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After a truck hit the Highway 11 overpass in Saskatoon last week, the Saskatchewan Trucking Association (STA) shared the potential consequences faced by the driver’s employer.
The company is still unknown but executive director of the STA, Susan Ewart, said whoever it is, “they’re definitely going to be responsible” for the damage caused.
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According to Ewart, in Saskatchewan a carrier would have insurance, giving the city an avenue of financial recourse.
This accident will also go against the trucking carrier’s profile, which SGI will look over, she said.
Depending on previous violations, the company could be given safety directives, like to undergo additional training, or it could trigger an audit.
There’s a chance SGI could also put the business into conditional carrier status, impacting its ability to get work, according to Ewart.
Without knowing the company, the extent of its previous violations remains a mystery, but Ewart said the STA supports consequences for frequent rule-breakers.
That’s “because they’re obviously not paying attention to their cargo, the routes they’re going, how tall their cargo is, they’re not doing their due diligence on their part in order to be able to move that piece of equipment properly,” she said.
While the driver was the one who hit the overpass, navigating large trucks through Saskatchewan is the responsibility of more than a single person.
Ewart said drivers are required to check their cargo, making sure it’s properly secured and the lifts are down, “so they aren’t hitting any infrastructure.”
But, there’s also a national set of standards companies must know, “in order to move different types and pieces of equipment,” like how to strap items down and the various height requirements, she said.
Dispatch is responsible for planning the routes where drivers go. That includes checking if roads have barriers like weight restrictions or bridges.
“So, that’s really important that there’s good communication between the dispatch and the driver, because, you never know. If the bridge is lower and they’ve sent them down the wrong route, this could happen,” Ewart said, referencing last week’s collision.
This situation is disappointing for Ewart, who said it can overshadow the work of conscientious carriers.
“It does put a tarnish on the industry, and people look to that thinking, ‘oh, there goes that big, bad truck driver again, who doesn’t necessarily know what they’re doing,’ ” she said.
For the most part, though, most trucking companies are safe with well-trained drivers who follow the rules, according to Ewart.
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