Trucking firm in fatal crash shut down

The Alberta government has shut down the trucking company at the centre of a crash in Brandon in May that claimed the life of a 49-year-old woman.

Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen on Friday said that Conquer Transportation was shut down after an investigation found that it was non-compliant in a variety of categories, including safety and maintenance, and the company was charged with “obstructing and hindering” an investigator.

The company was fined $16,500 and its safety fitness rating was downgraded to unsatisfactory, essentially shutting it down.

“There are these bad actors that really do give a black eye to the industry,” Dreeshen told the Sun Friday about Conquer and similar companies.

Conquer Transportation set up in Alberta shortly after Conquer Transport had its safety fitness certificate removed by the Manitoba government in 2021.

On May 27, a Conquer Transportation truck was involved in a fatal crash at the intersection of Highway 110 and Richmond Avenue East in Brandon.

Brijpal Panwar was charged with dangerous driving causing death after the truck he was driving allegedly entered the intersection at “highway speeds” and struck an SUV driven by Brandon resident Xiaoyun Zhang, according to police. Zhang had the right of way and Panwar drove past a stop sign affixed with a flashing red light.

Panwar was granted bail in early June, with the judge agreeing that he would be allowed to live in Ontario while awaiting trial. His next court date is Oct. 6 in Brandon.

In total, 20 carriers were shut down by the Alberta government last October, along with five trucking schools, Dreeshen said.

He said that’s hundreds of trucks that would have been operating unsafely.

“There’s obviously a shortage of truckers across the country, but we want to make sure that we have good truckers behind the wheel.”

Dreeshen said his province has also prevented 40 “chameleon carriers” from operating out of Alberta. Chameleon carriers are companies that move to another province after being shut down in one, often with the same management and equipment.

He called the situation a “whack-a-mole game” that happens across Canada.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor on Friday said she was “very glad” to hear about the Alberta government’s decision to shut down Conquer.

“I’m obviously thrilled that Alberta has shut them down,” Naylor told the Sun.

“Certainly, the fact that they were allowed to open in Alberta and continue to operate over the last five years was very problematic.”

The president of the Alberta Motor Carrier Association, which advocates for the province’s transportation sector, said his organization is “fully in support” of the Alberta government decision to shut down Conquer.

“When you have a fatal accident that is quite egregious in terms of what happened, from my understanding, I see no alternative but to shut down the company, especially with the number of vehicles that they had and the number of infractions that we saw,” Robert Harper said.

Conquer had the 226th worst safety rating among carriers in the province, out of about 15,000 registered companies, Harper said.

Conquer showed a pattern of bad behaviour, he said, adding that taking a problematic carrier off the road will hopefully make the industry safer.

Naylor said the issue is much larger than just Conquer, as multiple companies shut down in Manitoba have been able to reopen in other provinces over the years.

“It’s a loophole that has just been allowed to continue because of the lack of federal involvement, and that’s really the issue here,” Naylor said.

Naylor and the Manitoba Trucking Association have been pushing for a national trucking registry to prevent chameleon carriers from operating in one province after being shut down in another.

Naylor said she’s “absolutely thrilled” that federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon has indicated that his government supports her advocacy.

“The federal government stands ready to support this initiative at any moment,” MacKinnon said in early June.

The database, Naylor said, is the most important thing to keep highways safe.

“If Alberta shut down 20 companies, we need to know who those companies are. We need to know that they’re not going to be setting up shop in another province tomorrow,” she said.

Naylor said she’s also encouraged that the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators “has indicated that there is a timeline for delivery of this data exchange.”

She declined to share more information about the CCMTA, but said she hopes to hear an update at the next federal, provincial and territorial meeting in the fall.

Dreeshen said the Alberta government also wants to see MacKinnon take the topic seriously so information can be shared with provinces.

“It shouldn’t take accidents and fatalities for governments to prioritize this type of work. We’re hoping that we can get it as soon as possible,” he said.

“We want to make sure that we have all the information possible to make sure that the bad actors are weeded out.”

A database would help pinpoint certain people in the industry and do background work even before a new company moves to the province, Dreeshen said.

Harper said it makes a lot of sense to create a national database, and his association supports it, but authorities need to make sure the data between jurisdictions is comparable and consistent.

Currently, it’s difficult to compare information between provinces as each government collects data differently.

Conquer Transportation and the Manitoba Trucking Association didn’t respond to requests for comment.

» alambert@brandonsun.com