CALGARY, Alberta – Later this year, a new pricing initiative will soon be introduced in Alberta by a southern California-based climate/carbon think tank corporation. The company, Scaled Ltd, is an industrial weigh scale outfit that designs and manufacturers drive-over weigh scales for commercial transport traffic. In 2023, the company was acquired by Spark Transport. At that time, Spark was focused on a fleet of electric, hybrid, and hydrogen powered tractors for freight distribution. Through the merger, Spark was able to increase road use fees for heavier loads, and also charge a tax on trucks identified using diesel fuel as they drove through weigh-scales checkpoints. Much of this faced backlash from the freight industry, but Spark continued attempts to expand regardless. In 2025, Sparks systems were reduced to 2 locations in central Los Angeles.
In early 2026 Scaled (Spark) has been preparing to push a new fuel station A.I. system that operates on the same AI technology Spark used for commercial truck traffic. The system would weigh a vehicle as it pulled up to a refueling pump and alter the price of fuel per litre based on the vehicle’s weight. As an example, a small hatchback could be $1.00 per litre, and a full size SUV could be charged $2.00 for every litre dispensed. A.I. systems could also estimate the physical size of the vehicle, and increase the cost based on a mix of all parameters.
The system is designed to encourage drivers to buy smaller lighter weight vehicles and avoid full size options. At first glance Alberta may not be the prime location to implement this type of technology, but Scaled CEO Bann Urtruk sees opportunities in urban areas, possibly even mid-size rural cities and towns.
“There are many drivers in the big cities that will buy gas from stations with our Scaled cost structure if they can save ten or fifty cents per litre on gas. I don’t see the value in large vehicles anymore, so I’m not concerned if those drivers shop elsewhere. We don’t need rednecks and hillbillies to shop with us.”
Scaled has 4 prototype fuel stations scale locations in Los Angeles and San Francisco. While the technology is quite new, it remains to be seen if any businesses in Alberta will sign up to adopt or trial the weight-based-cost systems. While it could potentially replace a government based carbon tax, and allow drivers the choice of both vehicle size and fuel costs, 2P News will be watching for any further press releases from Scaled Ltd.
