Alberta trucking company, drivers charged after unsafe rig stopped twice on Hwy. 11

OPP stopped a CMV after its load spilled on Hwy. 11 & an inspection revealed brake defects and a suspended driver. Hours later, the same truck was stopped again

An Alberta-based commercial trucking company and two of its drivers are facing dozens of charges after an unsafe transport truck was stopped twice in one day on the same stretch of Highway 11 – the second time with a hand-written licence plate.

Ontario Provincial Police say the incident began at about 5 a.m. on March 3, when the Temiskaming detachment received reports of large debris in the live lanes of the highway after a commercial motor vehicle lost part of its load near Temagami.

OPP said officers located the involved vehicle and conducted a Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Level 1 inspection.

“The inspection revealed several serious safety concerns, including a suspended driver’s licence, brake defects beyond the allowable limit, a trailer licence plate that did not match the vehicle and a trailer with no functioning brakes,” OPP said in a news release Wednesday.

Police said officers seized the licence plate, deemed the trailer unfit and placed both the driver and the vehicle out of service.

Later that same day, at about 3 p.m., police received another call.

“OPP received a traffic complaint about a commercial motor vehicle travelling on Highway 11 with a handwritten licence plate,” police said.

Officers located the vehicle and determined it was the same commercial motor vehicle from the earlier incident in Temagami, which had been ordered out of service.

“Further inspection confirmed that none of the previously identified safety defects had been repaired and the trailer still had no functioning brakes,” OPP said.

The vehicle combination was again placed out of service.

In total, 26 charges were laid under the Highway Traffic Act against the company, a 48-year-old Ontario driver and a 29-year-old driver from Alberta.

The Alberta-based commercial motor vehicle company was charged with careless driving, permitting operation of unsafe commercial motor vehicle, operating a commercial motor vehicle with an insecure load, two counts of operating a commercial motor vehicle with a push rod stroke exceeds prescribed limit, failing to ensure performance standards are met, failing to ensure a daily inspection is conducted properly, permitting the use of plate not authorized for a vehicle, permitting an unlicensed person to drive a commercial motor vehicle, drawing a trailer with no licence plate, operating a commercial motor vehicle with improper brakes on a trailer and driving a commercial motor vehicle or a drawn vehicle with a major defect.

The driver from Ontario was charged with driving while under suspension, two counts of operating a commercial motor vehicle with an insecure load, driving a commercial motor vehicle or a drawn vehicle with a major defect, failing to enter a defect in a daily inspection report, operating an unsafe commercial motor vehicle, operating a commercial motor vehicle with a push rod stroke exceeds prescribed limit and using a plate not authorized for a vehicle.

As for the Alberta driver, they were charged with careless driving, operating an unsafe commercial motor vehicle, driving a commercial motor vehicle or a drawn vehicle with a major defect, operating a commercial motor vehicle with a push rod stroke exceeds prescribed limit, operating a commercial motor vehicle with improper brakes on a trailer and drawing a trailer with no licence plate.

“OPP reminds commercial vehicle operators and companies that maintaining vehicles in safe operating condition and complying with safety regulations is essential to keeping Ontario’s highways safe,” said police.

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• Highway hazard: OPP stop tractor-trailer missing full set of rear tires on Hwy. 17
• Driver charged after travelling more than 100 km down Hwy. 17 while missing a tire
• Alberta driver charged after transport loses a wheel in North Bay