Carrier safety is a responsibility shared by everyone in our industry. Carriers, drivers, shippers, regulators, enforcement agencies, and industry associations all play a role in ensuring Saskatchewan’s highways remain safe while supporting the efficient movement of goods throughout the province.
Saskatchewan has long maintained a strong commercial vehicle safety framework. Through roadside inspections, carrier monitoring programs, compliance reviews, facility audits, and enforcement activities, significant effort is invested in identifying safety concerns and encouraging compliance with National Safety Code requirements.
These programs play a critical role in protecting the travelling public. They also provide valuable insight into the ongoing challenges facing the commercial transportation industry.
Recent inspection results demonstrate why these efforts remain important.
During the 2024 Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) International Roadcheck event conducted in Saskatchewan, inspectors examined 332 commercial vehicles. Of those vehicles, 103 were placed out of service due to mechanical defects or cargo securement violations. An additional 81 vehicles required immediate repairs before returning to service, while 16 drivers were placed out of service for issues including hours-of-service violations, licensing concerns, and impaired driving.
At the same time, Saskatchewan collision statistics continue to highlight the importance of maintaining strong safety management systems throughout the trucking industry. According to SGI’s 2024 Traffic Collision Report, semi-trucks represented approximately three percent of vehicles involved in all collisions but sixteen percent of vehicles involved in fatal collisions. While these figures do not indicate fault, they demonstrate the significant impact commercial vehicles can have when collisions occur.
These statistics raise an important question.
What opportunities exist to reduce safety concerns before they appear during a roadside inspection, collision investigation, or enforcement action?
Looking Beyond the Roadside
When people think about carrier safety, roadside inspections are often the first thing that come to mind. However, roadside enforcement is only one component of Saskatchewan’s broader carrier safety system.
Through SGI Carrier Safety Services, commercial carriers are monitored using a variety of performance indicators including collisions, convictions, roadside inspection results, and audit outcomes. These factors contribute to a carrier’s overall safety profile and help identify organizations that may require additional intervention.
As a carrier’s safety performance changes, the system responds through warning letters, compliance reviews, conditional safety ratings, and facility audits. The objective is not simply to identify deficiencies but to encourage corrective action before safety concerns escalate.
One of the most comprehensive tools available within Saskatchewan’s safety framework is the facility audit.
Unlike a roadside inspection, which provides a snapshot of compliance on a particular day, a facility audit examines the systems that support compliance over time. Auditors may review driver qualification files, hours-of-service records, preventive maintenance programs, trip inspection documentation, collision records, and internal safety policies and procedures.
In many ways, facility audits answer a broader question: Does the carrier have an effective safety management system in place?
This distinction is important because many of the deficiencies identified during roadside inspections often originate within a carrier’s internal processes long before they appear on the highway.
Missing documentation, incomplete maintenance records, inadequate driver monitoring, or recurring compliance issues are often symptoms of larger system challenges rather than isolated events.
This is where education becomes an interesting part of the conversation.
What Can Saskatchewan Learn from Manitoba?
For many years, Manitoba has incorporated education directly into its carrier safety framework through New Entrant and Conditional Carrier Training Programs.
The philosophy behind these programs is straightforward. Rather than waiting for a carrier’s safety profile to deteriorate, Manitoba focuses on helping carriers establish effective safety management systems from the beginning.
The training covers topics such as:
- National Safety Code requirements;
- Hours of Service regulations;
- Driver qualification files;
- Vehicle maintenance programs;
- Cargo securement requirements;
- Safety plans and policies;
- Incident reporting and investigation; and
- Compliance management responsibilities.
The approach recognizes that many new carriers enter the industry with extensive operational experience but limited exposure to the administrative and regulatory requirements associated with operating a commercial fleet.
In Manitoba, training is not viewed as a replacement for inspections, audits, or enforcement. Instead, it serves as an additional layer of prevention designed to support compliance before deficiencies are identified through traditional enforcement activities.
Prevention and Intervention
An interesting comparison can be made between Saskatchewan’s facility audit process and Manitoba’s training model.
Both ultimately focus on the same objective: ensuring carriers have effective systems in place to manage safety.
A Saskatchewan facility audit examines whether those systems exist and are functioning effectively.
Manitoba’s New Entrant and Conditional Carrier Training programs help carriers build those systems before they become the subject of an audit.
The difference is timing.
One approach evaluates safety management systems after concerns have emerged. The other seeks to establish those systems before concerns develop.
Neither approach replaces the other. In fact, they may be most effective when working together.
The Manitoba Experience
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Manitoba’s approach is the measurable results associated with its training initiatives.
Industry data has shown:
- More than 1,500 carriers trained;
- A 25 percent reduction in convictions;
- A 27 percent reduction in inspections;
- A 55 percent reduction in accidents; and
- A 27 percent improvement in overall carrier profile ratings.
While many factors contribute to safety performance, these outcomes suggest that education can be an effective tool for improving compliance and reducing risk.
The results also support something many experienced safety professionals already understand: carriers with strong safety management systems often experience fewer compliance issues, fewer collisions, and fewer enforcement interventions.
A Conversation Worth Having
Saskatchewan has built a comprehensive carrier safety framework supported by professional enforcement personnel, compliance officers, auditors, and industry stakeholders. Roadside inspections, facility audits, compliance reviews, and carrier monitoring programs all serve important functions and will continue to be essential components of the province’s safety strategy.
At the same time, Manitoba’s experience offers an interesting perspective on how education can complement enforcement efforts.
As Saskatchewan’s trucking industry continues to grow, welcome new entrants, adopt new technologies, and navigate increasingly complex regulatory requirements, there may be value in exploring additional opportunities to support carriers through education and proactive intervention.
The goal is not less enforcement.
The goal is helping carriers succeed before enforcement becomes necessary.
Over the past year, the Saskatchewan Trucking Association has been actively engaging with government and industry stakeholders to explore how a prevention and intervention framework similar to Manitoba’s could be developed in Saskatchewan. During that time, STA representatives have met with the Deputy Minister of Highways, the Minister responsible for SGI, the Minister of Immigration and Career Training, and representatives from SGI to discuss opportunities to strengthen carrier safety through proactive education and intervention.
The concept is straightforward: provide new carriers with the tools and knowledge necessary to establish effective safety management systems from the outset, while also providing targeted education and support for carriers operating under conditional safety ratings.
The discussions have been constructive, and there has been considerable interest in the Manitoba model and the results it has achieved. Stakeholders generally recognize that education, prevention, and intervention can play an important role alongside inspections, audits, compliance reviews, and enforcement activities.
Perhaps the best safety outcomes are achieved not by choosing between education and enforcement, but by ensuring both work together as part of a comprehensive carrier safety strategy.
Meaningful change requires a united industry voice—members play a critical role in helping move this initiative forward.
We encourage you to connect with your local MLA and reinforce the importance of investing in early education and support for carriers to build a safer, more compliant transportation sector.
Together, we can help shape policies that reflect the realities of our industry and deliver safer roads for everyone in Saskatchewan