Material hauling
in Niagara

What gets hauled out

In hauling, the truck leaves full. That covers excess soil off an excavation, fill that has to come out before a pad goes in, topsoil stripped ahead of grading, concrete and brick off a demolition, and old asphalt off a road rebuild, including milled asphalt grindings. A tri-axle loads at the site, runs to the disposal or reuse site, tips, and comes back; the shorter that cycle, the more loads it makes in a day, and the fewer trucks the job needs. Cameron's has run this work across Niagara since 1951.

Every truck on the roster is required to have a DZ-licensed driver, the owner's own commercial insurance, and WSIB clearance or a WSIB letter of exemption. The site supplies the loading; Cameron's dispatches the trucks.

Where it can go

Where a load is tipped depends on what it is and where the site is.

The Region's two landfills. Humberstone Landfill on Humberstone Road in Welland serves the south of the Region, and Niagara Road 12 Landfill on Concession 7 Road in West Lincoln serves the north and west. Both take clean concrete, brick and asphalt by the tonne, construction and demolition waste, and commercial clean soil with the Region's approval first; both weigh every load on the way in and require it to be secured. Niagara Road 12 is closed Mondays. The Region's Fort Erie depot on Bridge Street is a depot, not a landfill, and does not take soil, concrete or large loads of demolition material.

Inside the cities. Niagara Falls has the South Landfill on Taylor Road, which takes construction and demolition waste and soil after testing and approval, and the Thorold Townline depot, which takes clean concrete and clean asphalt. For the eastern Region that is often the shorter cycle than either Regional site.

Quarries as reuse sites. Some quarries are licensed to take clean excess soil to rehabilitate worked-out ground, by arrangement with the operator. Across the townline in Haldimand, the County's Canborough facility takes construction and demolition waste but not soil or concrete, so a Dunnville job needs its reuse site arranged first.

Tipping fees are set by each site and change yearly; dispatch confirms the current rate when the job is booked. The customer chooses the site a Cameron's truck runs to; the material and the side of the Region decide which sites can take it.

Excess soil rules

Ontario's excess soil regulation (O. Reg. 406/19) requires every load of excess soil leaving a site to travel with a hauling record naming where it came from, where it is going and how much, and the hauler keeps it. From January 1, 2027, clean excess soil can no longer go to landfill, so the reuse site is part of planning the job.

Site-alteration permits. Every municipality in the Region, and Haldimand County, has a by-law covering the removal of topsoil, the placing of fill and changes of grade, with a permit above a small volume. Several ask for the proposed haul route with the application and for a record of every load and its hauler: Thorold, West Lincoln and Wainfleet do, Niagara Falls asks for a diagram of the truck route, and Haldimand needs a permit once a property takes more than about five truckloads in a year, with truck volumes and hours on the application when the fill comes from outside the County. The permit is the site owner's; dispatch routes the trucks to the permit's haul route when it is given, and the hauling record on every load is what satisfies the inspector.

How a hauling job runs

Loading. The site's excavator or loader fills the trucks. The truck count is set by the cycle, so dispatch wants the disposal site and the loading rate as much as the tonnage.

Spring reduced loads. From March 1 to April 30 the Region limits trucks to five tonnes per axle on posted Regional roads, and Haldimand does the same on its own list. A tri-axle that runs a full load in May runs a fraction of one in March on those stretches, so dispatch plans the truck count for it.

Working hours. Municipal noise by-laws keep construction equipment, trucks included, quiet overnight, typically from 7pm or 9pm until 7am and on Sundays and holidays in several towns. Dispatch schedules the first truck to arrive when the site can legally load it. The town-by-town rules are on the service-area page and the city pages.

Trucks on the job

Hauling jobs run on tri-axle dump trucks, which carry bulk earth and rubble at typically 20 to 22 metric tonnes a load. Call dispatch with the material and the site for a rate.

Where the trucks go

The whole Niagara Region and Dunnville, from one desk: St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Thorold, Grimsby, Lincoln, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Pelham, Wainfleet, West Lincoln and Dunnville.

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Questions people ask

Where does excess soil from a Niagara job site go?

To a site approved to take it. The Region's Humberstone Landfill in Welland and Niagara Road 12 Landfill in West Lincoln take commercial clean soil with the Region's approval first; Niagara Falls' South Landfill takes soil after testing and approval; and some quarries take clean excess soil for rehabilitation by arrangement. Under Ontario's excess soil regulation, clean excess soil can no longer go to landfill from January 1, 2027, so a reuse site is part of planning the job.

Do I need a permit to remove fill or topsoil from a site?

Usually, above a small volume. Every Niagara municipality and Haldimand County has a site-alteration by-law covering removal of topsoil, placing of fill and grade changes; several ask for the proposed haul route with the application and for a record of every load and its hauler. The permit is the site owner's; Cameron's dispatch routes the trucks to the permit's haul route when it is given.

Can you haul demolition debris?

Yes. Clean concrete, brick and asphalt go to the Region's landfills by the tonne, and both Region sites take construction and demolition waste; Niagara Falls' South Landfill takes it too. Mixed loads are tipped as construction and demolition waste; clean rubble is cheaper to tip when it is kept separate, so dispatch asks how the material is sorted.

How is a hauling job billed?

Trucking is priced by the hour. Cameron's bills weekly, and payment terms are agreed before the first truck is dispatched. Tipping fees are set by the disposal site and change yearly; dispatch confirms the current rate when the job is booked.