We welcome all professional Truck Drivers and Owner Operators to our Truckstop Community
It does not matter if you are driving OTR or local Truck deliveries, Trustop Canada is your Home Online. Truckstop Canada's Forum provides a place where Truck Drivers can come in for information or discuss Trucking News, Truck Photos, Trucker Classifieds, Trucker Jokes. We would be honored to welcome you as a Member in our professional Trucker Forum.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Nikola has announced an update to its
electric truck project, claiming it will be entering production by 2021
with two Class 8 hydrogen-electric truck models.
The company says the Nikola One and Nikola Two will offer more than
1,000 hp and 2,000 lb.-ft. of torque, with zero local emissions. It has
partnered with Bosch to develop an eAxle, to speed up the process of
bringing the truck to market.
“Bosch is an incubator of electro-mobility solutions. No matter
whether at established OEMs or start-ups, Bosch is accelerating
development and helps achieve fast breakthroughs on the market,” said
Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management responsible for
the Commercial Vehicle Organization.
“We have been aggressively pursuing our goal of bringing the most
advanced semi-truck ever built to market,” added Nikola Founder and CEO
Trevor Milton. “The powertrain requires an innovative and flexible
partner able to adapt quickly to the speed of our team. Bosch has
empowered us to come to market quickly with automotive-grade hardware
and software so our vision can become a reality.”
The eAxle developed by Bosch is a scalable, modular platform with the
motor, power electronics and transmission in one compact unit. This
makes it suitable for vehicles of all kinds, from small passenger cars
to light trucks. Nikola and Bosch will commercialize the world’s first
true dual-motor commercial-vehicle eAxle for a long-haul truck, the
companies claim.
The eAxles will be paired with a custom-designed fuel cell system –
also being developed jointly between Nikola and Bosch – designed to
deliver benchmark vehicle range. The overall vehicle controls will also
be jointly developed based upon Bosch’s vehicle control software and
hardware.
Bosch and Nikola will also jointly develop the overall powertrain
system for the Nikola lineup, which will include the safety concept and
vehicle electrical architecture.
46,000 Ram trucks recalled in Canada for safety issues
FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2015, file photo, Dodge Ram pickup
trucks are on display on the lot at Landmark Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM in
Morrow, Ga.
DETROIT
– Fiat Chrysler is recalling almost half a million Ram heavy-duty
pickups and medium-duty trucks because their water pumps could be
defective, about 46,000 of which are in Canada.
The recall
involves Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups and Ram 3500, 4500 and 5500 chassis
cabs from the 2013 to 2017 model years. All 494,417 of the vehicles
involved have 6.7-litre engines.
Mullen Group Ltd. Announces Declaration of Monthly Dividend
OKOTOKS, Alberta, Sept. 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Directors of Mullen Group Ltd.
(TSX:MTL) ("Mullen Group" and/or the "Corporation")
announced today that it has declared a
monthly dividend of $0.03 per Common Share payable to the holders of
record of Common Shares at the close of business on September
30, 2017. The dividend will be paid on October 16, 2017.
For Canadian resident shareholders, this dividend is designated as an "eligible dividend" for purposes of the
enhanced dividend tax credit rules contained in the Income Tax Act (Canada) and any corresponding provincial and territorial tax
legislation.
Mullen Group is a company that owns a network of independently operated businesses. The
Corporation is recognized as one of the leading suppliers of trucking and logistics services in Canada and provides a wide range
ofspecialized transportation and related services to the oil and natural gas industry in western Canada-two sectors of the economy in which Mullen Group has strong business relationships and industry leadership. The
corporate officeprovidesthe capitaland financial expertise,legal support,technology and systems support, shared services and strategic planningto its independent
businesses.
Mullen Group is a publicly traded corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol
"MTL". Additional information is available on our website at www.mullen-group.com or on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
TORONTO,
ON – The Ontario Ministry of Labor’s falls blitz is coming, and the
Ontario Trucking Alliance (OTA) is urging them to pay special attention
to flatbed truck safety.
The falls blitz, which covers ladder safety, slips, trips, and falls,
in the mining, industrial, construction, and health care industries,
will be running from Oct. 2 to Nov. 30.
