It depends on the yard stick one is using... on any given day a truck can lose a head light, brake light, marker light especially in the winter, or depending on what one is hauling blow a air bag or two, maybe have to back off a brake pod with a ruptured diaphragm. Not all trucks have the luxury of a shop and on call mechanic 24/7, so often when these things happen in transit things are done to mitigate the problem until the truck gets back to its shop. I think trucks are built with a lot of redundancy in them for just these kinds of eventualities. It doesn't take much to be aware of an air leak and once the situation is being monitored appropriate decisions I have no doubt are always made as to when a vehicle is unsafe to go any further. Nobody wants to go down Peden Hill with insufficient brakes... least of all the guy driving the truck unless said driver is a complete imbecile.

That said there are many other things that make our roads unsafe for trucks that require lots of air to stop, much more so than trucks driving around with air leaks. The way the lights are encountered makes a huge impact on performance. A sudden red light at Parkridge Heights can start a chain reaction of heating up the brakes, followed by another red light at Westgate, followed by a flag person stopping traffic on a green light so dump trucks can cross... and the brakes are sufficiently hot to show possible smoke and potentially brake fad for the red light at the bottom of Peden Hill... even for a truck with perfectly legal brakes and load weight. The top of the hill up by Bon Voyage is the highest point around PG for 50 miles almost and goes right back down almost 5-10km to river level funneled through the start of the most sets of stop lights in all of Canada.

If a truck is using air it can always use a higher rpm to compensate till it gets back to a shop, but if its getting brake fade from too much heat there is nothing the driver can do about that other than to let it run a little more and hope you at least don't get every light red along the hill.

IMO Domano should have been an over pass, and so should Peden Hill if no industrial by-pass route is in the plans.

If one uses the engine brake that mitigates a lot of the brake issues, but then creates problems for others. Most drivers don't want the engine brake on all the way down Peden Hill unless they need it. In Vanderhoof its something like a $200 fine.

"I should point out that the driver wasn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer because he should have known the scales were not pulling northbound highway 97 traffic into the scales."

Unfortunately Ben there are more dull knives in the drawer than you realize.

Just ask any of the companies trying to find good quality drivers. They are getting harder to find.
But then quality cost money.

When there was a good living to be made in the industry there were a lot of divers. Companies could weed out the poor ones.
Now if the companies doing the weed out the poor ones the don't have many drivers left.

A random inspection recently in Vancouver showed that only 11 trucks out of 115 passed inspection.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/vancouver/Random+inspection+finds+trucks+disrepair/1933221/story.html

On the heavy truck issue, has anyone else noticed that there are still many trucks using 5th Ave-Carney street rather than North Nechako-Roundabout-New Bridge? I also have noticed many logging trucks using Foothills rather than Highway 97 and the weigh scale.

I followed a logging truck this morning. His route was Foothills, North Nechako, up onto Highway 97, left down 5th Ave.

Trucker are notorious for playing with the rules.
Their trucks are not maintained, they spend way too many hours at the wheel supported by double log books, they plan their routes around the scales whenever possible.

Of course this does not go for every truck driver. There a few that insist on doing the right thing.

Problem is the margins are so thin that by the time you pay your bills there is no money left over for repairs.

I call bull on that one t.
my neighbor is a trucker and he pulls down over $120k a year.
The trucking industry is booming just look out your window at the volume of heavy trucks on the road.

Then there is the matter of being in business. There is no way that a business person would take such risks without a significant return. Have you ever seen a truck company owners home, it's a mansion. Along with every toy desired.

The rail system in Canada is underutilized. We should not have as many trucks on the road as there are. Products should never be shipped across country on trucks, it should be by rail. They have the rail cars that accept trailer units and there are even truck trailer units designed for that purpose. Even a lot of inter municipal transport should be rail.

Now we have greyhound going down the tubes. A light rail system should have been implemented decades ago, similar to what the Japanese and Europeans have.

Wow Loki. You are living in a dream world. Most trucking companies these days are in rough shape due to the downturn. Your neighbour is the exception as most drivers these days are barely scraping by. I have been out of work for four months now and I am struggling to find work in the trucking industry.

As for rail being underutilized...well you have the companies to blame for that mess. Most companies today do not want to carry significant inventory. As a result they rely on 'just in time' delivery on both the raw materials and finished goods they produce. So trucks are really the only way to get the goods to the factories or retail outlets quickly. Rail just takes too long.

However that should never be an excuse to operate shoddy equipment. A good pre-trip on the truck and tractor would go a long ways in reducing most maintenance issues. Taking care of the problem when it is small rather than letting it blow up in your face is the best policy. Keeping your truck clean and in good shape will make scaling the truck a painless and very minor inconvenience.

