Traffic was snarled on Highway 99 through Delta, B.C., on Thursday, after yet another truck struck an overpass.
DriveBC said the highway was closed to southbound traffic shortly before 1 p.m. due to a “vehicle incident” at the 112 Street overpass.
The route has since been reopened.
Images from the scene showed a semi-truck with large metal girders on a flatbed that appeared to have struck the 112 Street overpass. One of the girders was lodged between the overpass and the highway.
B.C. Emergency Health Services said it was called about the crash at 12:15 p.m., and deployed two ambulances.
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One person was transported to hospital. Their condition was not immediately clear.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation described the collision as “frustrating,” and that an initial assessment shows “significant” damage to the overpass.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement branch was ” suspending the company’s ability to operate in B.C. while the investigation is underway, which will likely cost the company tens of thousands of dollars,” the statement added.
“This suspension is a result of the company’s unwillingness or inability to operate safely within the province, following its sixth infrastructure crash in two years,” Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said in a statement.
The company will be unable to operate its entire fleet of 65 vehicles as of 4:30 p.m. Friday, Fleming added.
Chohan Freight Forwarders, which has been involved in nearly a third of collisions involving overpasses in the last several years, confirmed one of its trucks was involved in Thursday’s crash.
It said the driver, an “owner operator” who “is not a company driver” failed to wait for his permit and route directions for his oversized load.
“We are disappointed in this driver’s non-compliance as we have been working hard with CVSE and the Ministry of Transportation over the past 2 years. Our company has an exemplary safety rating and has been in compliance with all safety regulations,” the company said in a statement.
The company further said that the driver and drivers involved in five previous collisions had been fired.
“It is absolutely the driver’s fault, he was not told to move ahead, he was not told to leave without any sort of permit, our organization did exactly what they were supposed to do, which is make sure the load was measured, and the route planning was being established, by the bc permit centre,” Choban director Carly Hunter told Global News in an interview.
The crash comes two weeks to the day after the province announced a package of new penalties and technology requirements for commercial operators aimed at cracking down on such crashes.
The reforms include increased fines for over-height vehicles and loads, escalating penalties for companies with repeat crashes up to fleet licence suspensions along with speed limiters and mandatory warning devices for vehicles with raised boxes.
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