Police pull 84 truck drivers off Lower Mainland roads in 3 days
Posted May 27, 2025 12:24 pm.
A three-day safety inspection blitz targeting commercial vehicles across the Lower Mainland took dozens of big trucks off the road for violations.
The Lower Mainland Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (LMDCVE), a multi-agency effort, says it inspected 128 vehicles between May 13 and 15.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!A release Tuesday says police and bylaw officers identified 375 violations, issued 195 tickets, and took 84 commercial vehicles out of service.
Burnaby RCMP Cpl. Mike Kalanj says the blitz is an annual event that police observe with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance across North America.
He says that taking approximately 66 per cent of the inspected trucks out of service is a troubling trend.
“A lot of them are just faulty brakes, for example — wheels, tires need to have enough grip on them,” said Kalanj.
He says many businesses in the province take excellent care of their vehicles, but some skip pre-trip inspections and pay the price.
“The biggest punishment is having to get your truck back on the roads, because it gets towed away, and then you need to fix the infractions and get it back on the road. So every day off the road is costing a lot of money,” said Kalanj.
But one example from before the blitz, he says, resulted in more severe punishment than that.
On May 6, Burnaby RCMP inspector Const. Kevin Connolly and a Delta Police Department officer stopped the driver of a dump truck.
“It had 17 violations. They issued $1,600 in fines. And then, as it turns out, the driver was impaired, so he failed the roadside test twice, and was given a 90-day suspension,” Kalanj explained.
The RCMP says it was the second time that the driver and truck were taken out of service with multiple defects in 2025.
“We will be requesting a review of the company’s ability to operate in BC as well as a review of the driver’s class 1 licence,” said Connolly.
—With files from Mike Lloyd
