The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has set May 4-6 as the dates for this year’s International Roadcheck.

Over that 72-hour period, commercial motor vehicle inspectors in jurisdictions throughout Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will conduct inspections on commercial motor vehicles and drivers.

“CVSA shares the dates of International Roadcheck in advance to remind motor carriers and drivers of the importance of proactive vehicle maintenance and driver readiness,” said CVSA President Sgt. John Samis with the Delaware State Police. “International Roadcheck also aims to raise awareness of the North American Standard Inspection Program and the essential highway safety rules and regulations in place to keep our roadways safe.”

Inspectors will ensure the vehicle’s brake systems, cargo securement, coupling devices, driveline/driveshaft components, driver’s seat, exhaust systems, frames, fuel systems, lighting devices, steering mechanisms, suspensions, tires, van and open-top trailer bodies, wheels, rims, hubs and windshield wipers are compliant with regulations. Inspections of motorcoaches, passenger vans and other passenger-carrying vehicles also include emergency exits, electrical cables and systems in the engine and battery compartments, and seating.

Inspectors will be looking for critical vehicle inspection item violations, outlined in the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria. If such violations are found, the vehicle will be placed out of service, which means that vehicle cannot be operated until the identified out-of-service conditions have been corrected.

Vehicles that successfully pass inspection, without any critical vehicle inspection item violations found after a completed Level I or Level V Inspection, should receive a CVSA decal. In general, vehicles with a CVSA decal are not re-inspected during the three-month period during which the decal is valid. Instead, inspectors focus their efforts on vehicles without a valid CVSA decal.

Also during an inspection, inspectors will check the driver’s operating credentials, hours-of-service documentation, seat belt usage, and for alcohol and/or drug impairment. A driver will be placed out of service if an inspector discovers driver-related out-of-service conditions.

Each year, CVSA asks its member jurisdictions to capture and report data focusing on a certain category of violations during International Roadcheck. This helps bring awareness to certain aspects of a roadside inspection. This year, inspectors will capture data on two categories, corresponding to the two main inspection categories of the North American Standard Level I Inspection – driver operating requirements and vehicle mechanical fitness. For the driver category, hours of service will be highlighted this year, and for the vehicle category, inspectors will be paying special attention to lighting.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the lighting violation “lamps inoperable” (Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 393.9) was the number one vehicle violation in fiscal 2020, accounting for approximately 12.24% of all vehicle violations discovered that year. And during last year’s International Roadcheck, the top driver out-of-service violation category in North America was hours of service, accounting for 34.7% of all driver out-of-service conditions.

“It’s important to remember that International Roadcheck is a data collection effort,” said Sgt. Samis. “The inspections conducted during the three days of International Roadcheck are no different from the inspections conducted any other day of the year. Other than data collection, the inspection process is the same.”

As was the case last year, in consideration of COVID-19, law enforcement personnel will conduct inspections following their departments’ health and safety protocols during 2021 International Roadcheck.

In addition, as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, every effort will be made to get vaccine shipments to their destination, quickly and safely. COVID-19 vaccine shipments will not be held up for inspection, unless there is an obvious serious violation that is an imminent hazard.

International Roadcheck is a CVSA program with participation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, Transport Canada, and Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transportation and its National Guard.

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Submit your original production for a chance to win cash!

Theme — I am doing my part

When workplaces in B.C. are healthy and safe, they contribute to a safe and healthy province. Every person in the workplace can contribute by doing their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19. How are you doing your part?

The theme of this year’s contest — I am doing my part — challenges students to create a self-filmed video (maximum two minutes) that explores how young workers can stop the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in the workplace. Think about how diseases spread and how you can protect yourself and your co-workers from being exposed. Consider how following health protocols and procedures established by employers help to keep us all safe and healthy.

Video considerations
This year, to ensure physical distancing, you must work independently and film the video yourself rather than in a team. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a creative way to get your message across. All styles of video are fair game: drama, comedy, documentary, music video, stop-motion, animation — the choice is yours! (Note: only live-action productions will be considered for the bonus prize of the Actsafe Aspiring Filmmaker Award. For more details on this prize, see Bonus prize below, or visit actsafe.ca).

Need inspiration?

Check out the winning videos from 2006 to 2020.

To learn more about COVID-19 protocols for different industries and what they mean for workers and employers, visit the COVID-19 information and resources page on worksafebc.com.

Eligibility and prizes
You can enter the contest if you’re a B.C. student in grades 8 to 12 with a teacher or youth organization sponsor. There’s one category for students in grades 8 to 10 and one for students in grades 11 and 12.

