We at SPB Stoneworks Ltd. build stone monuments with an eye to the smallest detail; we use tools to carve shapes with the utmost precision that serve as lasting reminders of love and respect to our clients. But as I am sure you can imagine, this is not the only methodical industry which requires a specific concentration for each and every measured step to complete a project. The industry we would like to discuss today is that of transportation compliance, specifically requirements for steer axle weight, and how significant each jumper, finger, and conveyor is to the overall successful movement of a piece of machinery or equipment. Though the methodology may differ (used in different trades, it is to be expected), the importance of each individual stepping stone to a larger picture is common to both stonemasonry and trucking distributions, where there is no room for error when so much relies on the equivalent of millimetres.

Well, when you have carefully chiseled away at the surface of a stone for the hundredth time and are just about to make the finest of impressions with a flat tool, how do you know if you haven’t gone too deep? You don’t want the delicate script of a personalized engravement appearing out of date in a short couple of years; one might get confused as to which home base or memorial was truly the last message sent. When you drive your freight through the weight checking scales, do you know how far you can go before you fall out of compliance? Do you know the distribution to keep your tires from going out prematurely? The height and width of your load so you can meet the requirements for permitting? The inherent risk of being pulled over and fined for violating steering axle weight or other restrictions?

For industry practitioners, knowing how to keep up with industry standards is now second hand. The regulations on weights and sizes are what keep the industry working within the parameters set by safety, ethics, and client service. The minimum standards ensure that risks are mitigated, that clients are educated, that costs are levied and that money – investor, client, work crews – is not wasted on the wrong path.

With your stone pieces, is your garbling or marking plain, or will it lead to layers of quality such as selectively sandblasting or using water or even acid to etch a photograph? Or will you be carving from a 2D template directly into a 3D picture as a single cut, not allowing yourself to lift your tool from your stone until you are finished? When you review your axle weight limits and standard cut points and re-evaluate your truck’s distribution, do you set out grooves with a pencil and then a blade, and finally mix up a special solution to be filled in, or will you chalk it up to experience and simply learn from your mistakes?

Much like the laws of physics guide the way you move machinery from point A to B, the cadaver of a stone has a set direction to be working towards. Will you be sawing it down, or digging the right depth of groove through the land regardless of where underground you may be going? Do you find yourself wondering if you have allotted enough time for the level of detail your work requires, whether your scheduled lines will be deep enough, or whether the edge of a cut gives way and can never be softened again? The sculptured stone to be displayed at the memorial site must flow and though a gravestone may be rugged, it must be flawless.

Similarly, legal steer axle weight guidelines must be kept, but there is a greater need for compliance as you would for setting stone in place for a loved one’s resting spot. Like most commercial projects, the fate of your stone will be decided by customer service. Did the correct colour match the requested grade of quality? And did you provide as much information as possible so the client could understand the options available? The same goes for ever-changing regulations: provide the information to follow and the work is guaranteed to be well done.

Both stonemasonry and transportation work require proof of diligence and countless hours of remaining on schedule and on budget. You don’t only hope your axle distributions are optimal, and you don’t simply wish your grave marker was the right shape. You rigorously assess the impact your efforts have had on your project, on your paycheck and on the business relationship you’ve created with your clients.