Building off a campaign started by the Canadian Trucking Alliance
(CTA), the OTA is particularly concerned with unsafe practices of
loading and unloading flatbed trucks. Improperly securing loads has led
to them falling on drivers, leaving a high risk of injury or even death.
The CTA says its concerns also include inadequate lighting, improper
maintenance of grounds, and that many sites require drivers to tarp
their loads off-site, which could put drivers at risk on the roadside.
Often unsafe conditions occur at places not under the control of the
driver’s employer, such as third-party suppliers. OTA is asking the MOL
to pay special attention to these facilities during their up-coming
inspections.
“We know that some shippers and receivers take health and safety very
seriously, but unfortunately not all supply chain partners share this
as a major priority,” said OTA president Stephen Laskowski.
The issues came to the attention of the CTA after a hazard warning
was issued by the Occupational Health and Safety Directorate at
Employment and Social Development Canada.
The OTA is urging inspectors to prioritize the inspection of
conditions for drivers at certain facilities and keep an eye out for the
conditions of grounds and lighting, while conducting their blitz.
The OTA is also asking drivers to report facilities in the supply chain they believe are not safe to operations&safety@ontruck.org, so they can alert the ministry.
A complete list of the ministry’s scheduled blitzes can be found here.
TORONTO, Ont. – The Ontario Trucking Association met yesterday
with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), Eastern Ontario mayors and
other supply chain and transportation stakeholders to address several
safety issues involving the transportation of dangerous goods along the
highway 401 corridor.
Earlier in 2017, collisions involving commercial motor vehicles
carrying dangerous goods on the 401 in eastern caused some local mayors
to question certain aspects of moving these goods by truck during
extreme winter conditions.
“Today was an opportunity for the Eastern Ontario Mayors Caucus
(EOMC) to learn more about the commitment to safety excellence by all
members of the supply chain linked to the movement of dangerous goods by
truck,” said OTA senior vice-president Geoff Wood.
OTA discussed with attendees information that highlighted the
training and handling requirements that all members of the supply chain
must adhere to. It is this heightened level of attention toward to
safety that has resulted in very few truck related incidents involving
dangerous goods:
Wood explained how commercial trucks represent less than 3% of all
vehicle collisions. Of all commercial vehicle collisions, trucks
carrying dangerous goods accounted for 0.015% of the total.
“The trucking industry is proud of its record as it relates to the
safety performance of moving dangerous goods by truck. The OTA and its
members will continue to maintain this commitment to public safety to
ensure our level of excellence continues,” he said.
PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. (WSAW) --
An Antigo trucking company is putting its drivers on alert after one of
them was attacked and robbed at a rest stop in Kenosha County last
week.
Pleasant Prairie police chief David Smetana tells NewsChannel
7 the driver was robbed at the Tourist Information Center along Highway
165 and Interstate 94 just before 6 a.m. on Thursday, September 7.
Swetana says that area is often used by truck drivers as a rest stop.
Karl's Transport Dispatch Coordinator Jim Diedrick tells NewsChannel 7 the driver is 39-year-old Robert Lyon of Weston.
Chief Swetana says a witness called police
about blood in a men's restroom restroom at the Tourist Information
Center. When police arrived, they found Lyon in the parking lot dazed
from the injuries he received during the robbery.
"He sustained serious head injuries, and
injuries to his torso and chest, blunt force type trauma," Swetana said.
"No other weapons other than hands or an impact weapon was suspected."
Swetana says surveillance video shows the
suspect entered the bathroom before Lyon did. He says when Lyon walked
in the bathroom, moments later the suspect walked out of the bathroom
and left the rest stop. The suspect took Lyon's wallet.
Diedrick says he's reminding drivers at Karl's Transport to remain
vigilant while on the job. He adds truck drivers can travel with
another driver as an added measure of safety during their travels, and
says truckers are also legally allowed to carry a concealed firearm in
Wisconsin for their protection.
You're asked to call Pleasant Prairie Police if you have any information about the case at (262)-694-7353.
Alberta Coyote Is Alive And Well After Being Struck And Then Stuck In Car Grille
A coyote in Alberta had quite the experience last week after it was
hit by a car and taken on a highway trip inside the vehicle's grille.
