Halton Region enforcement blitz puts one in four inspected trucks OOS
Enforcement officials placed 27% of inspected trucks out of service during a recent commercial vehicle enforcement blitz in the Halton Region situated in the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario.
The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS), working with more than 80 police officers and ministry officials from police services and agencies across the Greater Toronto Area and Southwestern Ontario, inspected 487 trucks, placing 132 OOS during the annual event that took place Oct. 1-2 at Elements Casino Mohawk, just off Highway 401.
Areas of concern included driver licensing, daily trip inspections and hours of service, along with truck-oriented issues which included mechanical fitness, load security, and weights of trucks and loads.
A total of 322 charges were laid for various defects and infractions, which is a 10% increase from 2023, according to a HRPS release. A total of 35 trucks were also found to be in such a sufficiently deteriorated state that the licence plates were seized, forcing the truck owner to make repairs to recertify and re-plate the vehicle.
Drivers operating with suspended licence
There was also an increase over 2023 in incidents of truck drivers found operating with a suspended driver’s licence, with more than a dozen such charges laid. One driver was found to be prohibited from driving and was criminally charged, with the truck impounded for 45 days at the truck owner’s expense.
“The results of this year’s HRPS CMV blitz are both impressive in terms of our ability to collaborate with our partners to achieve results, however they’re also a disappointing reminder that unsafe trucks continue to be operated on area roadways” HRPS Staff Sergeant Ryan Snow said in the release. “Truck safety and enforcement is a 365-day-of-the-year commitment for police, and we encourage truck drivers and owners to do their part to maintain safe roads,” he said.
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The cost of repairs and the new vehicle safety cost are a factor in the repair problem, when the cost of a safety went from $300 to $1000 this is a major problem for the owners that keep their equipment safe. Also the some inspectors have a chip on their shoulder thinking they can just control peoples lives, seen it more than once in my 40 plus years of driving.
They are right about the safety of the trucking industry, but there is a far greater problem companies that use the LMIA system should be stopped we have to many drivers with no skills and no respect and the government keeps bringing more in, so the or older more knowledgeable drives get push to the curb to bring in cheap labor.
These problems have amounted to more unsafe trucks and driving habits, but what do I know I’m just an old truckdriver that has over 6 million miles from as far south as mexico to Alaska.
Could tell you more problems that exists in the industry but we would have to write a book.
The results of this blitz are disappointing, but typical. This points to the fact that commercial truck safety should not be a blitz, it should be a daily occurrence with a dedicated team, throughout the GTA.
Trucks today are driven as weapons by people who don’t care, more needs to be done to enforce safe roads.
This Should be daily. The OPP Should also in force tractor trailers driving in left land, tying up traffic. This happens around Milton/ Cambridge Ontario daily. Thanks Alan.
Why were the company names and drivers names not made public in this article?
I see hundreds of trucks a day go by my house , ( which is on a “No Truck route” and the shape and and condition of these trucks is horrible
I have driven transports across all of North America in the 90’s , we kept are vehicles and logs top notch
This action needs to be on going not just on an annual basis!
It is common knowledge in the industry that rules are being broken continually!
Old and unmaintained Equipment are travelling our roadways daily!
The industry needs a complete facelift if we are to make our roads safe!
Any one that’s behind the wheel of a truck must be properly train by a credible driving school and not these back street so call driving school that’s showing up like I’ve never seen before I do understand the need for the industry it’s gotten out of hand other people lo Ives are at stake when you have these type of people out there with the basic experience to be out there in the first place with only there best interest in mind and not the safety of others when it come to being on the roads the safety bliz it should be more often to put a dent in this situation if so much is discovered how much more is out there its very sad that this kind of conduct is going on suspended license that is more than scary that’s either no one vets there drivers or gust ignore hoping for the best
Its about time! So manybtrucks and drivers who should never have been allowed to leave the years. I ld like to see the same inspections done on all vehicles.
these blitz inspections should happen more often…being in the trucking industry myself, there are alot of unsafe trucks out there running down the roads and highway,,dump truck and gravel haulers have the biggest fail rate
It’s to be expected with the influx of new Canadians in transport vehicles either not trained or licensed as per Canadian regulations
Here’s an idea. Do roadside inspections on all the vehicles on the roads, not just trucks.
MTO brought out the new MVIS system which to me is a bit of a farce. I can certify a vehicle and the owner can take it away and install oversize tires,remove the catalytic converter, modify the exhaust,whatever and there it is certified but illegal.Yet the mechanic is the guy who is threatened with fines etc.
Roadside inspections would remove a lot of unsafe from our roads and highways.
You want to take bad trucks and drivers off the road? Set up near Brampton. I Guarantee you will have more OOS trucks than you can handle!
There are two factors that are causing this constant increase trucking infractions and frankly, I could care less what trivial labels you put on the reasons because I did not create the situation, our public servants did. Both reasons are going to have an element that the woke snowflake class will deem racist, therefore, no consideration will be put to what I am about to detail and the problems will continue to rise. Hey, let’s face it, the government knows how to make money, don’t they?!
1. The economy. Yes. The government steered the economy right through the rhubarb, down an embankment and into a river. Apparantly this needs clarification.
