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The Feds, Provinces, and Territories Must Work Together to Effectively Monitor Carrier Safety Fitness

Details
Category: Bulletin

The system in place has been broken for a long time, and solutions offered by Industry have yet to be acted upon (the below is an exert of communication that the PMTC sent to the CCMTA, Transport Canada, and The Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation).

Currently, commercial motor carriers who wish to operate a trucking fleet in Canada must apply for a Safety Fitness Certificate from the Provincial Authority, which they plan to use to license their vehicles. If the provincial authority of the base jurisdiction approves the application, a National Safety Code (NSC) will be issued to the carrier. The base jurisdiction is then responsible for monitoring the motor carrier for safety and compliance, based on National Safety Code 14, which is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) all jurisdictions agreed to several years back (www.ccmta.ca/en/national-safety-code).

While, in theory, this process comes across as seamless and consistent, the reality of how carriers are monitored from one Canadian provincial jurisdiction to the other varies significantly. For instance, if you were to run a Safety Fitness Certificate from a carrier based in Ontario and then run one from a carrier in Alberta, it would be almost impossible to compare the safety ratings of the two fleets and decipher which one is the safest of the two.

The substantial differences in how one jurisdiction scores a carrier’s provincial safety rating compared to another also leads to chameleon carriers simply closing shop in one jurisdiction and opening in another, exploiting the lack of communication between jurisdictions and simply opening again in a different location. In addition, many carriers in Canada exploit the lack of a central reporting system and the lack of checks and balances in place between jurisdictions. They start several fleets and register each of them in different jurisdictions with different National Safety Codes. When they face challenges in one jurisdiction, they simply continue to operate in the others by transferring vehicles over to the fleet in different jurisdictions to continue operating across the country despite an undesirable safety profile.

The recent case with Chohan Freight Forwarders in British Columbia illustrates the current problem. The fleet had its operating authority suspended in British Columbia but had another federally regulated fleet operating out of Alberta. The absence of a coordinated and centralized system has allowed this fleet, deemed unsafe by one jurisdiction, to continue operating across the country, including in the province that just suspended its operating authority. A fleet should only be allowed to have one National Safety Code. A central reporting system would alleviate this unsafe practice and ensure a proper tracking system across the country. (www.trucknews.com/health-safety/b-c-asks-feds-to-reduce-safety-gaps-following-overpass-crashes/1003181013).  

To further showcase how the lack of a centralized and uniform regulated system may cause alarming road safety issues, a simple internet search by one of our insurance company members demonstrates the seriousness of the problem. Back in 2022, it was found that 34 trucking companies were listed as operating at the same address in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, while another 54 companies were found to be listed as operating at one address in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Most of the emails associated with these companies were the same, from a consultant in Brampton, Ontario. A quick check at the time showed no trucks were located in either of these locations, despite records showing 88 trucking companies being registered at these locations. This is just one example of ‘jurisdiction shopping’ when trucking companies set up their business in a location to save on operating costs, insurance, and oversight and can quickly ‘relocate’ as a result of being shut down in another jurisdiction.

To rectify this issue, we need a nationally recognized MOU that is more descriptive than what is currently in place and has some teeth to create a standardized Carrier Provincial Safety Rating. We must ensure that all the regions across the country monitor and audit carriers following the same consistent criteria with results easily accessible from a central reporting system/one-stop shop. Hence, everyone will be able to see and compare a carrier’s safety rating score regardless of the region from which it has been completed and submitted. Seamless access to results about the carrier’s compliance/non-compliance must be easily accessible to all, including the shippers, who could then verify the safety of the fleet they are hiring.

Coordinated and harmonized jurisdictional regulations are needed to achieve this goal. The current inconsistencies in regulations and enforcement from one jurisdiction to another reduce efficiency and increase burdens and costs to the industry. Sadly, it also leads some carriers who do not have safety and compliance at the top of their priorities to go jurisdiction shopping to find the one with the least stringent regulations to register their fleet in.

The Private Motor Truck Council of Canada has been raising this issue at meetings with governments since 2015, and the most recent case in British Columbia highlights the seriousness of this issue. It needs to be addressed promptly by regulators, and the PMTC is ready and willing to work together with regulators on this process.