Spaniards Bay faces two malfunctioning snow clearing vehicles

By Mark Squibb/December 20, 2023

The Town of Spaniards Bay this month has had to deal with not one, but two, vehicle malfunctions.

Town Manger Tony Ryan said both malfunctions shared a similar root cause.

Firstly, a pickup was sent to St. John’s for repairs due to wiring issues.

Ryan said the Town was able to get the wiring repaired for free.

The Town was also having difficulties with a dump truck sander.

“It sands, but it sands at a higher rate than what we usually set it at, and we cannot appear to control it,” said Ryan. “The truck will have to be sent into TTI to have repairs made to that.”

Ryan said he believed both problems arose following the installation of GPS equipment, though he admitted he could not prove it.

“There’s no way to manipulate it inside the cab, and it looks like in this instance, the positioning where they tied in the GPS positioning was right in that control panel that operates the sander,” said Ryan. “It’s the same thing, if you follow the path of the wiring harness, for the snow clearing equipment in the pickup. So, I think both of them are related, but I’m unable to prove it. I’ve been in touch with Telus. And they’re telling me they’re in the process of trying to find a new company to service their GPS systems around here. For what reason, I have no idea.”

Ryan said another Town vehicle had be sent for body work and painting and is now back in service.