The driver of a truck carrying an overheight load that collided with a North Vancouver overpass on Friday was not properly permitted for the roads in B.C., according to the Ministry of Transportation and Transit.
The RCMP’s BC Highway Patrol was alerted to the crash on Highway 1 at the Main Street/Dollarton Highway overpass around 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 28.
The province’s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement agency ticketed the driver $598 for having falsified driving logs and $311 for working more than the permitted hours for a shift, according to a statement from the ministry. CVSE investigators pulled the driver off the road for 72 hours.
But more serious penalties may be coming after the operator has appeared in court for failing to obtain an overheight permit, the statement read.
The truck belongs to Alberta-based Manmarziyaan Transport Inc, the ministry says.
Since the province began cracking down on trucking companies responsible for collisions with overpasses and bridges, it has become standard to ground the company’s entire fleet while the investigation is carried out. But CVSE doesn’t have the authority to ground an out-of-province carrier, the statement read. Ministry staff did inform their Alberta counterparts about the incident and infractions.
The ministry’s maintenance contractor and bridge crews assessed the location and found only superficial damage to the overpass.
The rig and trailer had to stay on the highway shoulder until the company could arrange for the proper permits and a new driver to complete delivery of the somewhat damaged grader to a customer in Abbotsford.
The collision did not result in serious traffic delays, unlike the Sept. 2023 crash at the same overpass, which closed Highway 1 for several hours.
In that case, the driver fled on foot and the RCMP ticketed the truck’s owner, a Squamish-based company.
At the time, then-transportation minister Rob Flemming called the incident “outrageous.”
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