BC overpass crashes highlight gaps in federal transportation rules: Ministry

Overpass crash in Delta, BC on December 28, 2023 (Skilled Truckers Canada/Facebook)

BC’s transportation minister is talking tough when it comes to regulations for the trucking industry, saying that there are challenges that need to be addressed federally that are out of the province’s hands.

BC has seen more than two dozen crashes involving over-height vehicles hitting overpasses in recent years.

In six of the incidents, the same company was found to be at the centre, something which came to a head at the end of December when one of its trucks slammed into the overpass on Highway 99 in Delta.

BC’s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement branch suspended Chohan Freight Forwarders Ltd.’s entire fleet of 65 vehicles and threatened the company and driver with hefty fines, but many pointed out that trucks with the same name were still on the roads in BC, as it operates as a separate entity in Alberta.

Others were critical that the fines issued, although the highest in Canada, still don’t appear to be enough to offset the impacts these traffic-crawling crashes have on British Columbians.

Drivers operating a vehicle with a height over 4.15 m without a permit could face a $575 ticket, effective as of mid-December. That’s a jump from the previous fine of $115.

As of June 2024, an in-cab warning device mandate for certain commercial vehicles with dump boxes will also be in place, and violators could be handed a nearly $600 fine.

Transport and Infrasture Minister Rob Fleming said his government has taken “unprecedented action to deal with problem carriers who are unable or unwilling to operate safely and professionally,” but that the Province can’t go it alone.

Fleming says the federal government needs to step in to reduce the gaps in the system.

“I have written to the federal minister of transport requesting that the federal government work with the provinces and territories to improve the current decentralized safety certificate model and take an active role in finding solutions that will reduce the gaps in the current system that currently allow extra-provincial motor carrier undertakings (carriers) to lawfully avoid enforcement consequences when operating commercial vehicles unsafely across Canada,” Fleming said Monday in a statement to Daily Hive.

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“Generally speaking, carriers from one province may operate in other jurisdictions provided they carry the appropriate safety certificate, licensing, and insurance. This needs to be addressed,” he added.