Skip to content

Treatment of drivers

I am a truck driver and on January 6th I was enroute to Langley with a load.

I am a truck driver and on January 6th I was enroute to Langley with a load. Reaching the area of ten mile that evening the road was closed for sometime due to avalanche control, and clearing. We waited in line for sometime, then were directed to go to the ten mile brake check where chain up was mandatory to proceed. After chaining up I made my way into Golden arriving about 8:30 p.m.

Once in Golden, we were told that the highway west of Revelstoke was closed until after 3 p.m. Jan. 7th, and that Revelstoke itself was filled to "capacity" with trucks, and there would be no room to park. We were told by the dept. of highways workers that night that the Rogers Pass was open but extremely hazardous, and that we should stay in Golden.

BUT!! Golden also was pretty full to capacity with trucks everywhere. Trying to find a spot at night in the dark, while snowing, and not knowing the side roads at all was difficult. Eventually I parked along the curb along the north side of the frontage road running beside the highway, I was up about 1/2 mile from the Husky, just before the driveway to the U-haul lot. There were a number of other trucks parked the same. There was a clear lane for traffic in the middle of the roadway but 2 cars couldn't pass at the same time. I checked making sure I was clear and safely situated. I left my four way flashers on and went to bed at about 11:30 p.m.

At roughly 7 a.m., I was awakened by a pounding on the side of my truck. A guy who said he was from highways maintenance gruffly, and not nicely, ordered me to immediately move the truck or he was calling the cops. He said it was a fire lane. He said there were lots of other places to park, which there were not. He was impolite, and spoke to me like I was some sort of criminal, or bottom feeder.

I phoned the police, 911 to be exact. I explained to the lady the situation, the highways being closed, the parking problem, and even that highways guys were blocking the exit from town from where I could see.

At about that point the guy came back, driving a dark green minivan with an amber light on the roof. I told him I was talking with the police, and they want to speak with him.

He took my phone and identified himself as a Maintenance Supervisor, and said I was ordered to move because I was blocking the fire lane "completely" and he said he asked me to move " 30 feet" and I was not complying. The fact is there was no spot 30 feet one way or another, and not anywhere in sight. He told the RCMP dispatcher something about highways maintenance taking control of the road situation or something like that.

In the end, the RCMP told me it's better to move than to confront this guy, saying he was offering to lead me to a better spot. But when I was ready to move he had disappeared. I did drive up and down the roads and found no spots the full length of the frontage roads, either side, and in all the lots, everything was full. On my second go round a truck pulled out next to the Husky lot and I managed to park for a bit.

My question is this. Is this how Golden treats truck drivers? Are we the nasty things you want to get rid of as quick as possible, after we spend our money of course?

 

 

Anthony Boogerd

Lower Mainland