Yukon changes inspection requirements for some large commercial vehicles

The Yukon government is changing the requirements for Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspections (PMVI) for commercial vehicles operating in the territory.

As of Jan. 1, commercial vehicles weighing over 11,794 kilograms will only have to undergo inspection every 12 months, instead of every six months.

Antoine Goulet is a spokesperson with the department of Highways and Public Works. He said this change aligns with the National Safety Code requirements and practices in many other Canadian jurisdictions, like Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.

Goulet said this move to yearly inspections from semi-annual ones is also a way to make things a bit easier on those working in the industry.

"Doing an inspection every six months can be a little bit costly," Goulet said. "There's inspection fees. You know, it's down time for a business to have it inspected very thoroughly every six months so by changing that standard we're helping businesses save money and you know perform more efficiently since there's less down time."

The department of Highways and Public works said inspection intervals for buses will remain at every six months.

'It's a good thing for sure'

Ross Mercer owns Mercer Contracting in Whitehorse. He said he fully supports the change.

"I think it's a good thing for sure," Mercer told CBC News. "Any step in the direction of standardizing things between jurisdictions, between provinces and territories, to me is positive."

Mercer said his fleet consists of a dozen "heavy" trucks and around 50 trailers. He said checks and maintenance are performed on all of them on a regular basis. He said that as a seasonal business, some of the equipment doesn't get over-utilized, so the change will also mean spending less money and time on inspections, and more time on the road.

"I'm not suggesting that nothing should be inspected but in a lot of cases six months is too often," he said. "It's just an expense and a burden on the industry and it's not necessary."

According to Mercer's manager Jared Davy, inspections for one truck can take up anywhere from four to eight hours, and cost anywhere between $150 and $200 an hour. He said multiply that by the number of trucks and trailers in the fleet and it can be a pretty costly bill.

Garry and Sylvie Gammie own Gammie Trucking Ltd, in Dawson City, Yukon. In an email, Sylvie expressed her support for the change as well.

"As a company who does the bulk of its trucking within a roughly seven-month-per-year basis, six-month inspections are a costly and mostly unnecessary expense, as many of our trucks could easily be parked for four-to-five months at a time," Sylvie wrote. "The six-month timeline does not differentiate or account for amount of usage and/or miles driven."

Sylvie added that "there are a very limited number of individuals, businesses who are certified to offer the PMVI inspections in our area, and several businesses requiring these for their vehicles, increasing the burden on local companies."

"In short, changing to a 12-month inspection schedule is definitely good for us."