Not one single thing you have was not on a truck. Trucks are the reason every one of us exist. Manufacturers can produce till they’re blue in the face but if trucks don’t deliver, everybody dies. Scary fact. But as the economy dives, as prices skyrocket and supply dwindles, do officials think that this too does not have a profound effect on trucks as well? When you have a $3000 per month payment on a truck, you can’t wait 2 weeks for a shop to get a part because it’s in short supply. You gotta roll.
2. Truckers today, dollar for dollar, make profoundly less money today than they did in days gone by. Why? Are truckers less important today? Do you think you could survive a month if they all hung up the keys due to low pay, non-stop fines for trivial matters, destroyed family and social issues because they’re gone all week providing for you instead of themselves? I don’t think the convoy got its point across and perhaps that’s exactly tly what’s needed. Leave the trucks in the yard, wish everyone the best and watch. Perhaps then everyone will realize that the trucks are literally why they even exist and perhaps they’d consider offering a massive amount of respect. I mean everybody from the madman in a car with the grade 3 me first attitude right up to law enforcement who tries to save the world from a light that burnt out 25 miles ago that the trucker couldn’t possibly see but HEY! Here’s your fine!
3. On the topic of making profoundly less. Why? I’ll tell you why and if you don’t like it, that’s on you. Again, I did not create the situation, nor would I have. Two reasons. Corporate greed. Take automotive. Factory workers demand a big raise, better benefits..whatever. The employer never eats the cost. What they do do is phone up the trucking companies and demand lower rates. And here’s where I’m going to trigger alot of intellectually weak people. When they are told that rates cannot go any lower, the manufacturer looks for a company who has a better answer, which leads me to the final point.
4. Immigration. Ok, when you’re done the nonsense in your head, read on. It is blatantly obvious that the immigration process itself stinks of racism. How many Russians, Irish, etc. people have you seen in the past 10 years come into Canada? Exactly! It is grotesquely centralized on one country. These people are given over 6000 dollars per month!!! That’s published so don’t bother me about it, look it up yourself. I owe you nothing. On top of that money, our good buddy Doug Ford not only covers their living expenses entirely, but he encourages they enter the trucking world and if they do, the government (Us, the taxpayer) not only continue to provide a higher monthly income than most born and raised Canadians make, but he (we)pays the $10,000 trucking school tuition for them!!!
This problem then compounds very quickly. What you have now is a large number of people with very different views on professional responsibility than we have evolved in the west. You also have a large number of people who were promised the world if they came to Canada, only to realize the deception a too quickly. So, as money supply is threatened, they have little choice but trucking. Don’t kid yourself. Trucking takes a special mindset to succeed in it and if you think truckers are stupid, I dare you to debate one on any subject. Regardless, now you have a large number of people who are not mentally in the game due to necessity. That is dangerous and you know it because you see it every single day.
To further compound the issue of wages, this group of newcomers is helped handsomely in getting their own business going. This is a trap to them as well as every other driver out there.
Coming from less fortunate countries, the prospect of money here in Canada is misleading. All the million dollar homes going up everywhere…surely Canada is the place to be! For who? I’m going to tell you right now that there are not as many doctors and lawyers in this country as there are gigantic homes being built. That’s a whole other issue but it is part of the illusion. The newcomer sees the rates being charged and quickly offers substantially lower rates to manufacturers because let’s face it, the average annual income back home is just over $15,000 canadian dollars. They’re going to have a hayday with our industry, aren’t they?
Then reality strikes and they are shown that we really did know what we were doing. They fail. Their business fails. They’re in the hole for millions. Pride Group, Eldorado, Silverado are just a very few examples of what happens when you have a company full of employees that fit all of the aforementioned talking points.
Again, this is not racist, it is profiling. Racism lies in the halls of Ottawa. Point your finger where it belongs. These people were for unknown reasons, the chosen ones to come in huge numbers. They were lied to. Deceived. And led to failure. Now don’t get me wrong. I am by no means a sympathizer. We know the issues the ‘old stock’ faces as a direct result. I’m merely putting the blame where it belongs. Our public servants serving their own agendas rather than serving and protecting the real owners of the country, us! We have zero say yet they love to barf out the word democracy.
Law enforcement, as uncomfortable as it probably is, must look at the big picture, the underlying psychology that leads to the issues being faced as well as financial and supply restrictions the industry faces due to governmental incompetence. These are not excuses to run an unsafe truck. If it’s got a major defect, DON’T DRIVE IT!! When there’s too many rigs off the road and the shelves go bare, is that when you’ll start to think rather than flex your superiority?
That’s it. All of these issues are, when broken down to their most basic element, 100% caused by governmental behaviors. Both by action and inaction, they know exactly how to take money from us and give it to themselves and that’s all this is about. They don’t care who drives the truck just as they don’t care who squeezes the trigger overseas. Just do it.
These problems will continue to fester until such time that Canadians actually think and research who they are voting for. Look right now. The majority of 39 million people thought it was a good idea to vote a dysnumeric highschool teacher as the head of the country who just so happened to be the child of a man that paved the road to tyranny with such deceptive works as yhe Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Read section 32. It’s government rights. Not citizen rights!
Bottom line is although we must put blame where it belongs, no matter how uncomfortable or taboo it may be, in the end, it is our fault. This is our country, not the governments. There’s 338 of them…39 million of us. The debate is already over, yet we do nothing. Every problem we face is our fault collectively. But don’t worry…go get your 25 free spins!