Motorists on major Northern routes like highways 11 and 17 shouldn’t be shocked that they’re routinely sharing the road with defective transport trucks often piloted by drivers who have been poorly trained, says a main trucking advocacy organization.
“It doesn’t surprise us, because it’s been going on for a decade now,” Ontario Trucking Association spokesman Marco Beghetto said on Friday.
Beghetto was reacting to the latest OPP news release about a transport truck being stopped on a Northern Ontario highway and found with glaring safety issues, including faulty brakes.
On Thursday, police on patrol on Highway 11 near North Bay “escorted” one such truck to a Ministry of Transportation inspection after it was observed driving at inconsistent speeds and unable to stay in one lane.
A MTO “inspection revealed numerous hours-of-service violations, as well as significant safety defects affecting the vehicle involving its braking system, as well as loose wheel fasteners,” an OPP news release said.
While the trucking association applauds recent efforts by the province to step up highway enforcement and increase the number of truck inspection stations that are open around-the-clock — including at a new Highway 11-17 facility in Shuniah — it says more inspections should be occurring where trucking companies maintain their headquarters.
“The emphasis has to be on employers, because non-compliance (of truck-safety regulations) is a massive issue,” Beghetto said.
Beghetto said he often has to “correct” the notion that offending trucking operators are merely “fly-by-night” companies.
He said groups who operate unsafe trucks have for several years made a “business model” of using shoddy equipment to cut costs, and drivers who are poorly paid and poorly trained.
“These are large, sophisticated organizations,” said Beghetto, adding that some may be linked to organized crime. “At the end of the day, they are putting untrained drivers and unsafe equipment on the road.”
On Oct. 11, OPP officers charged a 44-year-old Edmonton trucker who had made a trip between Kenora and North Bay while allegedly committing several driving-related violations. Those included continuing to drive after 14 hours of being on duty, failing to accurately complete a daily inspection report and failing to enter a defect in an inspection report, police said.
The driver’s truck was also pulled off the road for lacking a required speed-limiting device, police said. Police had earlier stopped it for speeding.
NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay-Superior North) has said truckers have told her confidentially that they’ll be fired if they refuse to stop driving, even if they have exceeded the maximum allowable hours for a single work day.
Operating a trucking business on a shoe-string in order to offer shippers a cheap deal has become more prevalent as the economy has gotten tougher, Beghetto said.
The stiff competition, he added, has made it difficult for legitimate trucking companies “that want to do the right thing” remain in the business.