Georgie Knox said on Facebook that she was driving to work from Airdrie, Alta. to Calgary when she saw the coyote run in front of her car.
"I heard a crunch and believed I ran over and killed it," she wrote in a post over the weekend.
Knox said she only found out the animal was still "embedded" in her car when a construction worker at a traffic stop told her.
"When I got out to look, this poor little guy was looking up and blinking at me."
Knox said she called officials at Alberta Fish and Wildlife, who sent
out a team to help the trapped coyote. After it was checked for
injuries, he was set free.
"Clearly Mother Nature has other plans for this special little guy!" Knox wrote.
Nature has many other plans for coyotes, apparently. The
animals are "highly adaptable," according to the province's Environment
and Parks department, and they can be found in all kinds of terrestrial
habitats in Alberta.
The department says many landowners have long considered coyotes as pests and that they have survived repeated attempts at, uh, elimination.
Another coyote — no relation to the protagonist of our story — had a similar experience in Illinois in 2014.
The Chicago Tribune reported at the time that the animal, lovingly named Vern after the Buick Verano that hit it, was also taken on an involuntary and painful adventure inside a car's grille.
Like Knox, the driver was oblivious to the coyote until a bystander alerted him.
"The coyote has been able to adapt to many of the changes brought about by man," Alberta's park department says on its website.
Guess we can add high-speed trips in steel death-traps to that list?
Highway 10 reopened near Shefford, Que., following toxic chemical spill
Toxic, flammable styrene spilled from 35,000-litre tanker truck after collision with SUV
Highway 10 has reopened near Bromont after a chemical spilled on the road Tuesday morning
Highway 10 has now reopened near Shefford, Que., about 90 kilometres
east of Montreal, after an accident caused a tanker truck to spill the
toxic and flammable chemical styrene on the road this morning.
Lanes in both directions had been closed earlier in the day.
The accident occurred Tuesday morning, when the 35,000-litre tanker truck was involved in a collision with an SUV.
The driver of the SUV sustained minor injuries.
Styrene is used in the manufacturing of synthetic rubber, latex and
polystyrene resins, used in plastic, insulation, fibreglass,
pipes, automobile parts and food containers.
The West Shore RCMP received the call just after 3 a.m. after the
truck rolled in the southbound lanes, stopping against the rock face on
the side of the road.
No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported.
Salvage crews were expected to arrive at around 10 a.m. to work
on the wreckage after the morning rush. Traffic is still down to one
lane southbound.
Sept. 3 to 9 is National Trucking Week, a time for the industry to
celebrate its workforce and take a brief bow for the efficient and
reliable service it provides to everyone who makes a purchase, visits a
hospital or clinic, or puts their garbage out weekly at the curb. We all
take part in activities that are made possible or easier because of
trucking companies and their employees.
Despite the hype around automated trucks, the nuts and bolts of this
industry haven’t changed much over the years. However, trucking
companies are facing ever-increasing costs, which means even though
transportation is a small component of the price of most goods,
consumers should expect somewhat higher prices. “Free shipping” is good
marketing, but the cost of transportation is buried in the overall
price.
For trucking companies, costs fall into three broad categories:
equipment, fuel and labour. All of these categories are experiencing
increases:
• The cost of equipment is rising as truck engines become more
technologically advanced and emissions-reduction features add additional
complexity and weight. Because a truck’s weight is regulated, heavier
equipment means it must carry less cargo, which lowers a truck’s
productivity and revenue. Maintenance on more advanced equipment is also
more time consuming and therefore costlier.
• Diesel fuel costs continue to increase, although price alone is not
the only reason fuel costs add up. Any idling time due to both planned
(e.g., construction) or unplanned (e.g., highway closures) delays raises
the cost of transport. Congestion in major centres, where more and more
Canadians are choosing to live, is also adding to costs.
• Many trucking companies are spending greater time recruiting and
training workers, which requires resources. And, electronic logging
devices, which are required in the majority of trucks by year end in the
U.S. and projected for 2019 in Canada, will record truck drivers’ time
more accurately, accounting for every minute of their work day. Even
though truck drivers have a generous allotment of work time (14 hours
per shift, maximum, in Canada) and driving time (up to 13 hours within
that shift), unproductive time like waiting to load or unload or
unexpected delays will shorten a driver’s day. As a result, more drivers
and more equipment will be needed to do the same amount of work.