There’s $10,000 in prize money to be awarded to the winning students and their schools or youth organizations. Entries will be judged on the impact of their safety message, original creative concept, and technical execution. The top entry will win additional prize money from the Focus on Safety Youth Video Contest and compete for additional prizes in its national competition, with support from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).

How to submit your video
Post your video on YouTube, then have your teacher or youth organization sponsor fill out the entry form and include the link to your video. We’ll review your video and if it meets our criteria (no inappropriate language or images and no copyrighted music, please), we’ll post your entry on our website. After submitting your YouTube link, you can also post your video on Instagram. Don’t forget to follow @WorkSafeBC and use the hashtag #SVCWorkSafeBC.

For more details, see the contest rules and the entry form.

Don’t want to make a video but still want to participate?

You can participate by viewing and rating your favourite videos. Check worksafebc.com regularly to see new videos as they are posted — and remember to get your family and friends to rate their favourites too!

Deadline

Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. But remember, the sooner you post your video, the more time people will have to view and rate it.

2021 contest sponsors

 

 

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Bonus prize

One lucky creative student will win the Actsafe Aspiring Filmmaker Award, which includes tickets to the 2022 Actsafe Entertainment Safety Conference, screening of the film at a future Directors Guild of Canada event, and more! For more details, visit actsafe.ca. (Note: only live-action production will be considered for the Actsafe award.)

Questions?

Email yworker@worksafebc.com

For the past 30 years, ICBC’s road improvement program has championed innovations in road safety such as modern roundabouts and road safety audits, and invested over $209 million in 7,688 projects.

ICBC’s road improvement team is made up of engineers from across the province who work closely with local and provincial government to provide road safety expertise and research.

ICBC’s road improvement projects have reduced severe crashes – those resulting in serious injuries or fatalities – by an average of 24 per cent and reduced property damage claims by 15 per cent, according to a 2014 evaluation report of treatment sites.

When ICBC launched the road improvement program in 1990, it was the first of its kind in North America and became the model for other programs including State Farm’s Dangerous Intersections program in the U.S. and AAA Michigan’s Road Improvement Demonstration program.

“Since 1990, we’ve invested more than $209 million in road improvement projects and studies across B.C. which has helped save lives and prevent injuries on our roads,” said Nicolas Jimenez, ICBC President & CEO. “We’re proud of this program and the work of our engineers, and will continue to invest in road safety to make roads safer for everyone.”

In its initial decade of operation (1990 to 2000), the program helped co-fund a broad range of projects including rumble strips, signals, barrier installations and intersection re-design. ICBC also looked at improving visibility on B.C. roads with upgraded highly-reflective road signs and replacing stop signs.

ICBC championed two innovations in the second decade (2000-2010) – modern roundabouts and road safety audits. To date, ICBC has participated in 82 roundabouts throughout B.C., including numerous studies. Roundabouts are effective at reducing the frequency and severity of intersection crashes. Since vehicles aren’t forced to stop, they also reduce delays, congestion, noise, fuel consumption and emissions. Road safety audits are used to evaluate safety concerns and identify improvements at the design stage of a project to ensure safety issues are fully considered before construction begins.

In the last decade (2010 to 2020), ICBC has continued to work on improving high-crash and high-risk locations. This includes major projects on high-risk corridors such as Highway 3 from Princeton to Hope, reviewing sign and pavement markings for upgrades to best practices, expanding the roundabout program to new communities and completing numerous road safety audits.

Over the past 30 years, ICBC’s Road Improvement Program has won numerous awards, including the Transportation Association of Canada Decade of Action Road Safety Award in 2015 and the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award from RoadSafe in 2002.

The road improvement program is one aspect of ICBC’s commitment to help make B.C. roads safer. ICBC’s road safety investments focus on the systemic causes of crashes – drivers, roads and vehicles – and support programs that are proven to prevent crashes and help keep everyone safer.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Restrictions imposed on commercial vehicles on British Columbia’s Coquihalla Highway have helped reduce winter closures on the province’s busiest mountain pass, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said late Tuesday.

There were 11 closures on the highway last winter, compared to 27 in 2017-18, the ministry said.

“Enhanced chain regulations and the ‘No Trucks in Left Lane’ pilot program have both made positive impacts on the safety and reliability of the Coquihalla Highway,” the ministry said in an email to Today’s Trucking.

