Port puts unsafe, polluting container haulers ‘on notice’
VANCOUVER — Lower Mainland can haulers will be subject to more rigorous and demanding container truck safety and environmental standards, the Vancouver Port Authority (VPA) announced today.
By July 2007, licensed container truckers that work the port will undergo tougher inspections and have their equipment further scrutinized for maintenance, safety, and environmental compliance.
“Recent safety inspection results confirm the container trucking industry in the Lower Mainland needs to take a serious look at how it manages safety standards,” said Chris Badger, VPA vice-president of Customer Development & Operations.
out for inspection failed safety standards.
During a recent three-day safety inspection conducted by Delta Police and the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, 250 container trucks were singled out for inspection and 114 failed safety standards.
“These results are unacceptable to the port authority, to the communities in which we operate, and to the trucking industry as a whole,” said Badger. “The VPA is putting the operators of unsafe container trucks on notice here: substandard equipment will not be allowed on port property.”
In January 2007, the VPA implemented a new trucking policy that introduced new and more rigorous licensing, audit and enforcement provisions that apply to container trucks and container truck operations at the Port of Vancouver.
“Our container trucking license agreement currently requires that licensees comply with existing environmental and safety laws, regulations and
standards,” said Badger. “But we want to go beyond that. We want our licensees to exceed existing standards.”
In addition to enhancing its container truck licensing system, the VPA will continue to work with the British Columbia Trucking Association (BCTA), the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement unit and ICBC’s AirCare On Road (ACOR) program to raise safety and environmental standards and awareness in the trucking sector.
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