You are discussing a most interesting and important ROF Intergrated Transport System (ITS) issue which had wide implications.

Cliffs North South All-Weather ITS was to be a private mine road, with no public access, as it's Base Case called for 90 ton Gross Vehicle Weight trucks using non-tax fuel.

Ken Pavlich, vice-president, operations, global ferroalloys, Cliffs Natural Resources, said the east-west route via Pickle Lake to the CN Rail line 280 kilometres west of the Cavell siding was rejected both because of the increased distance and the fact that much of the route – from Pickle Lake onwards – is a paved highway that Cliffs would have to share with existing vehicular traffic.

“It wouldn’t allow us to operate over the road tractors hauling two trailers with 35 tonnes of material in each trailer,” unlike the north-south route, which could be designated as a private road.

The north-south route, he added, would also allow for the use of non-tax fuel.

The Ontario Highway Traffic Act allows a gross weight of the vehicle of up to 63,500 kilograms, 70 tons, 140,000 lbs, payload and tractor plus trailer (B-train) nine axle configuration.



Gross weight (the total weight) = Net weight (the weight of the goods) + Tare weight (the weight of the empty container).

Cliffs Base Case Transport method in Chapter 3.3.3 called for transporting 1.3 to 2.3 Mt of concentrate annually using B-train 70-ton net weight truck trailers.

Cliffs confirms in Chapter 7.5.2.1 that the 70 tons or ~63,500 kgs would be the net weight of the goods only.

The weight of a tractor/trailer (B-train) nine axle configuration without payload is ~18,147 kgs and is called the tare weight, implying a very approximate vehicle gross weight of ~81,647 kgs or ~90 tons. All watercourse crossings were to be designed to accommodate a minimum load of 100 tons per lane.

Road Haul - 70 ton of chromite per vehicle - 50 - 100 loads per day
Rail Haul - 10,000 ton per train 230 trains per year

- 81,647 kgs = 90 tons gross weight
- 63,500 kgs = 70 tons net weight
- 18,147 kgs = ~20 tons tare weight
- 2.3 Mt / 70 tons = 32,858 truck loads required per year to haul 2.3Mt
- 365 days a year (less winter thaw and bad weather allowance, maintenance of 60 days) = 305 days
- 32,858 / 305 days = 108 truckloads per day
- 108 trucks per day X 2 for round trip = 216 truck trips back and forth per day or 65,880 trips per year back and forth
- 60 minutes X 24hrs = 1440 minutes X 305 = 439,200 minutes in 305 days
- 439,200 minutes in 305 days / 65,880 annual round trips by truck = 6.7 minutes

Assuming even delivery 24 hours per day, under a 2.3Mt annual rate, Cliff's B-train 90 ton truck trailers would have passed through any point on the boreal forest highway every 6.7 minutes. A railroad would pass 230 south and 230 empty trips back by train per year.