Truckers call for improvements to B.C. highways after series of overpass collisions

The B.C. Trucking Association says that while driver error is often a significant factor when commercial trucks hit overpasses, the province needs to do more to improve highway infrastructure and share what it knows about overpass collisions.

Dave Earle, CEO of the B.C. Trucking Association, says his group is working with the province to improve infrastructure for commercial drivers and would like to see the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure publicly share findings about incidents.

"Without getting more information about what the ministry is learning, that's going to be really hard for us to work cooperatively to figure out what we can do to improve things," Earle said.

"We just don't know enough about when [the collisions] happen and what's causing them."

Since last month, there have been three incidents where commercial trucks carrying oversized loads have hit overpasses along B.C. highways, Earle said.

In early June, a truck collided with the Cambie Road overpass in Richmond, causing part of Highway 99 to shut down. A couple of weeks later, a dump truck towing an excavator slammed into the 232nd overpass on Highway 1 in Langley. And last week, a flatbed truck hauling an excavator caused significant damage to the 192nd overpass on Highway 1 in Surrey, sending two people to hospital.

The province says in the past 12 months there have been at least seven incidents of trucks carrying over-height loads striking overhead bridges.

Jim Weber is a heavy-haul truck driver who says infrastructure in B.C. can be very challenging when transporting oversized cargo such as machinery, farming equipment and construction materials.

"B.C. has a lot of old infrastructure, a lot of low overpasses, and roundabouts ... they've even put roundabouts on the main highways," he said.

The province says all new infrastructure will be built at least five metres in height to alleviate some of the obstacles facing commercial truck drivers.

Earle says there could be multiple reasons why commercial trucks have been hitting overpasses.

"It can be people taking shortcuts. It can be people making honest errors in measurement. Sometimes it's companies and drivers just not thinking that they have an oversized load and knowing what those issues are. And that's where education and outreach has to come in," he said.

The province says to increase transparency and accountability, new measures will be introduced in the coming weeks, including a published list of "B.C. carriers who have been cancelled for cause … this includes serious safety violations."

Earle says the aim of the public reports wouldn't be to find blame, but rather to prevent similar collisions in future.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/trucking-association-overpass-collisions-1.6523507

Or they could, you know, READ THE SIGNS OF HOW HOW OVERPASSES ARE SO THEY DONT HIT THEM.

OR EVEN MAKE SURE THE BOOM IS LOWERED ON THE LOAD THEY ARE CARRYING.

Thousands of big rigs travel in BC every day without incident, but a few illiterates hit some overpasses because they can't read and then the calls come for improved infrastructure. SMH

   

"Oversized loads"... well there's your problem.

   

There are Reddit subgroups dedicated to certain bridges that are 11' 6" (etc.) that 12' trucks will try to deliver go under. It happens so often, they got their own subreddits.

   

I can understand how challenging it must be to plan a route when transporting large loads, taking into consideration the limits to height of some overpasses, but there sure has been an increase to the number of occurrences.

Any measures that can be taken to avoid these collisions should be explored.

   

It seems to be a problem everywhere

https://beta.ctvnews.ca/local/kitchener ... 2.amp.html

   

Truckers also rely on GPS apps too much. There is a very old bridge here that has a very limited height. But it's not just the height, but the length too. The entrance and exit on the bridge are on hills, and the exit has an 'S' turn to it that also restricts the length of the vehicle, because the front and back will be at different heights on exit. It'll take a city bus, or a 5 ton truck, but not a semi trailer the same height as the 5 ton.

So, despite the huge signs and flashing lights telling driver they cannot make the bridge restrictions, almost every couple days some trucker will have to do the 'reverse of shame' backing their trailer off the bridge, to the massive curses of people in traffic.

GPS doesn't have this sort of information.

   

Wind turbines for Alberta & Northern BC were being delivered from Prince Rupert through Prince George to their destination along Hwy 16 as there's no tunnels. They'd run in the middle of the night as they take up both lanes on sharp curves.
We'd see them parked in a field outside this noname gas station/cafe near Vanderhoof waiting for nightfall to resume their journey.

Search 11 ft 8 on Youtube for endless videos of truck roofs torn off.

   

That's one of the Bridges with their own subreddit I mentioned.

   

Well it's fantastic to see what genuine truckers protest about!