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In early February, a joint operation by Alberta Sheriffs, Calgary Police Service and the provincial government conducted more thorough inspections of commercial vehicles at the Airdrie, Alta., vehicle inspection station north of Calgary.
Insp. BJ Bjornson with Alberta Sheriffs says plenty of vehicles were dealt with.
“We had 20 of the 23 vehicles not pass the actual inspection qualification process,” explained Bjornson. “Five of which were able to (be) fixed locally on site, whereas the other 15 weren’t able to be fixed locally and had to remain on site, and placed permanently out of service until that could be removed in a safer manner.”
Alberta Sheriffs operate more than 40 vehicle inspection stations and mobile inspection stations across the province. On any given day, officers perform upwards of 40 commercial inspections each day for a total of more than 15,000 taking place in 2025, resulting in more than 4,000 vehicles being removed from Alberta roadways.
“We actually have two levels of inspections we’re looking for. Our level two inspection would qualify as similar to what a driver would do for their inspection,” Bjornson noted.
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“On that specific day we conducted a level one inspection where we do that preliminary inspection on the outside of the vehicle, but then we get underneath the vehicle and we start looking at the components.”
When issues are found, Alberta Sheriffs primarily focus on education, but can escalate if necessary.
“Depending on what the infraction is, or the deviation or defect that we find, it could be anything from a fine that is nominal in nature, or it could be anything up to a long duration to have that vehicle seized,” said Bjornson.
“That impacts the drivers, that impacts the carriers, which is why we focus more on the collaborative approach with our industry partners.”
At Heavy Wrenching Diesel, co-owner Joseph Saoud tells Global News choosing not to stay on top of servicing their equipment can result in serious repercussions.
“When the truck is not operating, they’re losing money. The guys who are set up for success are doing preventative maintenance rather than waiting for it to blow,” Saoud remarked.
“These are killing machines if they’re not being paid attention to.”
And it’s not just the drivers or carriers that can face consequences.
“If there’s any proof that a shop has recently looked at it, and allowed it to leave, or worse yet passed the safety inspection with that damage? They will come here and fine us, remove licensing,” said Saoud.
“So there are consequences to bending the rules.”
Saoud says he’s heard of potential bad actors within the industry, but says the province is good at nipping problems in the bud before the grow into an issue.
“I don’t know how they get away with it, but they do,” notes Saoud. “But they don’t last long, it’s just dangerous while they’re in operation, and DOT (Department of Transportation) does a pretty good job of finding them and catching them.”
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