Commercial enforcement professionals come together for Western Canada Out-of-Service trends webinar

December 9, 2021

Commercial enforcement professionals from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba gathered via webinar Dec. 7 for a Western Canada Commercial Vehicle Out-of-Service (OOO) Trends webinar.

Presented by Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC), Energy Safety Canada and the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA), the event saw more than 100 attendees come together to listen to updates from the four western provinces as well as Kerri Wirachowsky, Director of Roadside Inspection Programs, CVSA.

Wirachowsky kicked things off sharing more about what CVSA is stating the association is not a government agency and every province, state and territory of Canada, the US and Mexico is a member.

“Our main goal is to ensure inspections are done uniformly and reciprocity of information is given to all three countries – Canada, united states and Mexico,” she said.

Among other things, CVSA does roadside CMV inspector certification, North American Standard (NAS) inspection, NAS training program, CVSA decal program, NAS OOO criteria, NAS inspection levels, and outreach and education.

Included in that education piece is a two-part Industry Roadside Inspection Course taking place at AMTA Rocky View Jan. 10-14, 2022 with Part B taking place in March.

Following Wirachowsky, commercial enforcement professionals from Western Canada shared OOO trends starting with Sgt. Brian Davyduke of the Alberta Sheriffs.

Davyduke explained the top five OOO defects from 2016-2020 were cargo securement, brake systems, tires, lighting, and hours of service.

Davyduke added hiring more officers is a priority in their branch to ensure they have the resources to effectively monitor industry.

Following Davyduke was Acting Sgt. Matthew Austin with the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol.

Austin said in 2020, Saskatchewan enforcement did just over 5,000 inspections, 27.6 per cent of which were OOO.

“We know from past experience tires, brakes, cargo securement are within the top five and our officers do find regular issues with these items,” he added.

Sgt. Kyle Watson, Manitoba Motor Carrier Enforcement followed Austin. He said the top five OOO violations in 2020 were brakes, load securement, lighting, tires and dangerous goods.

Richard Roberts, Deputy Director, Commercial Vehicle Safety & Enforcement in British Columbia said his province’s OOO violation statistics were similar to Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, adding the province has a Focus Inspection Team (FIT), that will set days to focus on certain OOO items, while still watching for all potential violations.

Roberts touched on the floods currently affecting BC with some advice for carriers.

“Any carriers on the call our current situation here, you’re well aware of the highway closures,” he said. “[We] encourage drivers to avail the requirements and speed limits, we are heavily focusing on highway routes with closures.”

Roberts focused on Highway 3, the current main provincial in and out of the lower mainland right now, and as well as advising vehicles keep their speeds down, that commercial drivers ensure they are prepared with tire chains for mountain roadways.

For details on CVSA and its course offerings, visit cvsa.org.