53 search results for "cvse"

How to Avoid Being Pranked by Spring on the Coquihalla

Warning! Don’t let spring play an April Fools’ prank on you. Roadside signs state passenger vehicles are required to have winter tires, and commercial trucks must carry chains, on most BC highways between October 1 and March 31. However, that doesn’t mean winter tires and chains are never needed beyond those dates. Sometimes spring lets Old Man Winter outstay his welcome, especially on high elevation routes such as the Coquihalla. Professional truck drivers who travel BC’s high mountain passes...

“I was in a hurry.” That was the excuse a Vancouver Island driver gave when one of our CVSE officers stopped him on the Malahat for driving with a mere “porthole” of snow cleared from his windshield. The officer issued the driver a $368 fine and didn’t let him continue driving without clearing all the snow off his vehicle. When we tweeted the photo, many of you were shocked: What’s worse, this isn’t just a one-off occurrence. Surrey RCMP...

Our 170 BC Rest Areas are the perfect spot to refresh and recharge before heading out on the highway, and they are about to get a whole lot better. Since the beginning of 2016, we’ve been working closely with the BC Trucking Association on the BC Highway Rest Area Survey and report. We wanted to get the voice of the trucking industry – what they like and what they don’t like – about rest areas in the province. Their...

If you’re looking to use our highways beyond the regular to and from home or road trips, you may have to look at getting a permit. Do you want to film a movie on a BC highway? Do you want to carry a HUGE load on your truck? Do you need to move some cattle? To be able to do these things (and a few others), you’ll need to apply for a permit. Commercial Vehicle Permits – A commercial...

The hustle. The sweat. The pressure to be the best… Commercial vehicle inspectors put their safety sense to the test at the 2016 CVSE Inspectors’ Challenge in Victoria, BC, June 13-17, 2016. The annual competition places seven CVSE inspectors under intense scrutiny in timed events, each competitor striving to show he or she is the sharpest at detecting hazardous vehicles, loads and drivers. The inspectors competed in four main competitions: Truck and trailer inspection, including driver; Dangerous goods inspection,...

What You Need to Know about Seasonal Load Restrictions

There’s been a lot of buzz about seasonal load restrictions lately. No wonder – it’s spring! So, we thought the best way to address some of the weighty details and clarify myths is by chatting with one of our own: Val Hunsaker. Val is the Fort George District CVSE Manager, based in Prince George. TranBC: Why are seasonal load restrictions important? Val: Seasonal load restrictions are put into place to protect our roads from damage or failure during the...

The Dark Side of Off-Road Vehicle Lights

Drivers who operate vehicles off road – working in the bush or enjoying wilderness recreation – now have access to a dazzling selection of specialized off-road vehicle lights and light bars, to brighten their way. But while these popular ultra-bright lights can be useful and fun, there’s a dark side. We frequently receive reports of motorists and commercial drivers, who are driving on highways with their off-roading lights turned on. Those drivers get a super illuminated view of what’s...

The Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement branch (CVSE) is responsible for making sure BC highways never come anywhere close to becoming the Wild West. That means safeguarding travellers by educating the commercial transport industry and, when necessary, enforcing the National Safety Code, which is a set of national standards supported by provincial regulations. There are minimum safety standards carriers (i.e. the employers) and drivers must follow. The rules are clear; there’s even a useful online course to help carriers...

BC Highway 5 from Hope to Merritt (also known as the Coquihalla or “the Coq”) is a busy transportation corridor through a high mountain pass, and because of this high elevation, the Coquihalla can experience periods of heavy snowfall. Don’t let that worry you though – VSA Highway Maintenance, our maintenance contractor for the route, has a plan. It’s called “the Coquihalla Snowshed Protocol” and it’s every bit as important as it sounds. What exactly is the protocol and...

Planning parades, towing boats and RVs, licencing limos or developing rural subdivisions? We hear all kinds of questions about all kinds of topics… It’s natural that many of these questions come to our offices across the province, given we’re the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. We can give you a full answer to a lot of questions, but in some cases, we are not the organization responsible for the area you want to know about, or the...