The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

John White: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Posted By John White: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF On 2024-01-15 14:51:38

Once again, the trucking industry has outdone itself with solid community support for those less fortunate at this time of year. Every year, truck drivers and companies step up to the plate with everything from toy runs to food banks and lighted Christmas Parades. Yes, it is a lot of work decorating trucks for a parade, but the looks of wonder in the eyes of the children lining the streets is amazing. But I’m not sure who gets the most out of the parades because I’ve yet to see a driver who didn’t have a huge smile on their face while driving in a parade.

Others do their best to cater to truckers whose jobs have taken them away from home at Christmas. Thankfully, places like Blackjacks Roadhouse in Nisku generously open their doors and give them a home away from home. Once again, Clarence, his daughter Krista and their great staff and volunteers at BlackJacks hosted a free full turkey dinner for truckers. Other than pulling into your driveway at Christmas, I can’t imagine anything more comforting than pulling into BlackJacks and being treated like family.

My January Rant: BC is finally getting tougher on drivers and companies who hit overpasses. There were 16 overpass crashes in the greater Vancouver area last year and 31 since 2021. Chohan Freight Forwarders was named in six of those crashes. You read that right. Out of 32 crashes, one company was responsible for 6 of them! And the government has just now decided to suspend their Safety Certificate? What is wrong with this picture?

It sadly reminds me of the Humboldt tragedy, where sixteen people were killed and thirteen injured before provincial governments finally decided to put a band-aid on the problem with the inefficient MELT programs. Altogether, too little, too late.

Who is keeping track of the repetitive problems? Why does it always have to come after public pressure wakes the government up? It seems that votes, not safety, are their primary concern.

BC will also require heavy commercial vehicles to have their speed-limiting systems activated and programmed by April 5, 2024. This will limit their speed to 105 km/h. The fine for non-compliance and tampering is $295 and three driver penalty points. But so far, there has been no confirmation that company drivers, who have no control over the trucks, will excluded from receiving penalty points. “Drive it, or you’re fired!” has always been the threat from fly-by-night outfits who do not comply with the regulations.

Also, dump-style vehicles must have in-cab warning devices by June 1, 2024, to alert the driver if the dump box is raised. Hopefully, they will be in plain sight, not down by the PTO where one now exists. This has to be one of the most straightforward and inexpensive safety devices to install, so why is this just becoming mandatory in 2024? It has been a problem for years.
 
This comes down to the age-old problem of each provincial government having its own highly staffed transportation ministry with different rules and regulations for each province. Their little kingdoms are an expensive waste of tax payer’s money. Transportation laws, regulations and driver training should be the same across Canada and fall under the National Transportation Ministry.


Previous Blogs

Bella Coola by Glen Mallard

Hole in One by Dave Madill

On The Wrong Road by John Maywood

Wildlife by Colin Black

On the Road Again by Myrna Chartrand...

Cooking Class by Scott Casey

Know Your Limits by Ed Murdoch...

2020 Vision by Greg Evasiuk...

Jokes

With 35 years of combined publishing experience, you will see this unique and much improved trucking magazine called Pro Trucker Driver's Choice Magazine

Getting Started

Lawful Torture

Little Star

It's Now Or Never

Winter Blues

Sheep

The First Time

Let's Block the Road!

In the Face of History

Human Trafficing

Nature’s Child

Distracted Driving

WE EXIST TO ASSIST

The Virus

"What do you look forward to?"

“Fuel Tanks”

You want me to go where?

From Zero to Hero to Zero

ELD’s and Speed Limiters – Are They Really Safe?

The Dream (July 2005)

The Lonesome Camaraderie of the Transportation Industry

Strange Times

Lockdown Toilets

Life goes on

The Czech Invasion.

A Steep Learning Curve

Fools Casting Calls

We Are All In This Together

How to get Time Off

A New Year

Added Benefits of Trucking

An ill Wind

Loving the Road

Insecure Loads

Memories

All Things Shiny and New

B-Trains

The Good Ol’ Days

Cold Trip

Brexit

A Moment’s Distraction

Have or Have not

Music and Me

Travels With Ringo

Distracted Driver

Changes

ELDs, Roads and Covid

Female of The Species

The Switch

Flood of 60

Crimes Against Humanity

Training Hours

In the Truck’s Clutches

Attitude & Altitude

Wide Open Spaces (and closed in places)

Trucking is a Trade

A night to remember

Loading Heavy Equipment

CLIMATE CHANGE & TRUCKING

Truck Routes

Then and Now

Attitude & Altitude

A Girl Just Wants to Have Fun…

The Weekend!

Unity

How I Write

In The Beginning Part 3

Tires and Unions

Stay Safe

My Rant…

Isolation

I learned a New Trick

It ain’t the years - it’s the miles.

It’s Time, Gentlemen, Time

Coincidences

The Brain

Blind Man's Buff

Editor's Note

The Flitting

Eastbound

What I Did This Summer

Pictures

Adventure

Show Ready

Trolls

Big Rig Weekends

Love and Trucking

Books and Covers

Like a Boss

It's a Wonderful World

Common Sense By Glen “The duck” Millard

Dad meets a “Bear.”

All Experience isn’t Good Experience…

The Weather Outside is Frightful…

Common Sense

Bad Breaks and Good Luck

Driving Through My Memories for January/February 2023

Service???

Time to Reset!

Halcyon Days of Trucking

All Experience…

The Piggy Bus Encounter

Sports and Life Lessons

Winter Storms

Humboldt Tragedy_MELT program

Driving Through My Memories

On The Road Again

Wait Over Weight

I Write

Elliot Lake

The Good (?) Old Trucks

Canadian and Proud of it

Six Cans for Buffalo Joe

Monkeys and Peanuts

Safety First

30? 60? 90? Late Pay

Nothing New

Technology

Has anything changed?

Holidays - Then Back To The Grind.

Old Trucker Troubles

Loose Moose

Some of the Trucks I've Seen

The Last Ride

Cold Load Home

Make it a Holiday

Winter Wonderland Trucking

Thinning the Herd

Just Be There…

And to All, a Good Night!

Dumb and Dumber

Helping Out in a Clutch

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

Driver Retention Matters_ New Volvo VNL

Consistency

Tires and Trouble

Idle time

Dinner on the Road

Load Security

Tourist Trucking

The Last Ride