Any trucking company I know about that has any financial issue just sends the older trucks or even the entire fleet to auction. Problem solved until they are able to invest in new equipment when they are able to get some new contracts.

It might be few independents that are not able to do that.

Trucking is a business like any other and one does not stay in business if there is no profit. So if the company is still in business, they are making some profit. It may not be in the obscene range, but it is enough to keep going. Plus they have the value of their fleet to borrow against or liquidate. Gee, I wish I could quit my job and sell my tools for more than a couple years wages.

Loki, you are right out to lunch. Your neighbour probably does pull in 120k per year, but I'll bet he doesn't even make 20k for his wages.
Most independent truckers are just hanging on by a thread. The problem is that many of them have their homes mortgaged for their business, which is why they can't just go bankrupt. Every account, every truck, every fuel card all has a personal guarantee attached, so that they are personally responsible.
And this is nothing new. The business has been in the tank for several years. The price of everything, trucks, parts, fuel, truck shop wages, have gone up so much that most truckers don't have enough in their pockets to buy a coffee.

I see the books of several truckers each year, and it's the exception to see one who is making decent wages for himself.

As far as accidents go, most of those involving cars and big rigs, are caused by the car drivers.

Loki sure is out to lunch, I'm still struggling to recover from the winter and scared for the winter ahead hoping I was able to get ahead enough during this summer to survive the winter ahead.

MrPG .........

Great example of not knowing what the hell your talking about. Your link to the Province, its about a targeted section of trucks, 1 ton to 5 ton, in other words small P&D vehicles as well as vehicles from the private sector which most 1 tons are. If your read your article they specifically state that these vehicles are not subject to CVIS inspections every 6 months which real trucks are (over 8200 GVW). These guys are allowed to fly by their pants, do what they want.

The really bad thing about this, idiots like Meisner spot stats such as 1 in 5 commercial vehicles fail safety inspections, and these spit checks fall into that and really skew the numbers. He goes after Logging Trucks, Gravel Trucks, Lowbeds in his rant, yet uses numbers which encompass every truck in every region in BC, which yes, include these 1 to 5 ton's who failed a miserable 90% of their inspections.

Now I ask you this, when the CVIS target a group like this, they do it province wide, those numbers all go into a pot, get mixed up and out comes Meisners 20% failue rate. If they wanted to post a true number, they would announce the amount for each class, not grouping everyone together.

Meisner, nice job of not letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

Let me ask you a few questions. This gravel truck you followed, where did it pick up its load? Which route was it instructed to take by its foreman? How were the accesses to where he was to dump his load? When he was empty which route did he use to return?

You paint a picture of truckers being lawbreakers and idiots on a sample section based only on part of one trip you followed. You know only a small part of the information this trucker was working with, yet you in your esteemed position of town crier can label him an idiot and a law breaker because you ASSUMED something. You know what they say about assuming things, and in this case it only makes an ass out of you.

As for you rant that with the CVIS now closed in the BCR site truckers are allowed to rampage freely causing all sorts of problems (yes, those are my words not yours, but your implying to the general public is obvious) have you taken into consideration the stepped up presence that CVI offers have taken in this area? Do you know that they have increased their roadside check by atleast 4 fold in this area? Are you aware that you virtually can not make a trip from the west to the south without meeting a CVIP vehicle? Because of the closure of the south CVIS that has opened up more man power for roadside inspections, meaning it is harder for truckers to break the law, not easier. Now the CVIP can set up a check point where you access the highway if your a logger, which they have done numerous times, to check every vehicle on your job, this was seldom done before.

You state that a truck can have "4 brake pads out of service and still pass the inspection." Did you know that a truck has 4 brake pads on one wheel? Did you know that if a truck gets inspected and one wheel is out of adjustment, just ONE where, that truck is parked, given a fine of $175.00 and is not allowed to move till the brake is fixed?

Twice last year my truck was fined for breaking a safety infraction, the 1st time was because my new mudflaps were installed 1 inch higher than allowed, the 2nd time because some of the reflective tape on the side of my trailer had come off after washing in the winter. Yes very serious infractions which put the general public in great danger, yet both infractions count in your 1 in 5 trucks are unsafe.

Meiser, you do a great job of yapping off without very many facts and very little research. I guess thats your job, try and get people riled up by skirting the facts and riling up the local public with an uneducated opinion. How much time did you spend researching before you painted one of the hardest working and hardest hit segments of our local workforce with your idiot comments? You give the media as good of a reputation as you try to paint that gravel tuck operator.

