Alberta shuts down trucking company linked to fatal collision in Manitoba

The Alberta government has shuttered a trucking company linked to a recent fatal collision in Manitoba after an investigation found violations, including deliberate and prolonged regulatory non-compliance.

Conquer Transportation set up in Alberta in late 2021; an associated company had its safety credentials revoked in Manitoba earlier that year, regulators have said.

Alberta took action against Conquer Transportation after one of the company’s trucks was involved in a deadly crash in Brandon in May, Transport Minister Devin Dreeshen said in a Thursday statement.

Police have said the truck failed to stop at a stop sign, colliding with an SUV at “highway speeds” and killing a 49-year-old woman who was its sole occupant.

Manitoba authorities have said they previously decertified a related company, Conquer Transport, over chronic safety issues. The province subsequently accused the company of setting up in Alberta under a slightly different name.

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A probe launched by Alberta regulators in June concluded that Conquer Transportation engaged in “willful and sustained non-compliance,” according to the minister’s Thursday statement. Investigators also identified “chameleon practices” at the company – referring to carriers who move jurisdictions or change names to evade enforcement.

After the investigation, Alberta downgraded the company’s safety rating to unsatisfactory, “effectively shutting down its operations immediately,” the Thursday statement said. The company was penalized $16,500 for unspecified infractions.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Dreeshen said his ministry was committed to putting “boots on the ground” to ensure adequate safety enforcement.

“We have been cracking down, but I still think there’s more to go for sure,” he said.

Mr. Dreeshen did not describe the infractions uncovered at Conquer Transportation but said inspectors identified “abnormalities” in how the carrier was operating.

Conquer Transportation did not respond to requests for comment.

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A Globe investigation published earlier this year found that poor information sharing and weak penalties are undermining enforcement efforts in the trucking sector. In June, The Globe revealed that Conquer Transport was granted permission by the federal government on three occasions to hire temporary foreign workers, after its safety fitness certificate was revoked by Manitoba regulators in 2021.

These certificates grant trucking companies authority to operate by confirming that they meet minimum safety requirements.

The May collision involving Conquer Transportation prompted Manitoba to publicly call for the creation of a national trucking registry to better share safety data.

Mr. Dreeshen’s statement Thursday said work was under way through the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA). The body is governed by representatives of Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments responsible for transportation and highway safety. It is currently developing a “national database” to close loopholes in data sharing that some carriers currently exploit, the statement said.

A spokesperson for the CCMTA told The Globe that a timeline for delivery of a carrier data exchange will be established in the fall.

The effort is “something that I’ve been pushing, and other transportation ministers across the country have been pushing,” Mr. Dreeshen told The Globe.

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Manitoba Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor said in a statement to The Globe that the province was “pleased to hear Alberta has taken action against Conquer Transport and is aligned with our calls for a federal trucking database.”

Manitoba authorities told The Globe that motor carrier enforcement officers in the province observed a Conquer Transportation truck using Alberta plates in February, 2022, and determined that the company was operating the same trucks previously registered in Manitoba with a new Alberta-issued safety fitness certificate.

In May, Brandon police said the driver of a Conquer Transportation truck, Brijpal Panwar, had been charged with dangerous driving causing death after colliding with an SUV at “highway speeds.” He was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court in the fall.

In his Thursday statement, Mr. Dreeshen said Alberta authorities are taking “tough enforcement action to improve safety,” including issuing 443 penalties and taking 20 unsafe carriers off the roads since October.

Thirteen of those companies were “chameleon carriers” that changed their names or relocated to avoid scrutiny, the statement said. Mr. Dreeshen said the province has also prevented 40 chameleon carriers from obtaining operating authority in the province.

Robert Harper, president of the Alberta Motor Transport Association, said more robust data sharing between jurisdictions – including tracking carriers’ assets – is crucial to identifying such carriers.

Mr. Harper said Conquer Transportation’s safety record in Alberta prior to the May fatal accident was among the worst in the province – pointing to the need for more proactive inspections. Trucking companies’ safety records are publicly available in Alberta through their carrier profiles.

“An increase in audits and focus on companies that have poor safety fitness certificate ratings would be invaluable,” he said.

Mr. Dreeshen said the province was also cracking down on driver misclassification, a practice that The Globe’s recent investigation found has become increasingly prevalent in trucking. The practice refers to companies falsely treating drivers as self-employed to evade payroll contributions and basic labour protections.

A May inspection blitz found that 20 per cent of the 81 truck drivers stopped were suspected of being misclassified, including several temporary foreign workers, the minister’s Thursday statement said.