The tire giant’s Waterville plant began turning out the innovative double-width X One truck tires on Feb. 23, but almost all production will be shipped to the U.S. because government restrictions make them impractical to use on many roads in Canada.

"There are only three provinces that allow them right now: British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec," Waterville plant manager Grant Ferguson said. "We may make them in Nova Scotia, but at the moment, the weight restrictions imposed by the Department of Transportation makes it impractical for truckers to use them. They can’t get the cost savings."

The company has been working with the government for more than a year to "get rid of the myth" that the tires will be harder on the road, but he said officials have yet to be convinced.

Dan Davis, a Transportation Department spokesman, said determining weight limit requires striking a balance between truck weight and potential damage to the road. The heavier the truck, especially with fewer contact points over which to distribute the weight, the more potential for damage.

Michelin has asked the province to reassess the weight limits, and Davis said that will happen once new research expected shortly has been reviewed.

"We will be increasing the allowable weight, but how much has yet to be determined."

Ferguson said the tires are already used in every state south of the border and are actively sought by truckers who find they save on gas. It is that heavy demand by whole trucking fleets that fueled the need for the $92-million Waterville expansion undertaken over the past year, he said.

The expansion included the addition of a new building and equipment, a research and development component and the employment of more technical and manufacturing expertise. It was funded by the company with support from the Nova Scotia government and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

The company has already hired 45 people in conjunction with the new tire program, and it expects to hire another 30 before the end of March.

"We’re hiring fast and furious," he said noting that 170 people showed up for a recent job fair at the Old Orchard Inn. Some of those people were from the Maple Leaf Poultry plant in Canard that will shut down in April.

Ferguson said production of the plant’s first X One wide single tire was completed ahead of schedule and took the combined efforts of about 100 employees from various departments.

"Getting a new system in place, adapting to it and ensuring production quality isn’t always an easy task," he said.

The Waterville plant was chosen for the latest expansion because it is one of just four Michelin truck tire plants in North America and is the one most like the Spartanburg, S.C., plant that is making the tire for big rigs.

The double-width tire replaces two tires on rigs and has been shown in independent testing to save 10% on fuel costs. With gas prices rising, company officials have said some trucking firms have committed to refurbishing their whole fleets with the X One over the next five years.

While commercial production on the line officially began Feb. 23, Ferguson said it will be the end of the month before production ramps up to 24 hour a day, seven days a week

The production will double the company’s X One production and make Waterville the company’s second-largest truck tire manufacturing plant in the world.