April 2026 Newsletter

Dear HVTT Forum subscriber,

This month’s newsletter focuses on the theme of truck safety, specifically highlighting two recent truck safety developments in the Canadian context. As HVTT marks its 40th anniversary in 2026, it seems appropriate to reflect on this theme since it was one of the key objectives of the technical analysis conducted as part of the Canadian Vehicle Weights and Dimensions Study in 1986. That study underpinned the development of Canada’s Memorandum of Understanding on Vehicle Weights and Dimensions (an MoU that is still active today) and was instrumental in the formation of HVTT.

The 1986 Study pursued three principal objectives: improving truck safety, harmonizing inter-provincial regulations toward a more uniform regime, and increasing the productivity of heavy vehicle operations. Based on pioneering efforts in the measurement and specification of dynamic performance measures, a milestone achievement of the Study was the introduction of the tridem axle group that could be used on both single-trailer and double-trailer configurations. Specifically, the B-double offered improved stability relative to conventional doubles and so was allowed to operate at higher gross vehicle weight (mass).

Despite this well-documented history, truck safety remains a challenging topic in Canada and around the world. The challenges stem from the multidisciplinary nature of truck safety, which encompasses, inter alia: vehicle design and dynamic performance; the analysis of crash frequencies, rates, and severity outcomes; commercial vehicle regulation and enforcement; driver training; carrier safety programs; and safety-related technologies. As observed in its Consensus Study Report on Research to Support Evaluation of Truck Size and Weight Regulations, the Transportation Research Board asserts that persistent data limitations related to truck crash frequency, truck exposure, crash rates, and vehicle performance inhibit informed policy formulation.

Canada releases its Road Safety Strategy 2035 and Beyond (RSS 2035+)

In February 2026, Canada’s Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety released its national road safety strategy, RSS 2035+. Building on the three central tenets of the familiar Safe Systems Approach (i.e., safe road users, safe vehicles, safe road infrastructure), RSS 2035+ aims to progress Canada’s long-term vision to achieve zero road deaths, with some specific objectives pertaining to truck safety.

Based on an analysis of data obtained from Transport Canada’s National Collision Database, RSS 2035+ notes that commercial vehicle safety improved in the period of 2016-2020 relative to the baseline 2011-2015 period. Despite that progress, RSS 2035+ identifies commercial vehicle drivers as one of its six key risk groups. The strategy considers a commercial vehicle as any vehicle with a mass over 4,586 kg or one involved in passenger transportation. According to RSS 2035+, while commercial vehicle drivers represent 5% of all road users in Canada, the collisions in which they are involved account for 20% of road fatalities. Compared to smaller vehicles, commercial vehicle mass and distance travelled (exposure) are seen as significant factors contributing to collision risk. Consequently, RSS 2035+ includes commercial vehicle driver training, education, and awareness as one of its key objectives. The strategy also identifies commercial vehicle inspections, the development of improved collision and exposure data, implementation of safety technologies, and better inter-agency governance models as ways to improve commercial vehicle safety.

Truck safety and “Driver Inc.”

Recent news surrounding “Driver Inc.” highlights the complex, multidisciplinary nature of truck safety and offers an example of the importance of several points raised in the RSS 2035+. The “Driver Inc.” term is used by some stakeholders to characterize a provision of Canada’s Income Tax Act that allows drivers to sell services to carriers through an incorporated personal service business. In a move endorsed by the Canadian Trucking Alliance, the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety agreed to target the enforcement of labour, tax, and safety regulations (e.g., hours of service, vehicle maintenance) for those operating within the “Driver Inc.” model. The aim is that more coordinated, interprovincial training and enforcement actions could improve compliance of self-employed drivers with tax law, as well as truck safety regulations specified in the National Safety Code.

Special thanks to Dr. Julien Lepine for alerting me to this development.

Before closing, I take this opportunity to remind you that HVTT will be hosting an on-line webinar on May 6, 2026 entitled Worldwide trends towards high-productivity transport. Please consider attending. In addition, if you act now, you still have time to submit an abstract for our upcoming symposium, HVTT19, which will be held jointly with the International Conference on Weigh-in-Motion (ICWIM10) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, May 9-13, 2027. The call for papers is available here.

From Winnipeg, where spring temperatures seem slow to arrive,

Jonathan Regehr

HVTT Vice-President, North America