The BC Trucking Association (BCTA) is committed to road safety, including just and fair government regulations, and enforcement thereof. Below is a sampling of the safety issues, concerns and recommendations raised by BCTA with the provincial government within the past 5 years. Many of these recommendations stem from BCTA’s Vehicle Standards, Weight & Dimensions Committee, which meets to review and advise on vehicle standards and enforcement policy. In addition, over the years, BCTA has been involved in various government initiatives to improve road safety. Most notably, Paul Landry, President & CEO of BCTA, was co-chair of a provincial government-industry task force on truck safety, which made a series of recommendations to the Minister of Transportation in 1997.
National Safety Code
The National Safety Code (NSC) is a set of safety regulations governing commercial vehicles in the province. They include such things as requirements for monitoring driver records, conducting pre-trip and post-trip vehicle inspections and drivers’ hours of service. Every operator of a commercial motor vehicle is required to apply for and maintain a National Safety Code number. If the trucking or bus company or drivers of companies accumulate enough violation “points,” the company is subject to escalating enforcement. Companies are also subject to random audits of company records and facilities and roadside inspection of vehicles. Following are a list of actions taken or recommendations made by BCTA:
Hours of Service
On November 16, 2005 the final Canadian Hours of Service Regulation was published in the Canada Gazette Part II. The main provisions reflect the position advocated by the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) and BCTA and take into account new scientific research on fatigue and industry’s need to maintain productivity.
Each province must still adopt the regulations before they can be enforced. The BC government expects to meet a January 1, 2007 deadline. The main provisions include the following:
- maximum 16-hour daily working window
- maximum 13 hours per day driving
- minimum 10 hours per day off duty, of which 8 hours must be continuous; the remaining 2 hours may be taken in blocks of at least ½ hour
- deferral of up to 2 hours off-duty time to the following day (48-hour averaging)
- sleeper berth split rest provision allowing single drivers to split the 10-hour daily off-duty requirement into 2 bunk periods, neither of which may be less than 2 hours; a further 2 hours off duty may be taken outside the sleeper berth to allow for meals and other breaks
- sleeper berth split rest provision for team drivers allowing them to satisfy the daily rest requirement by taking 2 periods of not less than 4 hours in the bunk, plus at least another 2 hours off duty in the day
- two cycles of 70 hours in 7 days and 120 hours in 14 days, including resets of 36 and 72 hours respectively for the two cycles
The current 60-year-old hours of service regulations were created with little or no understanding of fatigue. In fact scientists think that the current rules
- create, rather than reduce fatigue
- are difficult to comply with
- do not provide enough time for rest between shifts
The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is also closely involved in developing a driver fatigue information program in consultation with Transport Canada, and is participating in Canadian and U.S. fatigue management programs. BCTA and CTA have also made the recommendation that drivers’ hours be monitored through mandatory use of electronic on-board recorders.
NSC Enforcement
To improve compliance with NSC requirements in the industry, BCTA:
- supported increased penalties for not applying for an NSC number. Companies that don’t apply for an NSC number are only subject to fines of $95 or $120. In BCTA’s view, failure to apply should be treated more severely because it indicates that they are either ignorant of their safety responsibilities or do not consider them to be important.
- supported enforcement of designated inspection facilities, which are government-licensed vehicle inspection stations. BCTA has recommended that an immediate investigation be conducted of an inspection facility that “passed” a vehicle on a safety inspection if there are serious defects that should have been found during the inspection.
- recommended changing thresholds for carrier profiles established for enforcement activity so that they are the same points per vehicle regardless of fleet size. Companies receiving warning letters are required to be interviewed or are audited depending on their performance compared to other similar-sized companies. However, the number of points required for each of these enforcement levels differs depending on fleet size. Currently, these thresholds have been subjectively set and progressively increase throughout for each of the company group sizes from the smallest to the largest fleets. This is a particularly important point since B.C. safety statistics indicate that companies operating fewer vehicles tend to be a higher safety risk than companies operating large fleets, who have, generally speaking, more resources and better management systems.
- opposed BC government’s proposal to increase the weight threshold for farm and artisan vehicles from 8,200 to 17,300 kg if operated exclusively in BC for inclusion in the NSC program. In other words, the government proposed exemption of certain vehicles from NSC requirements
- recommended the removal of the exemption for vehicles used to transport “primary products of a farm, forest, sea or lake” from the NSC. BCTA does not support the exemption of any individuals or companies operating large commercial motor vehicles from complying with NSC requirements.
North American Load Securement Standard
The new North American load securement standard came into effect in British Columbia on January 1, 2005 and has been enforced since July 1, 2005. BCTA and the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) have long supported a North American standard.
Carrier Safety Rating & Audit System
In late 2001, ICBC implemented a new National Safety Code Carrier Safety Rating and audit system. BCTA has long supported improvements to the system because the carrier ratings did not meaningfully represent the safety risk of carriers. The new system includes data exchange with other provinces. Now B.C. sends and receives information about accidents, contraventions and roadside inspection to and from other Canadian provinces. The new system also includes an early warning system. Fleets are categorized based on size and their safety profiles are compared to other like-sized companies. If carriers reach certain point levels that are higher than the norm for their grouping, they will undergo increasing levels of enforcement beginning with a warning letter.
The audit process has also improved. Audits are quantifiable with a standard set of point-weighted questions. The number of driver and vehicle files to be audited is consistent among fleets of similar size. This new quantifiable audit is a requirement of the National Safety Code for all jurisdictions.
