Skip to content

Opinion: This is the sad, pathetic results of the Burnaby truck blitz

A team of Burnaby RCMP traffic officers and other law-enforcement agencies finished day three of a four-day joint initiative Thursday aimed at commercial trucks on Burnaby roads.
truck blitz
Police and inspectors were out in force on Thursday on Boundary Road between Rumble and Imperial on Thursday in Burnaby. New Westminster Police photo

A team of Burnaby RCMP traffic officers and other law-enforcement agencies finished day three of a four-day joint initiative Thursday aimed at commercial trucks on Burnaby roads.

Teams of officers and inspectors were out at multiple locations in Burnaby and the third day was as depressing as the first two.

A total of 65 commercial trucks were inspected, with a staggering 16 of them deemed “unsafe to continue and removed from the roadway,” according to the Burnaby RCMP.

From those 65 vehicles, 55 violation tickets were issued and 51 mechanical defects were found.

This just provided a final sad punctuation mark on the state of the commercial trucking industry.

One day two of the blitz, 36 commercial vehicles were inspected and 11 of them were identified as being unsafe to continue and removed from the roadway, according to Burnaby RCMP. Police issued 33 violation tickets and inspectors identified 36 mechanical defects.

This followed the first day of inspections on Gaglardi Way. Out of 47 trucks inspected, 40 received violation tickets, said police, and 20 were deemed “unsafe” to continue on local roadways due to various mechanical issues or problems with unsecured loads that couldn’t be immediately rectified.

burnaby commercial vehicles trucks
A safety inspector (left) speaks with a commercial truck driver on Tuesday on Gaglardi Way in Burnaby during the first day of inspections. Chris Campbell photo

A total of 149 mechanical defects were detected by inspectors, said police.

Police said vehicles carrying hazardous loads are targeted by the RCMP during these inspections. Seven of the trucks inspected on Tuesday received dangerous goods violation tickets of $575 each. Out of those seven, he said, two had hazardous loads that were not secured in the vehicle.

So, there you go. A whole truckload (pun intended) of commercial vehicles showed just how bad things are in this industry.

We deserve safe vehicles on our roadways. It’s time the industry and all levels of government do more to educate drivers and companies about the value of safety.

I mean, don’t these drivers want to protect their own lives by driving safe vehicles?

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.