Barriere’s Mayor is applauding the move by the BC government to launch mandatory electronic monitoring of long-haul trucks in this province.
Electronic Logging Devices — in effect on all long-haul trucks as of August 1st — automatically record driving time, helping to ensure commercial drivers do not drive longer each day than regulations allow.
“ELDs accurately track hours of service and reduce the risk of incidents due to driver fatigue,” said the BC government in announcing the move.
Ward Stamer contends the ELDs are just one “tool in the tool box” to make things safer on the roads, particularly along the two-lane Yellowhead Highway north of Kamloops.
“Speed limiters, looking forward in the future, being able to limit some of the excess speed,” said Stamer. “Of course, our mandatory dash-cam resolution is still going ahead at UBCM.”
Stamer says his pitch to have front-facing dash cams on all long-haul trucks is gaining momentum, suggesting it will gain unanimous support at the forthcoming Union of BC Municipalities convention in September.
He says its also gaining support from groups such as the BC Trucking Association and the BC Chamber of Commerce.
Stamer says he and other local leaders along that stretch want additional action taken soon, particularly when the port strike concludes and additional freight traffic hits the roads.
“The snow is going to be flying in 3-months from now. That’s not a very long period of time,” said Stamer. “We still have a lot of initiatives that we’ve discussed — Mayor Blackwell [Clearwater], Chief Lampreau [Simpcw] and myself — with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.”
Other improvements expected on the Yellowhead this year could include the introduction of center-line rumble strips, as well as additional signage.