By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Though Wellesley council has approved the budgeted purchase of a new tandem roll-off truck, council had some concerns about how the truck’s purchase and delivery might be impacted by threats of tariffs from American President Donald Trump.
Council approved the purchase of the truck at its Feb. 11 meeting for a total cost of just over $649,000 including HST. As part of this year’s budget, public works staff identified a need to upgrade one of the township’s dump trucks to a roll-off style truck to perform both summer and winter maintenance duties as well as increase the department’s capacity to provide service. As such, this roll-off truck, will be funded from the township’s roads equipment reserve up to the replacement value of the current dump truck, nearly $456,000, and the remainder – a little more than $193,000 – will be funded from the township’s development charges reserve.
“I’m supporting this – there’s no question it’s going to be a useful unit for us – but I’m a little bit concerned with what’s happening down south with the potential of that 25 per-cent tariff,” Mayor Joe Nowak said. “That tandem truck, if I understand it, is built in the states. It will have to come up. Would we pay a 25 per-cent tariff when it comes up here?”
Having previously spoken with representatives from Freightliner, the American manufacturer of the truck’s cab and chassis, and Viking Cives Ltd., the Canadian manufacturer of the truck body located in Mount Forest, Wellesley director of public works Chris Cook clarified that the threats of tariffs made by Trump would only apply to Canadian goods exported to the U.S. However, if the Government of Canada opts to respond with retaliatory tariffs of its own, he said that could further inflate the price of just the cab and chassis, which currently represents accounts for $230,000 of the total cost of the truck.
“There are thousands of components that go in to (the cab and chassis being built in the U.S.); some are from China, some are from Mexico, some are from Canada, some are the U.S. – they’re from all over the place,” Cook said. “So, I have no idea what the percentage of any type of tariff would look like. It’s still way to early to determine how it would affect a purchase like this. … When we’re talking about a piece of equipment that has an 18-24-month lead time, basically everything comes into play.
“Anything can happen in that time and there is a catch-all line at the back (of the purchase contract) that says any unforeseen prices increases due to model change, monthly exchange rate increase, supplier annual increase etc. are not included in this price quote and will be passed on to the customer as incurred. That’s a standard line that’s in all of these quotes we’ve been provided for the dozens of trucks we’ve purchased in the past.”
In response to a question from Coun. Lori Sebben about whether the township could get out of the purchase agreement should any increased costs be “astronomical,” Cook said it would be possible, but the township would be on the hook to pay a small cancellation fee. He also warned that any deferral of the purchase of this truck would likely lead to a higher price for it in the future.
Roll-off trucks have become a staple in municipal fleets and are utilized year-round for a variety of tasks from plowing, sanding, salting and snow loading in the winter to hauling materials for projects such as shoulder maintenance, culvert replacement, ditching and asphalt repairs during the construction season. This truck will also allow the township to apply salt brine to the roads ahead of major winter-weather events by utilizing the anti-icing and water tank attachment to spray the roads.
Last week, Trump removed the exceptions and exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel, meaning that all steel imports from countries including Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea will be taxed at a minimum of 25 per cent. Trump also hiked his 2018 aluminum tariffs to 25 per cent from 10 per cent.
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