Loki ..............

Truly the opinion of the uneducated, your statements are so far off its laughable.

I quote "Trucking is a business like any other and one does not stay in business if there is no profit. So if the company is still in business, they are making some profit. It may not be in the obscene range, but it is enough to keep going. Plus they have the value of their fleet to borrow against or liquidate. Gee, I wish I could quit my job and sell my tools for more than a couple years wages."

Yeah, sell off your equipment of a couple years worth of wages. You have any idea of how far the resale value of trucks has fallen with the volitile movement movement if fuel and other costs? Do you realize that in order to sell you truck and make money on it you have to sell it for more than you owe on it? Do you have any idea why there are so many forclosures in this area?

People seem to think because you own a truck your rich, if that is the case why doesnt everybody own trucks? Why have so many fleets liquidated at Ritchie Bros. the past few years? Why are the repo lots full? Why havent companies like James Western Star sold a single logging truck in the past year?

Most truckers I know have taken a big hit in the past 3 years, most have refinanced, most have to work despite making little to no profit because they still have to make their payments. When you buy a truck you put your home on the line, if you dont make your payments, not only do they not take your truck, they take your home. When times get bad you have to refinance your home to carry your truck, you get father in debt till you have no choice but to turn wheels just to make you payments and work for no wages.

Yup, its a glorious time to be a trucker.

Let me ask you this question, why do you no longer see younger people buying their own trucks?

HabsFan, to respond about your question about truck routes and 5th and Carney, 1st the Carney Street Bridge and new road. Possibly the worst stretch of new road ever built for commercial traffic. It is horrible, it is to tight, the access off at 1st ave is a joke, it is a tire killer. Trucks have to rub their tires on the concrete and cause great damage.

As your your truck example, if that load came from Chief Lake area and was headed south, maybe Dunkleys, it is the most direct route. Getting off Carney Street Bridge is horrible while there is construction on River Road, and the construction through the BCR site if horrible for trucks, most try to avoid the area and take the extra distance to travel around.

Another thing for all you 4 wheelers to think about, signal lights are murder to trucks, they are expected to get 140,000 lbs of equipments moving after every red light, lifting off is the hardest thing there is on a truck on the highway, the more traffic lights you can avoid the better off your are. Trucks hit more red lights than any type of vehicle because their stopping distance is so much father they have to approach slower, going slower and not being able to accelerate very fast means you have to stop at more lights.

Prince George is laid out horrible for the trucking industry, so many stop lights, so many intersections no designed for trucks to negotiate the corners. Trucks constantly have to use 3-4 lanes of traffic to turn right or left, that gets 4 wheelers pissed off, yet it isnt the truckers fault, its the city planners.

Go to the west end of 1st ave one day, watch truckers try to negotiate the right hand turn to get onto River Road to access the new bridge, then wonder why they still use 5th ave.

I don’t often respond to Comments; that remains your venue to say what you like. However when someone suggests that my information is incorrect, that I didn’t do proper research, then it becomes a different matter.

The following information was taken from the Auditor General’s report to Government.

BC Auditor General George L. Morfitt report to the Government of BC.

Statistics were taken by for commercial vehicles 4500KG and over.

“We concluded that there are serious issues related to
The state of trucking safety in British Columbia. The severity
of accidents is increasing and, if inspected, about one in five
commercial vehicles would be taken out-of-service for a
range of defects, the most significant being faulty brakes.”
about 57% of those vehicles taken
out-of-service are because of brake related
problems, and about 31%
for lights, suspension, steering, and
tire problems (Exhibit 1.10). The
significance of these vehicle defect
rates are further corroborated by
evidence from a number of coroner
inquiries which attest to the fact
that brake-related problems played
a significant role in all of the 4
major commercial vehicle crashes
noted previously (Exhibit 1.7).
Thus we believe the branch needs
to achieve lower out-of-service rates
in order to meet its vision of “the
safest roads in North America.”
I said that 20% of the commercial Vehicles do not pass inspection, read what the Auditor General said. If you don’t believe the Auditor General “Stompin Tom” I suggest you take it up with his office.
In the meantime you might be well to remember what I was taught many years ago. “Make sure your mind is in gear before your mouth is”

Meisner,

Interesting, you verify the one fact in your column that I didnt dispute, yet you never answered any of my questions or points. You build a base of credibity off of one fact then go on about a bunch of unproven items to make your points about.

In that auditor generals report did they break it down by GVW? It is based on vehicles of 4500kg and over. Do you have any idea of what this is? A logging truck usually starts out at 50,000 kg, a gravel truck with no trailer is 26,300 kg.

