B.C. trucking industry wants incident reports after series of overpass strikes
Posted July 12, 2022 2:36 pm.
Last Updated July 13, 2022 6:02 pm.
The BC Trucking Association is calling on the province to be more transparent about incidents in which large vehicles hit public infrastructure, after a series of incidents in which overpasses on Metro Vancouver highways were hit.
The most recent incident involved a flatbed truck carrying an excavator crashing into the 192 Street overpass on Highway 1 in Surrey Tuesday morning, sending two people to hospital. This makes it at least three collisions in the region involving large vehicles and highway overpasses since early June.
Read more: Truck crashes into Surrey overpass, heavy delays on Highway 1
In order to learn more about what happened, Dave Earle with the BC Trucking Association is calling on the province’s transportation ministry to be more transparent and publicly share findings when it looks into these types of incidents.
“We need to know the information,” Earle told CityNews, adding his thoughts are with the two people in hospital. “We need to see the investigation reports. We need to know what’s happening. We need to know what mistakes were made as we were going through this … the trailer — was it a lowbed that’s appropriate for the move or was it not? Was the excavator configured properly and secured properly when it was put on the trailer or not? Did it qualify as an extraordinary load because it was so big, and if it did, was a permit sought?”
“Was it pulled? Was the right information given? Was the right route planning done, and if it was done, was it communicated properly to the driver, or did the driver make a mistake and get out on the wrong on-ramp?”
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He says his organization works closely with B.C.’s transportation ministry, but is frustrated because they don’t get specifics.
“We don’t get that information to say, ‘These are where the errors are being made, these are where the decisions being made are wrong.’ We need to know that to better educate the industry, and work with the ministry to enforce the existing regulations to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Earle notes this latest incident didn’t appear to involve a member of his association.
He says the aim of publishing reports on these situations wouldn’t be to find blame, but rather to prevent similar collisions in future.
Related: Truck hits Highway 99 Cambie Road overpass in Richmond
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure released a statement saying measures were being introduced in the coming weeks.
They say that they will publish “a list of B.C. carriers who have been cancelled for cause … this includes serious safety violations” in an effort to increase transparency and greater accountability.
In a previous statement, the ministry explained that commercial drivers need to ensure they have the proper allowance for the content they are transporting.
“Over the last 12 months, the ministry has noted several incidents in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley of transport trucks carrying over-height loads and striking overhead bridges,” the statement said.
“Commercial vehicle operators are responsible to ensure their loads are meeting the terms and conditions of the permit they have been issued.”
“Within the Commercial Transport Act Regulations, there are fines for violating the conditions of a permit, or for operating without the appropriate over-height permit. Each of those violations is subject to a $115 fine.”
The ministry adds that every time a structure is hit, staff inspect the site to ensure its safety.
With files from Kareem Gouda
