LANGLEY, (Feb. 25, 2005) — The B.C. Trucking Association wants B.C. Ferries to deal with several concerns expressed by the province’s carriers recently.

The BCTA’ says the main problem involved breakdowns and re-fits arising in other areas of the ferry system which are typically resolved by re-deploying the Duke Point-Tsawwassen ferries (the Alberni) to other routes and replacing that equipment with slower ferries with less overheight capacity.

When this happens, BCTA says, carriers’ schedules are disrupted and each truck can lose as much as half a day in productivity. Furthermore, drivers can run out of hours in the U.S. due to new hours of service regulations that do not recognize ferry delays.

In response, BC Ferries says redeployment of the Alberni was the result of delays in training the Langdale crew used on other ferries that could have otherwise been re-deployed to the Langdale route instead of the Alberni. The company also explained that not all ferries are interchangeable with all routes because there is a need to ensure that the ferries are compatible with the docking equipment.

However, company representatives did not disagree with any of the assertions made by the carriers, many of whom also expressed concern about preferential treatment being given to cars and other light vehicles at Tsawwassen. They say some trucks are sometimes loaded onto the lower deck (overheight space) thus leaving the trucks waiting at the terminal for the next ferry. The ferry service representatives thought that this might be due to the ramp configurations used, but agreed to look into the matter.

Meanwhile, because of the inconvenience of the ferry re-deployment, BC Ferries said it will be offering a discount to all commercial customers of $1.90 per foot instead of $3.85 per foot from Feb. 28 through March 3, inclusive on all sailings between Tsawwassen-Duke Point, Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay and Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay routes.

This is the first discount of its type that the ferry service has offered commercial customers, BCTA says.