A B.C. trucking company that had its licence suspended after its load hit an overpass late last year has now received a cancellation notice from the province.
Minister of Transportation Rob Fleming said in a statement Friday the cancellation notice was issued to Chohan Freight Forwarders the day before.
“This is the most severe action that can be taken against a company with multiple infractions – and it sends a clear message to operators that infrastructure crashes around our province need to stop,” Fleming said.
“It has never been easier to follow a route to guide a load safely through our highway system and avoid the potential for impact with infrastructure.”
Initially, the safety certificate for Chohan’s 65-truck fleet was suspended after a crash on Dec. 28 lodged a steel girder in an overpass over Highway 99 in Delta. Fleming said at the time it was the company’s sixth “infrastructure crash” in the past two years.
Earlier this month, Chohan filed a petition with the court alleging B.C.’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement left them in a legal “no man’s land” with an indefinite suspension they have no grounds to appeal. The company blamed a rogue driver for reporting an over-height load to the company, which claims it told him would require an alternate route with a special permit. The documents allege, after talking to friends, and “in breach of the petitioner’s directions, (Sangha) departed” and hit the overpass on Highway 99.
Premier David Eby addressed the company’s legal efforts to get its fleet back on the road, describing Chohan as “one of the worst offenders” with six overpass strikes. According to Ministry of Transportation statistics, Chohan is the only company with repeat incidents.
The company acknowledges they were responsible for five “infrastructure crash incidents” from Dec. 10, 2021, to June 8, 2022, and that enforcement action was taken against them, but insists they had cleaned up their act until the Dec. 28 incident.
“We know the vast majority of commercial drivers in B.C. operate safely and responsibly,” Fleming’s statement said.
“This decision, issued by the independent director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement branch, follows changes that allow for progressive enforcement of suspensions to better deal with those few companies and drivers who are not being safe and responsible.”
With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Penny Daflos
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