes overloaded, the momentum doesn’t let you stop unless you really stand on the brakes.
“When the truck is overloaded and you’re going 100 kilometres an hour, how do you expect it to stop?”
Gill said drivers aren’t allowed to get out at a job site to check and there’s no way from inside the truck to determine a load’s weight.
Even worse, he said, is that drivers who question overweight loads are often banished from a work site.