VICTORIA — A four-point plan to improve the safety of commercial vehicles has been tabled in the B.C. government.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Kevin Falcon tabled the plan and worked with members of the provincial trucking industry to develop the strategy.

“Sensational headlines about poorly maintained trucks with unadjusted brakes unfairly tarnish the reputations of the vast majority of trucking companies that invest in proper vehicle maintenance because they take public and employee safety seriously,” said B.C. Trucking Association president Paul Landry. “This new initiative means that responsible trucking companies will be rewarded and scarce enforcement resources will be strategically focused on the small minority of the careless and unscrupulous companies that are unfortunately a part of every industry.”

The four points of the plan are:

– Implement a Premium Carrier Program where privileges are given to carriers that follow best practices.
– Ensure enforcement activities target shippers who overload or improperly load vehicles.
– Remove vehicles with critical defects from the road by seizing their license plates for up to 30 days.
– Enhance the auditing program for the facilities in the Commercial Vehicle Inspection Program.

“We are taking the next step to make our roads, and the commercial vehicles that travel on them, safer for all motorists,” said Falcon. “This plan will not only allow us to take unsafe trucks off the road by focusing our enforcement resources on them but we will also work with shippers, carriers and inspection facilities to make sure that fewer unsafe trucks make their way onto our highways in the future.”

To promote continuous improvement, the Truck Compliance Advisory Panel was formed in 2008 by the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

It was comprised of senior representatives from the ministry, the BCTA and Teamsters Union. The panel examined out of service rates, safety inspection and enforcement practices in B.C. and other jurisdictions across North America.

According to the panel’s report, findings show that OOS rates in B.C. conform closely to national values. At times, higher rates have been reported; however, the variances are generally related to focused enforcement campaigns, where inspections are conducted only on those vehicles exhibiting conditions that inspectors feel should be examined more closely.

“The Teamsters Union is in full support of this report and it is the first time that the Trucking Industry and the Union has unanimously endorsed such a report,” said Teamsters Union secretary-treasurer Don McGill. “We feel like this is a critical step in the right direction towards safer highways.”