The province said it implemented several initiatives aimed at improving the reliability of its highways following the “challenging winter of 2017-18”.

But the ministry stressed that comparing seasons is very difficult.

That is because the severity of winter is made up of numerous variables such as the snowfall amount, number of storms, temperatures and wind, which are different from year-to-year, the ministry said.

The “No Trucks in Left Lane” was initially applied to the most treacherous part of the highway. It has since been expanded to other sections.

“Positive feedback has been one of the largest driving forces for the expansion of the pilot program to other locations along the Coquihalla Highway.”

When extreme weather is forecast on the Hope to Merritt section of the Coquihalla, the ministry and the local maintenance contractor implement what is referred to as the Coquihalla Snowshed Protocol.

The protocol has been in place for many years.

“Under the Snowshed Protocol, our contractor deploys additional resources to the area, and hires a tow truck to be on standby in case a commercial vehicle spins out,” the ministry said.

The protocol comes into force when more than 15 centimeters of snowfall over a 12-hour period is predicted for the Snowshed corridor, according to the ministry’s website.

“Its sole purpose is to make sure we can maintain safe and uninterrupted travel through the corridor during heavy snowfall or other challenging weather event.”

Last winter, the protocol was implemented 11 times, the ministry said.

Driving means learning every day.

SafetyDriven features Rick Rabbitt, one of our experienced drivers. We are never too old or so experienced that we can’t learn something, especially about safety. Sharing our stories is a great way to learn from each other.

Rick Rabbitt has been on the road for a long time. He passed his driving test in January 1986—that’s nearly 35 years ago, if you’re counting.

Rabbitt’s career began in maintenance before he ever got behind the wheel. He was brought up around trucks and equipment, learning from his dad and uncles how to look after vehicles before they taught him to drive. That experience gave him an appreciation for what it means to keep gear in good condition; he saw first-hand the cost of neglect in damaged equipment. It is far more costly to repair than to maintain equipment and worth the time it takes to repair something before it becomes a problem rather than put it off for just one more trip.

During his career, Rabbitt has driven logging trucks, dispatched trucks for the oil patch, been a supervisor with a fuel company, and been a Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE) officer. Today, he drives for Alchemist Specialty Carriers, driving tandem or tri-drive roll-off bins, tandem tractors hauling 53-foot vans, and B-train fuel tankers, end dumps, and roll-off trailers. He mainly does day trips now and the occasional load from Washington State, Logan Lake, and Kamloops.

Rabbitt estimates he has driven well over 2 million miles and has won a few safety awards, mainly for accident-free miles, which he humbly has forgotten the names of. Over all those miles, he has had close calls, mainly due to animals, weather, or traffic conditions, and a few incidents. He was accident-free until December 16, 2018. On that day—the day before his birthday—he was eastbound on Highway 5, the Coquihalla, travelling well under the 120 kph speed limit in winter conditions, when he encountered a vehicle with its 4-way flashers on. He used his engine brake to slow down, but the truck locked up and began to skid. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the truck was damaged and the trailer written off. Rabbitt says the accident was avoidable, as the road conditions were okay except for black ice.

Black ice is a hazard for any driver; professional drivers need to be especially vigilant, knowing when it can form (early morning and evening, especially when the temperature is between minus 5 degrees celcius and plus 5 degrees celcius), and watching for signs of it (vehicles ahead sliding is a good one; a slight sheen on the road may be another). Rabbitt says he encountered the same conditions twice last year and notes that being in a hurry to finish work often ends in an incident. There is no excuse, he says, especially for drivers of his experience. “Keeping your eyes and mind on the task is the ONLY way to avoid such mishaps.” The lesson learned, ultimately, is to stay home during extreme weather if you can. No load is worth injury, loss of life, or loss of the load and equipment.

Rabbitt notes that, while you might make mistakes, drivers should remember that accidents are avoidable. Drivers with plenty of experience can be safer and better drivers, but they can also become complacent. “Every day I drive, I learn more,” he says, recommending safety, courtesy, and professionalism in all things. “Be the driver you were when you passed your driving test.”

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Have a great safety-related story or experience to share? Let us know! Contact SafetyDriven at 1-877-414-8001 or info@safetydriven.ca

You might say Kool Pak Canada ULC is a cool company. It transports and warehouses frozen, chilled, refrigerated, and dry products.

