Commercial Vehicles

Effective immediately, the rules governing the use of tire chains on commercial vehicles traveling on BC highways have been made more extensive and the penalties for failing to follow them are under consideration and will become more expensive later this winter.

Effective this week, heavy commercial vehicles will be forbidden to use the leftmost lane on the Coquihalla Highway between Box Canyon and Zopkios. Aimed at keeping "spun out" trucks on the right side of the highway and the left lane clear for snow removal equipment and tow trucks. If this pilot program produces the hoped for outcome it may be extended to other routes in the interior of the province.

CBC's Marketplace has produced a program on commercial driver licensing in Canada. Their driver earned his commercial driver's licence in Saskatchewan and then failed the test for the same licence category in Ontario. At issue is the varying level of skill necessary to obtain a commercial driver's licence across the provinces.

In what may be one of the ultimate Tonka toy dreams, I was lucky enough to participate in a training session where we were tipping heavy trucks over on purpose. The adventure, spearheaded by Eric Brewer, took place on a dormant runway at the Boundary Bay airport that is used by government agencies for driver training and collision reconstruction testing.

Can anyone tell me what is the maximum vehicle / load height is that I can get an oversize permit for?

What are the laws in BC about wearing hearing protection while operating a non-commercial vehicle?

I drive a diesel panel van, and the noise level in the cab is VERY high at highway speeds - to the point that conversation is difficult and my ears ring after extended drives.  I am concerned about hearing damage, so would like to wear hearing protection.

I am trying to get confirmation on the law regarding chain requirements for a BC commercial 55 passenger bus for winter driving.

The wording of the law is ambiguous. It states that school buses must carry chains and Commercial transport trucks must carry chains when driving on the highway, but that passenger vehicles are not required to carry chains.

Commercial drivers operating within a 160 km radius of their home base are not required to record their hours of service in a log book. However, they are still required to abide by the hours of service rules which, even with a log book, is not a simple task.

Here is a series of four videos from TranBC that are part of the Be Truck Aware initiative.  They illustrate dangerous choices made by the drivers of small vehicles when they fail to share the road properly with heavy commercial vehicles.

Once upon a time, there was a 33 year old guy in town, who decided he wanted to get a class 1 license. Since I have trucks, and my instructors certification, (albeit from...Alberta) he asked me if I would spend some time with him while he drove one of my trucks.

I ended up going out 4 times with him, 2 to 3 hours each time.