Costs are going up for many industries, not just trucking. But trucking
is a highly competitive industry that operates on very low margins. In
order not to lose business, companies have been poor at communicating
cost increases and, historically, have simply handed over any efficiency
gains they’ve made to shippers — their immediate customers — and,
finally, to us, the end consumers of their services and the goods they
carry.
Louise Yako is president and CEO of the B.C. Trucking Association.
Before its death Tuesday, the 'elusive' goat became a popular topic on Twitter.
An "elusive" goat that had been on the lam in Kingston, Ont., since
August finally ran out of luck Tuesday, but not before causing a little
more mayhem.
Frontenac OPP say the animal wandered onto Highway 401 between
Sydenham Road and Sir John A. MacDonald Boulevard where it was struck
and presumably killed by a passing tractor-trailer, denting the truck's
grill.
Soon after, a small grey vehicle swerved to avoid the animal's
carcass and collided with the centre median. A female occupant of the
vehicle was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, OPP
said.
The black and white goat had gained a devoted following online, where
people who spotted the animal posted photos of its exploits with the
hashtag #ygkgoat. A local clothing company announced Wednesday afternoon
it would make shirts featuring the hashtag to honour the goat.
There's no word on who owned the animal, or how it escaped in the
first place. But the free-spirited goat clearly made a big impression on
its many admirers.
A vigil will be held tonight for the goat at Cataraqui Community Centre at 6 p.m.
Mayors disappointed by province's response to Hwy. 401 concerns
Eastern Ontario municipalities called for new safety measures following fatal collision, chemical spill
Brett Todd, the mayor of Prescott, Ont., said eastern
Ontario mayors are frustrated that Ontario's Ministry of Transportation
isn't working quickly enough to prevent major crashes on Highway 401
like the one in March 2017 that killed one person and sent 29 others to
hospital.
Some eastern Ontario mayors say they're disappointed with how the
province has so far responded to their request for changes to highway
safety rules following a fatal 30-vehicle crash on Highway 401
last winter.
A group of 10 mayors met Monday with representatives from Ontario's
Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to talk about the March 14 crash,
which caused a dangerous chemical spill, closed the highway for more
than a day and left a tractor-trailer driver dead.
Brett Todd, the mayor of Prescott, Ont., told CBC Radio's All in a Day the
group had hoped the province would come armed with political solutions
that could possibly prevent future crashes of that scope.
Instead, he said, the meeting didn't play out as expected.
"The focus of the meeting was largely on information, on emergency services, on what's available and so forth," Todd said.
"And while it was good [for us] to establish that dialogue, there's a
real sense of frustration with the mayors in the room that we waited
six months for this — and we're really still at square one."
Highway shut for more than a day
The pileup between Brockville and Kingston caused the highway to be
shut down after fluorosilicic acid spilled from tractor-trailers.
The Kingston General Hospital said they treated 29 patients after the
crash. Police described conditions on the highway at the time as a
"near-whiteout."
Monday's meeting included representatives from the trucking industry
and from the Ontario Provincial Police, Todd said, but it was missing
one noteworthy invitee: Steven Del Duca, Ontario's transport minister.
Todd said Del Duca had notified him that he wouldn't be able to attend, and had promised a personal meeting in the near future.
While he appreciated that gesture, Todd said the MTO needs to speed things up.
"The ministry is still basically, apparently, in an
information-gathering stage. And we're already mid-September, and we've
got another winter coming down the pipe very shortly."
"It's hard to believe that it took six months to get this meeting
today," he added. "There was a lot of frustration in the room."
Solutions in New York?
Todd also said he wanted to know why Ontario's regulations couldn't
mirror those of the state of New York, which was able to take
tractor-trailers off the interstates during the March blizzard
by declaring an emergency.
'This is not going away. We're not going to be ignored on this.'
- Brett Todd, mayor of Prescott, Ont.
"They didn't have an accident like we did, in the exact same storm.
So are we talking to New York state about this? We got that answer this
morning — and the answer was essentially no," Todd said.