Formerly Polar Express Transportation, Kool Pak is headquartered in Langley, BC, and celebrated 20 years in business in 2020. The company serves the Vancouver – Seattle corridor and offers less-than-truckload (LTL) and full-truckload (FTL) transportation services, with five temperature-controlled facilities in BC, Washington, Oregon, and Northern and Southern California. In January 2012, Polar Express joined Kool Pak’s transportation companies, which provide services across the contiguous United States.

With expansion, it was obvious a formal safety program was required. In 2015, Kavita Kohli was offered the opportunity to take on Kool Pak’s safety management. She charged ahead, learning as she went, taking SafetyDriven courses, becoming an internal auditor, to build Kool Pak’s safety program from scratch. The company became COR certified in 2017. It has 29 employees, including 15 drivers and owner operators.

Kavita recalls establishing policies and forming the safety committee with the support and approval of the executive at every step. Staff buy-in was immediate overall—drivers, warehouse workers, and office staff—which Kavita credits to “having really good staff who understand the value of safety. Everyone from the president down supports company safety.” Shortly after the program was implemented, Kool Pak held its first Safety Day to reinforce the importance of an operative safety program. It was very effective with the staff and with drivers in particular.

Kool Pak’s safety program involves everyone. The safety committee comprises one manager, one warehouse and one office staff member. Drivers have plenty of opportunity to participate when they aren’t on the road. The safety culture is open; all staff members receive the same information and everyone can bring their ideas and suggestions to regular safety meetings. SafetyDriven resources often inspire meeting topics.

Drivers and staff raise issues like workplace hazards, personal safety such as preventing back problems, incidents, near-misses, roadside accidents, and general driving practices. Suggestions are discussed in the meeting to decide if they will work on the ground as presented or with alterations. Managers and supervisors perform random spot checks, providing feedback immediately, and incidents are reviewed at safety meetings. The review gives the team the opportunity to support employees who are having problems and discuss safety practices. For drivers on the road, regular emails provide updates. For more immediate situations, drivers are called to ensure they remain informed. Regular communication with all staff helps improve the safety program continually.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kool Pak stocked up on personal protective equipment and introduced new protocols. Staff arriving at the worksite undergo a temperature check before their shift. Anyone with a fever is required to stay home; those whose jobs are conducive to working from home can do so. Before starting work in the office, staff sanitize their work stations. They wear gloves to handle paperwork and sanitize counters every hour. Drivers have their own office for paperwork with similar protocols. Only one driver can use the office at a time—they must wait in the warehouse if the office is occupied—and they are required to clean surfaces before working. A COVID update is provided every Monday.

The best reward of any safety program is, of course, keeping everyone safe, but Kool Pak ups the ante by offering cash and prizes. Annual Safety Days are held in September and October to reward those who have exhibited exceptional safety practices. Prizes, such as household items or Tim Horton’s gift cards, are awarded. The top prize for excellent safety performance is $250 in cash. Drivers with clean roadside inspections get $75 for level 1 and $50 for levels 2 and 3. Safety Days are also opportunities to remind drivers and staff about safety topics; during the pandemic, that has meant personal calls from Kavita to every driver out of town.

Along the way, Kool Pak has been awarded for its safety performance with the Overall Winner of Trucking Award from the National Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSH) in 2019 and an honourable mention in 2018. The safety committee won SafetyDriven’s Safety and Health Week Team Champion award in 2018 and the warehouse manager won an Individual award in 2019. And Kavita herself won an Individual Champion award from SafetyDriven in 2018 and Safety and Health Week Champion from NAOSH in 2019.

Though Kool Pak may seem pretty chill, when it comes to safety, it’s all business.

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Do you have an idea that could help improve workplace health and safety? Develop your idea into a practical solution with funding from one of our WorkSafeBC research programs. A

Apply for the Innovation grant

Important dates:

Competition launch: November 23, 2020

Application form due: February 12, 2021 at 4 p.m.

Apply for the Research Training Awards

Important dates:

Competition launch: November 23, 2020

Application form due: January 29, 2021 at 4 p.m.

Please contact us at info@safetydriven.ca and your inquiry will be forwarded to the correct department and responded to accordingly.

To continue to increase safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, ICBC customers will soon need to make an appointment before their visit to five ICBC driver licensing offices. This pilot project begins Nov. 23, 2020, at the Burnaby Metrotown, Richmond Lansdowne, Surrey Guildford, Kamloops and Victoria Wharf Street driver licensing offices.

The pilot will help minimize the number of customers waiting for service in-person, ensuring that the appropriate number of customers are in an office at the same time, while maintaining physical distancing as required by the Provincial Health Officer and WorkSafeBC.

