CTA action plan to improve road safety

The accident involving a trailer truck and the Humboldt Broncos team bus last April shook the trucking industry. The tragedy, which claimed 16 lives and left 13 injured, most of whom were young hockey players, left the entire population stricken. But the accident was also a wake-up call. According to the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), once the facts surrounding this event are made public, they should be used as a catalyst to ensure total compliance with safety regulations.

In a press release, the CTA also applauded the Alberta government’s announcement regarding mandatory entry-level training for commercial vehicle drivers in the province and the development of entry requirements for new commercial carriers. It was in this spirit that the CTA developed a 10-point action plan to foster a culture of safety throughout the industry. What follows is a summary of their proposals; click here to read the detailed action plan.

1. Introduce regulations to mandate the use of electronic logging devices (ELDs) by September-December 2019.
2. Explore the feasibility of developing regulations requiring the installation of forward-facing cameras in all new and existing federally-regulated commercial vehicles.
3. Assess available technologies to monitor distracted driving behaviour of commercial drivers.
4. Assess the market readiness of advanced driver assist systems (ADAs) and determine the role governments can play in increasing the penetration rate of driver assist technology.
5. Encourage all provinces to introduce mandatory entry-level training (MELT) for commercial truck drivers based on the national occupational standard (NOS).
6. Develop a distracted driving awareness module for commercial vehicle drivers to be incorporated into training programs.
7. Explore ways to expand the use of on-road safety prescreening technology to assist provincial enforcement officials in identifying commercial vehicle operators that require further attention and intervention.
8. Better focus on-road enforcement related to known human factors that contribute to collisions.
9. Develop a better proactive system to identify trucking companies and drivers that pose a risk to public safety.
10. Develop a ‘best practices’ guide to assist purchasers of transportation services in identifying unsafe operators.

To learn more about the CTA action plan, click here: http://cantruck.ca/cta-releases-10-point-action-plan-to-address-national-truck-safety-and-compliance/