With the weigh scale lights flashing Friday, truckers were required to pull over at the Hoselaw stop. But rather than an inspection, they were greeted by Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Genia Leskiw, transportation committee members, and transport officers for burgers and pop, courtesy of B & R Eckels, E-Can Oilfield Service, and Tri-City Contracting.
Leskiw said the event offered the opportunity to thank commercial drivers for the work they do, as well as increase awareness for commercial vehicle safety. Members from the MD of Bonnyville Oil Producers Traffic Safety Committee and the Commercial Transport Advisory Committee attended the event.
Around 80 commercial truck drivers saw the flashing lights and stopped for a quick bite at the Hoselaw weigh station on Friday as part of commercial vehicle safety month.
“As far as this event here I think it's really good. It shows that we're all human beings and that we're all trying to work together,” said Ken Krohn.
Krohn, a truck driver from Edmonton, has worked in the transport industry for 40 years. He said he thinks there is too much enforcement and not enough training for drivers.
“If they would spend more money on training drivers before they were allowed to go on the road, I don't think they would need as much enforcement,” he said.
He added that he'd like to see enforcement and industry co-operate more.
Walter Szuroski, with E-Can Oilfield Services, sits on the Commercial Transport Committee as a member of industry. The committee meets quarterly with Leskiw to address transportation concerns and was started by former MLA Denis Ducharme.
“It kind of gets everybody on the same playing field,” he said. “It really works good in this area.”
The committee includes agriculture, logging, trucking, and oilfield representatives, and is one of only two such committees in the province. Around 20 people from the constituency sit on the committee.
“We hear from everybody,” Szuroski said. “We hear a lot of input from farmers and residents, and we try to bring that forward and see if we can help out.”
Roland Feist, a transport officer with Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, demonstrated the thermal imaging unit at the barbecue, which he says can help keep roads safer by detecting malfunctioning or overheated brakes.
The system works with an infrared camera that detects light not visible to the human eye, and can spot overheated bearings, under-inflated tires, retread separation, or overloaded units.
“It's quite an awesome setup,” Feist said. “This is one of the newer technologies in Canada.” Transport officers started using the technology in Alberta in 2005.
Barry Sallstrom, regional traffic safety co-ordinator for Region 7 East, said the barbecue offered the chance to increase awareness about commercial vehicle safety month. A booth at the barbecue offered tips for smaller vehicle drivers to improve highway safety, such as not to drive in the blind spot of a commercial vehicle and never to cut in front of one.