To help customers transition to the changes during the pilot, these five locations will also designate time each day to serve walk-in customers.

Locations and walk-in times

Customers who are unable to book an appointment may visit their ICBC office at the following times:

• Burnaby Driver Licensing (Metrotown), 232 – 4820 Kingsway, Monday – Saturday from 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• Kamloops Driver Licensing, 937 Concordia Way, Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• Victoria Wharf St. Driver Licensing, 955 Wharf St., Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• Richmond Driver Licensing (Lansdowne), 402-5300 No. 3 Road, Monday – Saturday from 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Surrey (Guildford), Unit C1A 15285-101^st Ave, Monday – Saturday from 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

All other times will be reserved for customers with appointments. See the locator for full details.

Booking an appointment

The easiest way to book is online at www.icbc.com/appointment. Customers may call 1-800-950-1498 if online access is not possible. Depending on appointment availability at the preferred location, customers may search for a same-day appointment or book one up to 12 weeks in advance. Customers will receive a confirmation email as well as two reminder emails with instructions ahead of the appointment.

Based on the results of the pilot, ICBC may consider making these changes permanent, expanding the pilot to other offices, or returning to taking walk-in customers and appointments, at all times.

Disclaimer: The information above is accurate as of the date of publication. For the most up-to-date information on ICBC’s services during the COVID-19 pandemic, visit https://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/contact-us/Pages/covid-19.aspx.

Take the Time for the National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims

After November 11 has passed each year and the poppies have been put away, there’s another sobering day of remembrance that’s less widely known. On the Wednesday following the third Sunday in November, Canada observes the National Day of Remembrance (NDR) for Road Crash Victims.

Canada’s NDR is part of a global effort, the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, which seeks to:

• remember all people killed and seriously injured on the roads;
• acknowledge the crucial work of the emergency services;
• draw attention to the generally trivial legal response to culpable road deaths and injuries;
• advocate for better support for road traffic victims and victim families; and
• promote evidence-based actions to prevent and eventually stop further road traffic deaths and injuries.

According to the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, almost 300 people are killed each year by road crashes in this province, and many more are seriously injured. Our fatality rate of 5.7 deaths per 100,000 population is higher than the Canadian national average.

The sad fact is that road crashes are a leading cause of unintentional injury or death for British Columbians of all ages. The term “road crash” is used rather than “accident” because almost all crashes are preventable. Speeding, distracted driving, and impairment are all major factors in crashes, and all are avoidable.

Speeding topped the violations recorded during this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week held across North America in July, with almost half of the citations given to commercial drivers linked to excessive speed. Given that speeding remains the number one contributing factor to fatal road crashes in BC, this “need to speed” can be a deadly habit. ICBC states: “Speeding is a major contributing factor to car crash fatalities in BC. The faster you go, the longer it takes to stop—and the more dangerous a crash can be.”

With almost everyone now heavily reliant on smart phones for everything from driving directions to social connections, distracted driving has become an even more serious issue in the past few years. Although distractions can be anything that takes the driver’s mind, eyes, and ears off the road, phones are like magnets that many people cannot ignore, even while driving. In the article “Distracted Driving Puts all Canadians at Risk,” the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) writes: “Constant stimulation and short attention spans have become the norm, with phone alerts providing the soundtrack in our hectic lives….[M]ore than half of Canadians admit their cellphone distracts them while driving.”

Taking the wheel when impaired by alcohol or drugs is extremely dangerous and, of course, illegal. Being caught could cost you your vehicle, your driver’s license, or your job, or even put you in jail. Not being caught could cost you your life, or someone else’s. Although cannabis is now legal in Canada, driving under its influence is not. Remember that driving within three hours of consuming cannabis doubles the risk of being in a crash, and using alcohol and drugs together increases the risk even more.

When it comes to avoiding crashes, drivers of large commercial vehicles need to be even more cautious than the general public, both because they spend more time on the road and because their trucks are more dangerous. TIRF’s “Road Safety Bulletin: A Question of Size” states: “It is estimated that in Canada about 15% of highway deaths each year are due to collisions involving large trucks.” Professional drivers can and should be role models for the best in road safety practices.

Due to COVID, gatherings to mark the National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims are not possible this year, but it’s a good reminder for everyone to reflect on how we can all drive safer. In his blog post on the NDR, road safety advocate Paul Hergott wrote: “If we pause to contemplate the magnitude and preventability of this ongoing loss, we might become motivated to take constructive steps to reduce it.”