"The OPP's had a bit of a dialogue, [but] nothing from senior levels
of government. And that's really where this conversation needs to
start."
In an email, MTO spokesperson Bob Nichols said "policy work is
underway" on potentially barring trucks from transporting certain goods
during bad weather, but any regulatory changes would require
"significant analysis and consultation with industry and subject matter
experts."
Ontario does not have the power to ban specific types of vehicles or goods from the roads during storms, Nichols said.
The province is also "constantly reviewing" how other jurisdictions,
including New York, respond to road safety issues, he added.
A representative from the Ontario Trucking Association at Monday's
meeting did pitch "technological solutions" that could possibly limit
tractor-trailer speeds in inclement weather, Todd said, as well as using
stronger packaging for dangerous goods.
Ultimately, Todd said, he and his fellow mayors had a united message for the province.
"This is not going away. We're not going to be ignored on this," he said. "And we want some action."
CALGARY, Alta. – Big rigs of all shapes and sizes convoyed down
Calgary streets Sept. 16 raising over $20,000 for Special Olympics
Alberta athletes.
Seventy-eight trucks took part in the 2017 World’s Largest Truck
Convoy, with participants from trucking companies throughout Western
Canada.
The convoy is an annual event that started in 2001 and runs in
partnership with the Alberta Law Enforcement Torch Run. Since, more than
15,000 trucks ranging from big rigs to dump trucks have taken part,
traveling over 8,000 kms to raise awareness for the cause.
Tri-Line Carries led the pack, which included such companies as Bison
Transport, Syndicate Transport, and Trimac, as well as Rosenau
Transport, where the convoy departed and concluded.
Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) president Lorraine Card
thanked all those who participated in the event, which aligns with
National Trucking Week, showcasing the job drivers do each and every day
for the Canadian economy and consumer.
“These ambassadors for safety also demonstrate a commitment to the
community through events like this and we’re very pleased the truck
convoy for Special Olympics Alberta in Calgary continues to grow year
over year,” Card said. “This is an event that Special Olympic athletes
truly enjoy and we’re proud of our partnership with Special Olympics
Alberta and the Alberta Law Enforcement Torch Run.”
Since it began, the World’s Largest Truck Convoy has raised more than $3 million for Special Olympics.
TROY,
MI – WABCO Holdings is upping the ante in its North American ownership,
announcing this morning that it is taking full control of the
he Meritor WABCO joint venture.
In a press release, WABCO Holdings said it was purchasing Meritor’s
stake in the joint venture business, with a transaction that is expected
to close Oct. 1.
Meritor WABCO, a distributer of WABCO products for commercial
vehicles in North America, employs about 200 people and had sales of
$300 million in fiscal year 2016.
With this agreement, WABCO will take over the former joint venture’s
application engineering and supply chain operations, including the
distribution center and customer service hub in Hebron, Kentucky.
The deal will also ensure WABCO will continue to have exclusive
access to a winter test track in Sault St. Marie, Michigan, and joint
access to a year-round test track in East Liberty, Ohio to support local
customers.
Following closure of the buyout, WABCO has agreed for Meritor to
continue to be its exclusive distributor for a certain range of WABCO’s
Aftermarket products in the United States and Canada, and its
non-exclusive distributor in Mexico.
Jacques Esculier, WABCO chairman and CEO, said acquiring the
partnership will unify and strengthen the group’s North American
presence.
The company also says the consolidation of its business will allow
them to further strengthen relationships with commercial vehicle
manufacturers and fleets through more simplified and direct channels.
WATERLOO, Ont. – BlackBerry and Fleet Complete announced today
that they have entered a reselling partnership where Fleet Complete will
be incorporating BlackBerry Radar into its fleet tracking solution.
According to the companies, the expanded solution will now enable
better asset capacity management for carriers, allowing for digital
freight brokering, and incorporates the environmental conditions of
trailers and containers in a single interface.
“Providing the most holistic all in one fleet and asset management
solution has been Fleet Complete’s sole mission for quite some time,”
said Tony Lourakis, CEO of Fleet Complete. “And after we met with
BlackBerry I saw an even greater number of capabilities that we can
offer our client base to help them succeed in the modern market
space…Our customers have a very diverse range of needs that we strive to
cater to and, by partnering with BlackBerry, we have expanded the
capabilities that are available to them through our expansive IoT
platform.”