You never addressed the points of where these stats become screwed. A 3/4 ton pickup can be insured for over 4500 kg, and every safety infraction incured by this segment of vehicles, 4500 - 17,000 kg fall into the commercial vehicle category although none are required to submit to the vigerous safety programs that vehicles over 17,000 kg have to adhere to. What really skews these stats is those vehicles, up to 17000 kg seldom get pulled over unless either CVIP or police notice a problem, therefore their percentage of safety issues compared to inspections is horrendous.

As you know stats can be skewed to make any argument you want, you used a broad stroke stat to try and make a point about heavy trucks. That is wrong. You make assumptions about the gravel truck you supposedly followed even though you had only a very limited part of the picture, but you feel so good about yourself that you feel you should question the intelligence of that driver. That should make many question the intelligence of the person making the assumption.

Let me ask you one question, and in my opinion it is the most important question:

As has been stated on here by other comments there is a huge amount of commercial traffic on the roads in our region. HOW MANY TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS ARE INCURRED OR CAUSED BY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC HERE?

If the true numbers could be found I am confident that the percentage of vehicle mishaps in our region involving commercial traffic is significantly less than the amount of mishaps involving personal vehicles. If the numbers could be stated on a prorated basis I am VERY confident that the commercial drivers in this region would look outstanding. I for one can not remember the last time a commercial vehicle was involved in an accident on our public roads.

The problem is when one commercial vehicle has an incident it is reported endlessly, yet there are multiple incidents with personal vehicles every day that go unnoticed because we have become so accustomed to it. I spend as much time reacting to private vehicles cutting me off, pulling in front of me on the roads, passing in unsafe situations, pulling into my stopping zone at traffic lights than I do driving my own vehicle. How many times have you seen a private vehicle pull infront of a truck as the truck is slowing at a traffic light? That caused the driver to use even more brake, creating more brake fade and making an incident more probable.

You started off your rant with a comment about how "Enforcement officers and truckers a like are quietly saying that it is not if there will be a serious crash involving a heavy truck in Prince George on Peden Hill along highway 16, but when." But you never said why, you point your brilliant observations towards the commercial vehicles placing blame towards them, but did you ever consider it may have more to do with the design of our roads? Who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to put a set of lights at the bottom of a steep hill (range road), 4 sets of light going down the longest hill in the region, the 3rd set coming down being the most dangerous intersection in the region, and then to top it off they deciede that it should be illegal to use jake brakes in this region? HOW COMPLETELY STUPID IS THAT? Because of horrendusly poor foresight now that stretch of road is a potential death trap, but why? Truck safety or poor road design? Why spend 9 million revamping the Damano intersection when we all know an overpass is the proper solution. To many polititions listening to the whiners and to few willing to stand up and do whats right.

Frankly in my opinion the Prince George region has an excellent record when it comes to commercial vehicle incidents and this because of an excellent job done by CVIP officers and commercial drivers.

Meisner,

Interesting, you verify the one fact in your column that I didnt dispute, yet you never answered any of my questions or points. You build a base of credibity off of one fact then go on about a bunch of unproven items to make your points about.

In that auditor generals report did they break it down by GVW? It is based on vehicles of 4500kg and over. Do you have any idea of what this is? A logging truck usually starts out at 50,000 kg, a gravel truck with no trailer is 26,300 kg.

You never addressed the points of where these stats become screwed. A 3/4 ton pickup can be insured for over 4500 kg, and every safety infraction incured by this segment of vehicles, 4500 - 17,000 kg fall into the commercial vehicle category although none are required to submit to the vigerous safety programs that vehicles over 17,000 kg have to adhere to. What really skews these stats is those vehicles, up to 17000 kg seldom get pulled over unless either CVIP or police notice a problem, therefore their percentage of safety issues compared to inspections is horrendous.

As you know stats can be skewed to make any argument you want, you used a broad stroke stat to try and make a point about heavy trucks. That is wrong. You make assumptions about the gravel truck you supposedly followed even though you had only a very limited part of the picture, but you feel so good about yourself that you feel you should question the intelligence of that driver. That should make many question the intelligence of the person making the assumption.

Let me ask you one question, and in my opinion it is the most important question:

As has been stated on here by other comments there is a huge amount of commercial traffic on the roads in our region. HOW MANY TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS ARE INCURRED OR CAUSED BY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC HERE?

If the true numbers could be found I am confident that the percentage of vehicle mishaps in our region involving commercial traffic is significantly less than the amount of mishaps involving personal vehicles. If the numbers could be stated on a prorated basis I am VERY confident that the commercial drivers in this region would look outstanding. I for one can not remember the last time a commercial vehicle was involved in an accident on our public roads.

