by Apryl Veld
Omineca Express
The District of Vanderhoof picked up its new road maintenance trucks from Prince George last Wednesday.
“It’s good to finally get them, as we ordered them last summer,” the district public works superintendent said.
Paul Carver explained that before they could take delivery of the 2012 trucks, they had to be customized with the kind of tires and attachments to suit Vanderhoof area road-clearing needs.The basic truck came with frame, cab and chassis, Carver said, and then the gravel box, hydraulics, sanding unit and plow were put on in Alberta.
“These trucks have travelled a lot because after (they) first arrived in Prince George, then they had to go to Edmonton for the attachments including the underbody plow,” Carver said.
Then the trucks came back to B.C. and home to the district.
Each of the $160,000 machines will serve as both gravel truck and snow plow, and will replace two older units that had fast-growing maintenance costs and problems with reliability.
The district public works guy emphasized that replacement of these units is an integral part of the district’s overall equipment upgrade plan, and were bought through a public tendering process in 2011, where the contract was awarded to Freightliner of Prince George.
“The new units will ensure that these trucks are ready at all times,” Carver said.
He added that this was an important purchase for the district of Vanderhoof and that the older trucks will be sold soon.