This partnered asset management solution will significantly improve
and simplify operational matrices for fleet and logistics managers, the
companies explained. Now customers can get access to a wider variety of
data from their vehicles and trailers, adding load status, temperature,
humidity and pressure information, among many other data points, on a
single intuitive map view.
“Improving utilization and efficiency can only happen if you have
continuous visibility into all assets in your transportation fleet,”
said Philip Poulidis, SVP and GM of Radar, BlackBerry. “Fleet Complete
and BlackBerry have a shared vision to accelerate the transformation of
the logistics and supply chain industry. By working together, we will be
able to unlock the excess shipping capacity due to logistics
inefficiencies and improve the visibility into an entire fleet of both
powered and unpowered assets.”
High speed cashless tolling on the New York State Thruway could do more
than help the environment. Removing toll barriers could also help boost
economic development across the region.
long with reducing smog from idling vehicles waiting in line to pay
tolls - Buffalo Niagara International Trade Gateway Organization,
Executive Director Craig Turner says, electronic tolling would save
truck drivers and others in the logistics industry lots of time.
"Time is money in logistics. And as you're competing against a global
market, and you're trying to cut pennies off of the cost of your
product, the faster you can get your trucks to where they need to be the
less it's going to cost you," Turner said.
Along with
truckers, the logistics industry includes raw material suppliers,
manufacturers, warehouse operators and customs brokers. Turner says
replacing the Williamsville and the Lackawanna toll barriers with an
open-road cashless system has been on the organization's agenda for some
time.
"Having to stop at the toll barriers doesn't seem like
much when you're there for an extra 90-seconds going through or what
ever it takes. To all of us driving through 90-seconds sometimes doesn't
seem like a big deal. But to a truck on its way with a driver who's
counting his hours of service if we can take care of this we make our
region that much more competitive," Turner said.
Lowering
costs, he says would help attract new businesses to Western New York and
make the area more attractive to companies looking to do business in
Canada.
Canada Cartage partners with Praxair for Truckers Against Trafficking
TORONTO, Ont. – Canada Cartage, along with Praxair, announced
this week that they will be educating their drivers and their
communities across Canada in an effort to promote Truckers against
Trafficking (TAT) – an initiative to educate, equip, empower and
mobilize members of the trucking industry to combat domestic sex
trafficking.
TAT recognizes that members of the trucking industry are invaluable
in the fight against trafficking. As the eyes and ears of our nation’s
highways, drivers are in a unique position to make a difference and stop
traffickers who seek to exploit the transportation system for their
personal gain.
Canada Cartage and Praxair will train drivers on this initiative
throughout the month of September to equip their drivers with the
knowledge they need to help combat this heinous crime. TAT training has
resulted in a significant increase of reports of possible trafficking to
the national hotline from truck drivers, which has resulted in victim
recoveries and criminal arrests. Learn more by visiting
www.truckersagainsttrafficking.org.
RCMP seek suspect who fled fatal crash that claimed woman near Hope, B.C.
The B.C. Coroner has confirmed that a woman in her 30s has died in connection to the crash
A female passenger was killed when an SUV crashed into a
highway maintenance vehicle on Highway 3 east of Hope on Monday.
Police are searching for a suspect who fled a fatal crash that closed the Hope-Princeton highway for several hours last night.
The Upper Fraser Valley Regional RCMP detachment says the two vehicle
collision happened 10 kilometres east of Hope near the Hope Slide
lookout at around 3 p.m. PT Monday.
Police say the female passenger in her 30s died as a result of the crash.
Witnesses say they saw a SUV speeding and passing other vehicles then saw it collide with a highway maintenance truck.
The male driver of the SUV and his female passenger were thrown from
their vehicle, witnesses said. Police have now confirmed this was the
passenger that died.
The Ministry of Forestry says a BC Wildfire Service crew returning
from a deployment were some of the first responders on the scene. They
were able to deliver first aid and control traffic.
