The bulk trucking industry is divided into various sectors, which include bulk agricultural transport, forest transport and bulk haulage of aggregates and materials related to the construction industry, as well as snow and salt.
This section pertains to these various bulk trucking sectors. Additional information can also be obtained by consulting the Information Bulletin, which aims to put regulatory and technical changes into plain language.
Agricultural transport
Effective January 1, 2000, a permit is no longer required to transport bulk agricultural materials (grain, seed, lime, etc.) for remuneration. Therefore, any person wanting to provide bulk trucking services for or without remuneration must simply comply with the requirements of the Act respecting owners, operators and drivers of heavy vehicles (see Documentation section), which applies to all highway transport of merchandise or persons.
A permit is not required for brokerage of agricultural trucking services. However, any person acting as a broker in the transport of merchandise or persons must register on the list of transport service intermediaries maintained by the Commission des transports du Québec.
Forest transport
Transportation by truck of timber that has not undergone any operation other than cross-cutting, limbing and barking (logs, long-length timber) was subject to deregulation in 2000.
Only the stipulations applicable to any contract for the transport of timber from forests in the domain of the State are subject to the Regulation respecting forest transport contracts.
Regulation respecting forest transport contracts
The purpose of the Regulation respecting forest transport contracts (see Documentation section) is to prescribe the stipulations applicable to any contract for the transport of timber from forests in the domain of the State.
The stipulations of the forest transport contract are those appearing in the model referred to in Schedule A of the Regulation respecting forest transport contracts and they constitute the minimum stipulations that any forest transport contract must contain. The forest transport contract must be drawn up by completing a form similar to the model appearing in Schedule A of the Regulation and must be signed by the shipper and the carrier.
Aggregate, snow and salt haulage
As previously indicated, a permit is no longer required to transport bulk materials for remuneration.
However, the Transport Act (see Documentation section) and the Regulation respecting the brokerage of bulk trucking services (see Documentation section) set out the industry rules for the brokerage of bulk trucking services in public contracts. This is the only form of economic framework governing this industry.
Regulation respecting the brokerage of bulk trucking services
The Regulation respecting the brokerage of bulk trucking services applies to the brokerage of bulk trucking services in public contracts for the transport of sand, earth, gravel, stone, concrete other than in a concrete mixer truck, bituminous concrete including planed asphalt and recyclable and non-recyclable asphalt, materials resulting from road demolition, snow, ice and salt intended for road maintenance.
Under this regulation, only holders of permits for the brokerage of bulk trucking services issued by the Commission des transports du Québec may engage in the brokerage of bulk trucking services in public contracts to the benefit of the carriers registered in the bulk trucking register. The Regulation respecting the brokerage of bulk trucking services stipulates the terms and conditions for obtaining this permit.
« Brokerage" refers to "acting as an intermediary in the organization of activities related to the bulk trucking of the materials listed in the Regulation. »
« Public contract" refers to "any contract entered into by a public authority and a private contractor with a view to performing work or providing services. »
A permit is not required to engage in brokerage activities in contracts other than public contracts. However, any person acting as a broker in the transport of merchandise or persons must register on the list of transport service intermediaries maintained by the Commission des transports du Québec.
Bulk trucking register
The bulk trucking register is the responsibility of the Commission des transports du Québec. Operators who register in the bulk trucking register benefit, through the holder of a brokerage permit, from a preferred hiring clause with the ministère des Transports du Québec and other public organizations that have put in place this type of provision.
Preferred hiring clauses for ministère des Transports work sites
The Act respecting the ministère des Transports sets out that the Minister may, in contracts to which he is a party, stipulate that small bulk trucking enterprises that subscribe to the brokerage service of an association holding a brokerage permit issued under the Transport Act shall participate in the performance of the contract to the extent and on the conditions he determines, particularly with respect to the tariff applicable.
The Ministère's Cahier des charges et devis généraux – Infrastructures routières –Construction et réparation describes the terms and conditions that apply to these stipulations.
Haulage rate compendiums
In accordance with the provisions of the Act respecting the ministère des Transports, the Minister of Transport of Québec may determine the rates applicable to bulk trucking in certain contracts awarded by the Ministère. Thus, since the repeal of the Regulation respecting bulk trucking on January 1, 2000, the Ministère publishes three rate compendiums for its bulk trucking needs.
Compendiums come in PDF format and are viewable with Acrobat Reader.
Bulk trucking rate adjustment mechanism on the basis of fuel prices
In order to limit the impact of the price of fuel on the profitability of bulk trucking companies, the ministère des Transports has implemented an adjustment mechanism within its various bulk trucking rate compendiums. Thus, the Ministère will publish, at the beginning of each month, a compensation percentage applicable to the bulk trucking rates appearing in compendiums for the current year.
The posted percentage must be added to or subtracted from the rates in force. The percentages apply to both haulage paid by the hour and haulage paid by the tonne-kilometre.
The compensation amount is determined according to the average price of fuel in the previous month.
Compensation for 2011-2012
Compensation applicable
to the rates included in the Bulk Trucking Rate Compendium
(Recueil des tarifs de camionnage en vrac)
Compensation applicable
to the rates included in the Salt and Calcium Haulage Rate Compendium
and the Snow and Ice Haulage Rate Compendium
(Recueil des tarifs de sel et de calcium and Recueil des tarifs de neige et de glace)
*A variation of less than 1 % of the compensation for a given month is to be maintained the following month. Moreover, no compensation is applicable when the spread between the reference price and the average price entails a surcharge or a discount attributable to the price of fuel of less than 1 % or when the average price remains within the limits of variation of the reference price.