While this program is not available in B.C., Ontario has instituted a commercial vehicle impoundment program for seriously unsafe trucks, buses and trailers. The vehicle must remain at the impoundment facility for a designated period (15 to 30 days) if it fails very specific and clear guidelines, the results of which compromise public safety. If a vehicle is inspected and found to have one of the strictly defined critical defects, charges are laid against the owner and/or operator (truck or bus company) and/or driver. The vehicle is then impounded after removal from the inspection site. An appeal system is also in place. BCTA recommends instituting a similar program in B.C. to further encourage safe practices.
Driver Record Information
Trucking companies are responsible for ensuring that only qualified drivers operate commercial motor vehicles. Among other things, this includes requesting and reviewing drivers’ abstracts at least annually. Most companies do this semi-annually. However, trucking companies’ ability to adequately evaluate their drivers’ records is hampered by the fact that drivers’ records (i.e., abstracts) are incomplete since they primarily contain information about convictions in B.C. or other jurisdictions that voluntarily provide this information to B.C.
The ideal solution is a national commercial driver licensing information system that would, at a minimum, possess the following attributes:
- provide comprehensive driving performance and license status information on persons with commercial vehicle driver licenses
- provide a data base of drivers who are disqualified anywhere in North America
- provide companies with electronic/Internet access to driver abstracts
- notify companies of all infractions pending against drivers and owner-operators immediately when a ticket has been issued for a commercial vehicle infraction
- notify companies immediately when a conviction has been obtained
- include information on 24-hour administrative prohibitions
- record convictions, crash data and disqualifications on abstracts in a timely manner
Until such a national data base is available, BCTA recommends that commercial driver infractions from other jurisdictions be recorded on driver abstracts. (Note: these are currently recorded on the trucking company’s National Safety Code record.)
Driver Standards
BCTA has also expressed concern that driver licensing standards for large commercial vehicles may not be high enough. As such, BCTA recommended the following:
- That ICBC and/or the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General analyse the relationship between driver poor performance and B.C.’s driver licensing standards to determine whether more stringent standards would help to reduce crashes.
- That the B.C. government review the appropriateness of B.C.’s license test standards for commercial vehicle operators
Driver Sanctions
Improved licensing standards will provide greater assurances that professional drivers have the requisite knowledge and skills to operate large commercial vehicles. However, it is clear that even experienced knowledgeable drivers fail to fulfill their responsibility, such as properly conducting a pre-trip inspection.
On April 1, 2003, amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations authorized the Director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement Division to immediately suspend the National Safety Code certificate of motor carriers prior to a show cause hearing in cases where there appear to have been gross failure in terms of safety compliance. BCTA supported this amendment because the previous system could not immediately deal with persistent and serious safety transgressions. A similar system should be implemented for drivers who clearly demonstrate that they either do not understand or simply refuse to comply with vital safety regulations, thereby causing a threat to public safety.
Driver error is the most common cause of crashes. As such, BCTA believes that enforcement of poor driving is an important element to improve road safety. The following recommendations have been made by BCTA to this end:
- That the B.C. government institute a driver sanction program with immediate consequences when it becomes clear that a commercial vehicle operator poses a serious threat to public safety. This could be modelled on the administrative justice approach available to police for drunk drivers.
- That a driver be immediately sent for re-testing if it becomes clear that he does not understand/know his basic responsibilities (e.g., how to adjust brakes).
Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulation
The Canadian Trucking alliance (CTA), with the support of BCTA and other provincial associations, has participated in the long process to develop new, clear language Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations. These regulations have been in force since August 15, 2002. CTA efforts ensured that the industry’s views were well represented, resulting in the elimination of the requirement for retro-reflective placards and the concept of a “low threat” consignment in the final regulations.
Shipper Responsibility
Shipper legislation would require that customers of trucking companies be equally liable, along with trucking companies, for meeting certain safety requirements, such as legal weights and dimensions. At present, trucking companies solely bear this responsibility, but they do not always have control over these issues. For example, dump truck drivers may have little control over the amount of aggregate that is loaded by the shipper and/or drivers may be coerced into taking exceptionally heavy loads to reduce shipping costs. Shipper responsibility legislation, properly enforced, would reduce the incentive to overload, which would, in turn help to preserve the road system, improve trucking and public safety, and provide a level playing field for trucking companies and shippers.
Because of the competitive nature of trucking, shippers can put pressure on trucking companies to take heavier than legal loads or to make very demanding deadlines for delivery. At the same time, shippers may be ignorant of the safety regulations governing trucking companies. Neither do they have access to information that would allow them to make an assessment about a trucking company’s safety record. To address these problems, BCTA has recommended the following:
- That the provincial government work with industry to develop shipper responsibility legislation for British Columbia.
Weigh Scales
BCTA recommended that weigh scales be closed when trucks trying to enter weigh scales are backed up and block traffic on highways (e.g., Port Mann East & West). Similarly, BCTA recommended that weigh scales be closed when the location is unsafe for exit or egress (e.g., Tete Jaune).
Bus Safety
Notwithstanding BCTA’s name, BCTA also represents most scheduled and chartered bus companies. In 2004, the charter bus industry became de facto deregulated, which means that new bus companies do not have to establish “need” for a service. Therefore, the only regulation governing charter buses is safety regulation. Given this situation, BCTA made the following recommendations to enhance bus safety regulation in the province:
- Enhance the National Safety Code number issuance process by introducing such things as a mandatory audit with a prescribed timeframe
- Enhance on-road enforcement. Historically, buses tend not to be as scrutinized as trucks by on-road enforcement officers.
- Create bus-only groupings of companies to develop industry-specific enforcement thresholds. Currently bus and truck companies are compared based on fleet size even though their operating characteristics are quite different.