CVI and compliance centre

Commercial trucks and tractors over 8,200 kg licensed GVW, and commercial trailers and semi-trailers, need a current inspection decal from a Designated Inspection Facility.

• Trailers and semi-trailers: every 12 months. Trailers used with a logging truck or with a dump box: every 6 months.
• Trucks and tractors over 8,200 kg up to 17,300 kg licensed GVW: every 12 months. Over 17,300 kg: every 6 months.
• The decal runs to the last day of the 6th or 12th month after it was issued: one issued April 4 for 6 months is good to October 31.
• Only an authorized inspector at a Designated Inspection Facility can issue it. Police can order a unit in for inspection at any time.

Rented from us? Find the unit’s inspection report and registration by unit number on our driver documents page.

Nobody may drive, operate or park the unit on a highway without an unexpired decal fixed to it and a copy of the inspection report carried in the vehicle.

• Truck or tractor: the outside lower left or right corner of the windshield, or the fixed glass to the right of the driver.
• Trailer: the outside of the left or right lower front corner.
• A unit that fails may get an interim decal, good for 14 days.
• Keep inspection and repair records for the last 3 years you own the unit and 6 months after you sell it.

Out-of-province units in BC are subject to BC law. BC’s inspection guide exempts a unit with proof of a current inspection from its home jurisdiction where that jurisdiction has an agreement with BC.

• CVSE’s direction: a commercial vehicle over 8,200 kg licensed GVW, from BC or elsewhere, displays a valid inspection decal and carries the inspection report on BC highways, unless it is exempt.

BC doesn’t publish its list of inspection agreements: ask CVSE whether your home jurisdiction’s inspection is accepted before you rely on it.

Before a commercial vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer goes on a highway, its owner or lessee registers it with ICBC, licenses it and insures it.

• ICBC Basic Autoplan is mandatory. Its liability limit is $1 million for commercial vehicles over 5,000 kg GVW and for commercial trailers that must be registered.
• It is $2 million where dangerous goods need an emergency response assistance plan.
• A semi-trailer licensed by another jurisdiction is outside this BC rule.

Renting from us? See the insurance we ask renters to carry before pickup.

The vehicle licence (registration), or a photocopy, rides in the vehicle; a trailer’s rides in the truck towing it. The driver carries the liability insurance card for the vehicle and shows both on a peace officer’s demand.

Rented from us? Find the unit’s inspection report and registration by unit number on our driver documents page.

A truck or tractor that runs in two or more IRP jurisdictions (the provinces, and the US states but Alaska and Hawaii) can carry prorate plates instead of buying a trip permit in each one.

• It qualifies with 2 axles over 26,000 lb (11,793 kg), 3 or more axles at any weight, or in a combination over 26,000 lb.
• Only the ICBC Prorate Office in North Vancouver issues them. You need an NSC certificate and a valid IFTA licence first.
• Without IRP credentials, a vehicle needs a valid trip permit where it travels.

The IRP manual is unclear on trailers: ask ICBC’s Prorate Office how yours are treated.

A commercial truck or tractor running between provinces or into the US reports fuel tax under IFTA if it has 2 axles and over 11,800 kg, 3 or more axles, or runs in a combination over 11,800 kg.

• In BC the Ministry of Finance issues it; carriers apply online through eTaxBC.
• The licence and its decals run for the calendar year, January 1 to December 31.

A business running a truck or tractor over 5,000 kg licensed GVW (trailer included) needs a National Safety Code safety certificate; on BC plates, a BC one.

• Proof of the valid certificate must be in every vehicle it covers.
• ICBC needs the carrier’s NSC number to insure a commercial vehicle.
• The application fee is $200, non-refundable.
• The carrier’s name goes on both sides of a business vehicle, in letters at least 5 cm high. The NSC number itself doesn’t need to show.
• Changes to the holder’s name or address go to the province within 10 days.

Under BC’s Safety Code, the lessee of a commercial vehicle on a lease of one month or more counts as its carrier.

Plated outside BC? A certificate issued by another jurisdiction under substantially the same rules counts as a safety certificate.

A semi-trailer truck (a tractor pulling a chassis or a van) needs a Class 1 licence; a truck with more than two axles needs at least Class 3. Air brakes need the air brake endorsement.

