As wildlife-related collisions continue to plague commercial truckers across Canada, more fleets are turning to front-end protection systems to avoid costly damage, lengthy downtime, and safety risks for drivers.
“With the increased cost of $15,000 to $20,000 on average for a small deer hit up to possibly totaling your truck if you hit a moose or a bear or something much bulkier, you can absolutely obliterate your truck,” said Nathan Holt, product marketing manager at Ex-Guard. “Definitely, we’re seeing a continual rise in demand.”
He added that downtime from these incidents can cost carriers tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue, likely causing the spiked interest in added protection among fleets.
“Downtime can range anywhere from just a couple days, if persons have the replacement parts in stock, to two weeks, three weeks. If there’s a specific part, like a hood, a customized hood, or hood that’s painted, they can be looking at up to a month of downtime,” Holt said. “And with the average lost revenue in U.S. dollars of about $1,200 a day, they’re easily losing $20,000 to $30,000 in revenue because their vehicle is down.”
He added that many customers are shifting from partial to full protection after reviewing their collision costs. Lower guards typically protect the bumper and collision mitigation radar systems, while full guards add coverage for the hood, headlights, and grille.
Increased risks of wildlife collisions
This makes sense, given the most recent data from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), which shows there were 12,825 animal-involved crashes in 2023, the highest since 2019. Of those, 1,070 crashes ended in injured victims and two in fatalities. The Southern Interior region — including Kamloops, the Okanagan, and Kootenays — recorded more than 5,000 such collisions on average annually between 2019 and 2023. Northcentral B.C. followed with nearly 3,000 per year.
The risk of wildlife collisions rises in spring and summer as animals become more active. Their movement patterns shift during feeding and mating cycles, often bringing them closer to roads. In May, deer are more commonly encountered by drivers, while moose activity increases in June and July, according to a news release from Road Safety at Work. Crashes are most likely during dawn and dusk — roughly between 6 to 8 a.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. — when animals are on the move and visibility can be limited due to glare from the sun.
Protect your truck drivers
Holt explained that the safety benefits of grille guards go well beyond reducing vehicle damage. One of the most immediate advantages is preventing situations where drivers are forced to exit their vehicle after a collision — something that can expose them to fast-moving traffic or dangerous weather conditions.
Guards also help prevent more severe outcomes in animal strikes, particularly involving moose. Because of their height, Holt said, moose can crash through a truck’s windshield area, entering the cab and causing serious or fatal injuries.
“If they were to hit another vehicle and the vehicle encroaches on the engine mount, the engine can become dislodged or unmounted, and the engine is then pushed back into the driver,” he added. “This might sound extreme, but it has happened — where a driver has been crushed due to something entering the cab, as they don’t have the protection to prevent that from happening…Trucks nowadays are built more of fiberglass. They’re not built of steel as much. So anytime an animal hits it, it’s going to go further into the vehicle.”
Grille guards also reduce the risk of accident escalation. For example, if an animal goes under the vehicle and strikes a steer tire, the impact can quickly spiral into a jackknife or rollover situation — both of which are among the most dangerous crash types in the industry, Holt warned.
Grille guards must work in harmony with the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) built into today’s trucks to provide as much of such protection as possible without compromising modern safety systems. This is where product design and testing become critical.
Holt noted that Ex-Guard works closely with OEMs to avoid interference. “We actually test our products on the vehicles before some of those vehicles are launched. Some of the vehicles you have heard about, some that you haven’t heard about yet … [they] are already being tested — either at the facility or on the road — with our product to ensure none of the radars or technologies are interfered with.”
For customers unsure of compatibility, he advised asking their provider the following: “Is it compatible with this year, make and model of vehicle? And…has this been tested? Do you know if it is certified?”
The fleet segment also affects guard selection. Holt said some liquid and bulk haulers opt for smaller guards to minimize added weight, since every extra pound reduces their payload capacity. These fleets, often operating during the day and on shorter hauls, are more willing to leave headlights exposed to maximize product volume. In contrast, Holt explained, longhaul and logging operations typically invest in full protection because “they want no risk whatsoever.”
Animals don’t follow traffic rules
But experts say awareness and prevention still matter. “Animals don’t follow traffic rules,” said Trace Acres, program director at Road Safety at Work. “The best way to protect yourself is to stay alert, slow down, and be prepared for the unexpected.”
Holt agrees that staying alert is key — but it’s not always enough. “You want to stay alert as much as you can. You want to try to use good lighting to see as far ahead as you can. If you can see a deer that is loitering near the edge of the road, decrease your speed,” he said. “The vast majority of collisions that happen, happen so quickly. Nobody can really react, because a deer comes out of a shadow, and by the time it has hit the spread angle of your headlights, it’s already too late.”
Acres further emphasized that adjusting driving habits is key to reducing the risk of wildlife collisions. “You can’t predict what an animal will do, but you can adjust your driving to lower your chances of a crash,” he said.
Drivers are advised to plan routes that avoid known wildlife corridors during high-risk times, such as early morning and evening. When that’s not possible, choosing travel times with better visibility can help.
Scanning the ditches and roadsides for movement in low light conditions and using four-way flashers or headlights to alert other drivers to animal presence, can also help prevent collisions.
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