VICTORIA — After saying last year he was "very open" to provincial "truck jails," B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon is now backtracking from the idea of impounding unsafe vehicles for a minimum of 30 days.

According to the Vancouver Province, a truck safety report puts a wet blanket on the proposal, concluding, as Falcon says, "that it isn’t a great idea."

Even though it was involved in the report, the B.C. Trucking Association regrets that the idea has cooled. Spokeswoman Louise Yako says a 30-day impoundment for the worst offenders "actually means something."

Falcon said the problem of incompliant and unsafe trucks is decreasing. Targeted enforcement checks show falling failure rates in West Vancouver (52 per cent failed in early 2008, compared to 34 per cent later in the year) and Delta (41 per cent vs. 35 per cent). They have held steady in Surrey at about 26 per cent, states the newspaper.

"The statistical trend is in the right direction," said Falcon.