• Since October 18, 2021, a Class 1 applicant completes an ICBC-approved Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) course first: 140 hours, air brakes included.
• Minimum age: 19 for Class 1, 18 for Class 3.

Before the first trip of the day, the driver (or someone the carrier names) inspects the vehicle, and writes a trip inspection report for units in the inspection program.

• BC’s minimum list: service brakes (with trailer connections and adjustment), parking brake, steering, lights and reflectors, tires, horn, wipers, mirrors, coupling devices, wheels and rims, emergency equipment, load securement.
• The report gives the plate and the unit or trailer number, any defects (or that none were found), the date and a signature.
• The driver carries the current report and shows it to police on request, and checks again after the day’s last trip.
• No written report is needed for a 2-axle vehicle of 14,600 kg licensed GVW or less, or one rented for a single trip; it is still inspected.

Drivers of trucks and tractors over 5,000 kg licensed GVW work within daily limits and keep records of duty status. Carriers that cross provincial lines follow the federal rules, which set the same limits.

• At most 13 hours driving and 14 hours on duty in a day, and at least 10 hours off duty.
• No driving once 16 hours have passed since the last 8 or more hours off in a row.
• Cycle 1: 70 hours on duty in 7 days. Cycle 2: 120 hours in 14 days.
• Within 160 km of the home terminal, back each day for 10 hours off: the local rules apply, with no logs or ELD; the carrier keeps daily records for 6 months.

Commercial vehicles that need logs need a certified ELD, mounted where the driver can see it.

• BC: required from August 1, 2023 for provincially regulated carriers.
• Federal (extra-provincial carriers): in force June 12, 2021, enforced with penalties from January 1, 2023. Federal exceptions include vehicles rented for 30 days or less and vehicles built before model year 2000.
• In the cab: the user’s manual, the data-transfer and malfunction instruction sheets, and blank paper logs for at least 15 days.
• The driver has today’s log and the previous 14 days’. A broken ELD is repaired or replaced within 14 days; paper logs meanwhile.
• BC’s exemptions (CVSE Compliance Circular 03-2023, from August 1, 2023) include a rental of 30 days or less that isn’t an extended or renewed rental of the same vehicle, vehicles built before model year 2000, and vehicles working within 160 km of their home terminal under the local hours rules.
• An exemption covers the ELD only: the driver still keeps to the hours of service and records them, on another record of duty status unless working under the local hours rules.

Renting for 30 days or less? BC exempts that rental from the ELD, unless it extends or renews a rental of the same vehicle; logs are still kept.

For a tractor and semi-trailer without an overload permit, BC’s Commercial Transport Regulations set these limits.

• Single axle 9,100 kg · tandem 17,000 kg · tridem 24,000 kg. A tridem’s three axles are spread 2.4 to 3.7 m.
• No axle in a tandem or tridem over 9,100 kg, and no more than 1,000 kg between adjacent axles.
• A combination over 38,000 kg needs a tandem or tridem drive axle carrying at least 20% of the weight.
• Nothing is licensed over 63,500 kg. A posted weight sign overrides an overload permit.

The steering-axle limit for a highway tractor depends on its tires and equipment: check with CVSE for your configuration.

From October 1 to April 30, commercial vehicles over 5,000 kg carry chains on BC highways, except in the Lower Mainland south of Horseshoe Bay and west of Hope.

• At a licensed GVW of 11,794 kg or more, only steel chains count, unless the ministry has authorized a traction device in writing.
• A tractor with one trailer and a tandem or tridem drive chains 2 tires on each side of one drive axle, or 1 on each side of two drive axles (without wide-base singles).
• Some routes, among them Highway 1 between Highway 9 and Highway 97, need no chains from April 1 to 30.
• Not carrying chains: a $196 ticket. Driving past an active chain-up: $598.

When spring runoff weakens a road, the ministry can restrict it to 100, 70 or 50% of legal axle loading. Restrictions go where and when they’re needed, posted road by road.

• Overload permits are invalid on a restricted route while the restriction is on.
• A single steering axle, and vehicles of 5,500 kg licensed GVW or less, are exempt.
• Breaking a posted restriction: a $345 ticket, and you can be made to reduce weight or reroute.

