The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has suspended another carrier after one of its trucks struck the roof of the Massey Tunnel in the Greater Vancouver Area on Jan. 10.
“Following the incident on Jan. 10 of a commercial vehicle impacting the Massey Tunnel, our investigation determined the company responsible is T S D Holdings Ltd., and the company was served an immediate suspension. We have grounded all 20 vehicles in their fleet, and they will stay grounded until the investigation is complete,” the ministry said in a statement emailed to TruckNews.com.
The latest incident in the province comes after 17 overpass strikes in the past year and 31 since December 2021. The sheer number of incidents has triggered a Twitter account that tracks the number of days since the last overheight vehicle hit a Metro Vancouver overpass.
It has been 0 days and 22 hours since the last overheight vehicle hit a Metro Vancouver Overpass.
Previous Record – 8 Days.
Longest Record – 79 Days.
BONUS: It has been 14 days 7 hours since Chohan Carriers last hit a Metro Vancouver Overpass. pic.twitter.com/OqXyq3FZst
— Metro Vancouver Overpass Impact Counter (@MVOverpassDWI) January 12, 2024
B.C. recently suspended the National Safety Code certificate of Chohan Freight Forwarders, grounding its fleet of 65 commercial vehicles in the province after one of its trucks crashed into an overpass on Highway 99 last month. The company is part of a group that also has a fleet in Alberta and those vehicles continue to haul freight in B.C.
RCMP working to identify driver
Richmond RCMP is investigating the latest incident in the tunnel that links Richmond to Delta and working to identify the driver.
It said in a statement that officers reviewed dashcam footage from a witness who was driving directly behind the truck when the incident happened around 8:10 p.m. The truck initially came to a stop inside of the tunnel but continued driving through.
It has been alleged that after the truck exited the tunnel, the driver pulled over and possibly spoke with an employee from a road maintenance contractor, however, this person has yet to be identified, RCMP said.
The ministry said the latest suspension “sends a strong message to drivers and carriers that there is no excuse for these crashes, and we are taking every incident seriously. It has never been easier to follow a route to guide the load to travel safely through our highway system and avoid the potential for impact with infrastructure.”
Earlier this month, Rob Fleming, B.C.’s transportation and infrastructure minister wrote a letter to Pablo Rodriguez, Canada’s minister of transport, asking the federal government to reduce the gaps in the current system that allow extra-provincial carriers to lawfully avoid enforcement consequences when operating commercial vehicles unsafely across Canada.