Suspected driver flees scene in stolen truck
One witness said that when the other motorists stopped to help, a man
— who may have been the driver of the SUV — said to him, "you better
call 911" and then commandeered a nearby white Ford F350 pick-up truck
belonging to the fire crew and took off.
A burned out, mangled SUV — which police identified as a Equinox — was left just off the road.
The fatal crash closed Highway 3 for nine hours on Monday. (Ozia Tube)
WorkSafe BC says they were also on scene, saying a worker was injured
in the collision but was treated and released from hospital.
Police have confirmed an individual suspected to be the driver of the vehicle left the scene before police arrived.
The man was described as wearing a white and red motorcycle-style jacket and tan shorts.
He was average height and had short, dark hair.
Police have now recovered the stolen truck but are still seeking the suspect.
They believe the suspect travelled to Hope after the collision and
advise the public not approach him and call 911 if they see him.
Stranded for hours
A couple of hundred vehicles including many semis and their occupants
were left stranded in an area — many for several hours — with no cell
service.
Highway 3 reopened to single lane traffic near Sunshine Valley shortly after midnight, more than nine hours after the mishap.
By 5 a.m. PT, both lanes had opened.
Joanne Taylor, the manager of the Sunshine Valley RV Resort, was
supposed to close her business at 5 p.m. PT but with all the stranded
travellers, she kept it open until late into the night.
"With the traffic coming in, we just stayed open ... that's what you do," she said.
Taylor — who has 10 cabins on the property — said they were quickly
snapped up by weary travellers as the closure progressed. But many
opened their shelters to other travellers who were looking for a place
to stay as well.
"It'll close once in a while in the winter but this is the longest its been closed for a traffic accident," she said.
A national trucking industry group is calling for transportation
infrastructure expansion and highway redundancies in northern Ontario.
A report released by the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) follows on the heels of federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau’s July unveiling of the $2.1 billion Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative.
The government calls it a "merit-based" infrastructure spending
program, spread out over 11 years, devoted to improving border
crossings, road, rail, aviation, and marine connections.
In the report, the CTA gathered input from its provincial associations on how the money should be spent on a province-by-province basis.
For northern Ontario, the truckers want key traffic chokepoints on
the Trans-Canada Highway addressed through lane expansion and bridges on
Highways 11 and 17 in northwestern Ontario. It was identified by the
CTA as being a “top priority” to support east-west trade and the growth
in mining and other resource-based activity.
They pointed out that commercial vehicles carry $100 million in goods daily across the new Nipigon Bridge.
But as the span’s unexpected closure proved in 2016, there needs to
be extra highway capacity and built-in redundancies along key trade
routes to keep domestic commerce moving, said the CTA.
“As noted by the Northern Ontario Multi-Modal Transportation
Strategy: traffic forecasts have found that over the next 25 years
commercial vehicle flows will drive the overall growth in traffic
volumes on the highway network in Northern Ontario,” said the report.
The CTA is a federation of provincial trucking associations representing more than 4,500 carriers.
“While not entirely exhaustive, the list represents specific projects
and general areas for consideration. In each case, funding for
road-based infrastructure would significantly improve the trucking
industry’s ability to carry the nation’s domestic and international
trade,” said CTA president Stephen Laskowski.
OTTAWA,
ON – The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) applauded the Canadian
government for issuing the permits required for the Ambassador Bridge
expansion project to continue.
The Detroit International Bridge Company, building a privately-funded
six-lane crossing to replace the current, 87-year-old, Ambassador
Bridge, announced the granting of the permits earlier this week. The current bridge will come down once the new one is in place.
The new bridge, along with the planned Gordie Howe International
Bridge being constructed a few kilometers away, will increase capacity
at North America’s busiest border crossing.
CTA President Stephen Laskowski says the investments in the new
infrastructure means good things for future trade by truck between
Canada and the United States.
“With this development, the Canadian trucking industry and supply
chains on both sides of the border – which depend on fast, efficient
trade – should be welcoming not just one, but two contemporary new
bridges capable of supporting international trade demands in a modern
economy,” he said.
The Ontario-Michigan gateway sees more than 4.2 million trucks per
year cross between the two existing bridges, the current Ambassador
Bridge and the Blue Water bridge operating between Sarnia and Port
Huron.
