B.C. transportation officials have ordered a trucking company to suspend operations after an oversized helicopter load struck a highway sign.
The infrastructure strike occurred on the afternoon of Monday, January 15, in Burnaby, B.C.
The B.C. Ministry of Transportation confirms the Gilmore overpass in Burnaby was hit by a helicopter being transported on a truck Monday afternoon. https://t.co/5xeyLUxSLI
— CityNews Vancouver (@CityNewsVAN) January 17, 2024
Trucking company International Machine Transport Inc. was hauling a shrink-wrapped helicopter body east on Highway 1 when the load allegedly struck an overhead sign at the Gilmore overpass, the Vernon Morning Star reports.
The damage to the sign was minimal and no one was hurt.
Officials said that “the commercial vehicle was transporting a helicopter. The driver had received an oversized permit, however the height exceeded what was stated on the permit.”
The British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure ordered International Machine Transport Inc. to cease all operations involving the company’s twenty truck Canadian fleet until an investigation into the sign strike is complete.
B.C. officials have been aggressive in the past few weeks in grounding fleets involved in infrastructure strikes.
Last week, the 20 truck fleet of TSD Holdings Ltd was ordered to cease operations after a truck hauling a container scraped the top of Massey Tunnel in Richmond, B.C.
In late December 2023, Canadian transportation officials also sidelined B.C.-based Chohan Freight Forwarders Ltd. following the company’s sixth infrastructure crash in two years. The company operates 65 trucks.
B.C. recently increased fines for over-height vehicles from $115 to $575 in an effort to stop bridge/infrastructure strikes.