During CVSA’s International Roadcheck, enforcement personnel across North America inspect commercial vehicles, mostly with Level I inspections.

• A vehicle that passes a Level I or Level V inspection with no critical violations may get a CVSA decal, valid up to three consecutive months.
• 2026: Roadcheck May 12–14 (ELD tampering and cargo securement), Operation Safe Driver Week July 12–18, Brake Safety Week August 23–29.
• CVSA posts the next year’s Roadcheck dates at the end of the year.

Every trucking company and its trucks, local or long-haul, must meet the port authority’s Truck Licensing System criteria before using federally owned port property. At the gates, drivers need a valid Port Pass.

• Local drayage companies hold a provincial container trucking licence and sign an Access Agreement with the port authority; an independent operator applies to be joined to a company’s agreement.
• TLS trucks carry the port’s GPS units.
• Since January 1, 2025, a truck added to, replacing one in or returning to a TLS fleet is a 2018 model year or newer, with compliant or factory-installed emissions parts.
• Port Pass: for anyone on port property more than 5 times a month or 12 times a year. For motor carriers over 5,000 kg, the BC Trucking Association issues it.

Questions about the truck age rules, for a truck already in a TLS fleet or one you’re adding, go to the port’s TLS Program Administration team.

Container trucking that needs a marine terminal in the Lower Mainland (Centerm, Deltaport, Fraser Surrey Docks, Vanterm) requires a licence from the BC Container Trucking Commissioner.

• Not needed by a trucker driving for a licensee in a truck with a Commissioner-issued truck tag, or for a move to or from outside the Lower Mainland.
• Licensees keep a port Access Agreement and a valid NSC certificate, and use only the Commissioner’s truck tags.
• The current licence term ends November 30, 2026.

The participating provinces and territories recognize each other’s commercial vehicle inspections and, except in rare cases, accept them as equivalent.

A commercial vehicle registered outside Alberta runs there under the safety certificate, or equivalent, of the jurisdiction where it is registered. On BC plates, that’s the BC NSC certificate.

Alberta posts its road restrictions and bans on alberta.ca; counties and municipal districts set bans on local roads. Spring bans depend on the weather and thaw depth.

• Provincial highway bans by phone: 1-855-ROADBAN (1-855-762-3226).
• Alberta labels its ban list PDF unofficial and changes it often: check before each trip.

Every carrier crossing into Canada needs its own CBSA carrier code and sends its conveyance and cargo data ahead of arrival (ACI eManifest).

• Highway: CBSA must receive and validate the data within 30 days and no later than 1 hour before arrival at the first port.
• Apply for a highway carrier code in the CARM Client Portal; one code per mode per legal entity. Send data by EDI or the eManifest Portal.
• Without a bond, every shipment is released at the first port of arrival. A bond to move goods inland is $5,000 per vehicle, up to $25,000.

A Canada-domiciled carrier running in US interstate commerce files Form MCS-150 for a USDOT number before it starts. A for-hire carrier also needs FMCSA operating authority, unless its loads are exempt.

• FMCSA charges $300 (US) for each operating authority.
• Carriers without a US office still register under the Unified Carrier Registration plan, through a participating base state, with a fee set by fleet size.

The US requires every commercial vehicle, each unit of a combination included, to have passed a periodic inspection in the last 12 months, with proof on board. Inspections under a Canadian province’s program, BC’s included, count.

A driver under the US ELD rule records all US time on an ELD that meets the US specification: self-certified and registered with FMCSA. A device certified for Canada alone doesn’t satisfy it.

• Show hours for today and the previous 7 days.
• US exceptions include paper logs on no more than 8 days in 30, vehicles or engines built before model year 2000, and property trucks rented for 8 days or less, with the rental agreement on board.

FMCSA’s cross-border page gives two different short-haul radius figures: check the current rule before relying on it.

Drivers who need a commercial licence under Canada’s National Safety Code and drive in the US are covered by the US drug and alcohol testing rules and the Clearinghouse.

• Employers run a full Clearinghouse query before a driver starts safety-sensitive work, and query every covered driver at least once a year.