The problem is when one commercial vehicle has an incident it is reported endlessly, yet there are multiple incidents with personal vehicles every day that go unnoticed because we have become so accustomed to it. I spend as much time reacting to private vehicles cutting me off, pulling in front of me on the roads, passing in unsafe situations, pulling into my stopping zone at traffic lights than I do driving my own vehicle. How many times have you seen a private vehicle pull infront of a truck as the truck is slowing at a traffic light? That caused the driver to use even more brake, creating more brake fade and making an incident more probable.

You started off your rant with a comment about how "Enforcement officers and truckers a like are quietly saying that it is not if there will be a serious crash involving a heavy truck in Prince George on Peden Hill along highway 16, but when." But you never said why, you point your brilliant observations towards the commercial vehicles placing blame towards them, but did you ever consider it may have more to do with the design of our roads? Who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to put a set of lights at the bottom of a steep hill (range road), 4 sets of light going down the longest hill in the region, the 3rd set coming down being the most dangerous intersection in the region, and then to top it off they deciede that it should be illegal to use jake brakes in this region? HOW COMPLETELY STUPID IS THAT? Because of horrendusly poor foresight now that stretch of road is a potential death trap, but why? Truck safety or poor road design? Why spend 9 million revamping the Damano intersection when we all know an overpass is the proper solution. To many polititions listening to the whiners and to few willing to stand up and do whats right.

Frankly in my opinion the Prince George region has an excellent record when it comes to commercial vehicle incidents and this because of an excellent job done by CVIP officers and commercial drivers.

One more question, you accuse truckers of abusing the fact that the south CVIS is no longer service so they can disregard maintenance and break the laws of the road. Did you bother to check with the CVIS officers themselves? Did you check to see what they were doing because of the changes? Did you ask if they stepped up patrols, did you ask if they had more roadside checks than in the past?


Somehow I doubt it because as I stated before, no sense letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

Any good trucker knows that for every dollar you spend on maintenance you save countless money on future breakdowns and lost time. We dont maintain our trucks because we are told to, we do it because we know that is how you stay operating.

Stompin Tom for President.. He knows everything.. well at least he thinks he does.
How do you get rid of him.. hit delete

I would like to believe that the truckers would rather drive a safe truck, than one which has safety problems, simply because their lives are on the line all day, every day.

If the rates were where they should be, they could all go home after an 8 hr. shift, and still be able to do extra work to the trucks.

The problem with truckers, is that it's such a cutthroat industry. Everyone has payments and bills, and will work for less just to make them. And once they're into it, it's nearly impossible to get out. Thank goodness so many of the wives have steady employment to subsidize the trucker husband.

billm


atleast you have something constructive to add to this, good to see your part of the solution. An opinion you dont agree with, no problem, look the other way, or better yet bury it.

Let me guess, your part of the team who designed the transportation routes in the city?

Stompin Tom gives some clarity to the situation. Trucking, safety inspections, scales, permits, dimensional loads, erratic and unpredictable passenger vehicle drivers, etc; etc; etc; all contribute to the problems.

The word stupid applies to a lot of Goverment and Municipal people who design the roads, bridges,etc; I suspect that how the roads effect large trucks is rarely a consideration.

The building of the New Cameron St.bridge is a case in point. Bad enough about the access off of 1st Avenue, however they have also put in stop signs for traffic heading West off river road to access either 1st Ave. or Carney St., This means that trucks have to stop and then get going again **Up Hill**. In the winter time trucks will get stuck and there will be problems.

In addition in their wisdom they have put in a round about on the North side of the bridge that effectively slows traffic to a crawl, and in the winter time will cause all kinds of problems, especially for loaded trucks going West on Pulp Mill road to access 97 South or North, or across the bridge to 1st Avenue. Not too many problems right now, but I beleive this will change come winter.

The only thing that may save this bridge from being a complete disaster is the fact that it is getting very little use.
Certainly not the 8000 vehicles per day stated by the City, and it certainly will not rise to 14000 vehicles per day as predicted by the City.

I have hauled logs for 25 years in the central interior, many of the problems with the trucking industry stem from experts who have never shifted a gear.

Many of these so called experts are in positions that can and do make change, unfortunatly these experts have the same attitude towards truckers as the original author, and that is that truckers are all dull knives.
Therefore consulting a guy who drives a truck is viewed as a waste of the so called experts time.

Stompin Tom, is an example of what we all should be happy about, and that is we can all sleep at nite knowing that there are truckers out there that have thier shit together.