B.C. truckers call for more training after latest highway overpass strike

A Metro Vancouver truckers' group said the recent rash of trucks with high loads smashing into highway overpasses in British Columbia cannot be stemmed by tougher punishments alone.

Gagan Singh with the United Truckers' Association said his group would write to the provincial government in the coming days asking for better training and support for drivers who have to handle oversized loads but may lack the skills and equipment to measure them.

"This is not a blame game," Singh said, adding that collisions continue to happen despite increased fines and penalties. "We do understand that in order to keep the community and roads safer, someone has to step up."

His remarks come after a semi-trailer operated by Chohan Freight Forwarders Ltd. crashed into a Highway 99 overpass in Delta on Thursday, embedding the load of girders into the concrete and causing significant damage and snarling traffic for hours.

The Transport Ministry said it was the sixth such incident involving Chohan in two years, and announced the suspension of the firm's safety certificate, putting its 65 vehicles off B.C. roads as of Friday afternoon.

Singh said responsibility cannot fall on drivers alone, but must be shared with trucking firms, the companies shipping over-height cargo and the provincial government.

He said while the province had made training available to measure cargo heights, such resources were not reaching truckers at the street level.

"Truckers may have measuring tape," Singh said. "But let's say if the load is three or 3.5 metres high, or four to 4.5 metres high. So how can a trucker measure that exactly? The way that the accident happened yesterday, it was only a difference of not more than six inches."

He said the province's approach of stiffening fines and penalties should be complemented by more support for truckers, and there could be a need for a registry of drivers certified to handle oversized loads.

Delta officials call for penalties, upgrades

On Friday, the Transport Ministry said resources already exist to help truckers measure loads and it is a driver's responsibility to use them.

"It's the responsibility of commercial vehicle drivers to ensure their loads meet the terms of the permit they have been issued. It is their responsibility to ensure their load is properly measured, that they've received their permit and that they travel on an approved route," a ministry statement said.

It said the Provincial Permit Centre could answer drivers' questions about their permit conditions, and any height restrictions on a route could be checked by using DriveBC's Height Clearance Tool before setting out.

In a joint statement Friday, Delta police and the City of Delta said they would push for stiffer penalties for oversized-load violations, but also work with transportation companies and others "to address the root causes of these incidents."

Delta Mayor George Harvie said in the statement that he would speak to Fleming to request upgrades to "aging overpasses" along key routes, bringing them up to "modern heights and standards."

17 crashes in 2023

According to provincial records, Thursday's crash was the 31st overpass strike by a commercial vehicle in B.C. since December 2021, and the 17th this year.

The spate of overpass collisions prompted the province to unveil harsher penalties for companies and drivers with repeat offences on Dec. 14, raising fines for over-height vehicles from $115 to $575.

"This needs to stop," Transport Minister Rob Fleming said in a statement after the crash on Thursday. "We know that the vast majority of commercial drivers in B.C. operate safely and responsibly. However, some operators are not getting the message."

Chohan has not responded to emailed requests for comment from The Canadian Press and could not be contacted by phone.

In a previous emailed statement to CBC News, Chohan said it follows all safety protocols and is co-operating with all agencies investigating.

The company blamed Thursday's crash on driver error and said the person driving was not an employee.

"The driver, who is not a company driver, failed to wait to receive his permit and route directions for his oversized load," said the statement.