Dozens of charges, warnings issued during Yukon trucking crackdown

Yukon RCMP and territorial government officials issued dozens of charges and warnings during a crackdown on commercial vehicles in the Watson Lake area last week.

A release says 72 vehicles and their drivers were checked over a four-day period.

Drivers were checked to see if they were sober and properly licensed, their cargos were properly secured and their paperwork was in order.

"The trucking industry is vital to the Yukon, and the majority of people in the industry operate within the scope of the law," said Yukon Highways and Public Works official Sebastien Nadeau.

"It's unfortunate however, that this enforcement blitz saw so many infractions. We will continue to work with the RCMP and carrier compliance [unit] as well as National Safety Code to enforce the rules and ensure road safety," he said.

Forty-four charges were issued, the release says, and 32 warnings were given. Most of the drivers were tested for impaired driving.

The release says the offences included:

• Three 24 hour driving suspensions, two related to alcohol use and the other to fatigue.

• One 72 hour suspension for a falsified log book.

• One improperly licensed driver.

• Three charges for transporting inadequately secured cargo.

• One charge for fail to report to weigh scale.

• Two charges for careless driving.

• Two charges for operating an uninsured vehicle.

"The violations identified in Watson Lake are reflective of the offences seen throughout the year, and as such drivers can expect to see our continued joint enforcement both roadside and at check stops", said RCMP Cpl. Natasha Dunmall with Yukon RCMP Traffic Services.

The checkstops were done on the Alaska Highway, the Robert Campbell Highway and Highway 37.