Two trucking companies owned and operated by a B.C. couple have lost their bid to maintain preferred access to the port of Vancouver after a judge upheld a decision that allocated a limited number of access tags to other companies.
Gulzer Transport Inc. and Jet Speed Transport Inc., which as of last year operated a fleet of 111 drivers out of a shared facility in Delta, B.C., said the decision led to an “absurd and unfair outcome” and would likely require them to fire their workforce and liquidate their assets.
Handed down by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Simon Coval earlier this month, the ruling hinged on a 2024 decision by the B.C. Container Trucking Commissioner to re-allocate truck tags to companies that transport over a million shipping containers to and from the port each year.
Coval found the commissioner had acted reasonably after being given broad discretion in how he allocates port access tags — a limited resource where demand outstrips supply.
“When a statutory authority allocates a limited resource such as licences or quotas,” Coval wrote, “there will almost invariably be differences in treatment, winners and losers, and some perceived unfairness.”
History of non-compliance
The commissioner’s role was set up in 2014 to resolve labour problems associated with the oversupply of trucks and underpayment of drivers. Reforms in 2020 aimed to cut down on a glut of trucks accessing the port.
The commissioner later released a report raising concerns of “high rates of non-compliance.” New changes, he said, would distribute a reduced number of truck tags to existing licensees based on their business case, compliance history and fleet efficiency.
Gulzer and Jet Speed caught the commissioner’s attention in 2016, when the companies were first investigated for paying drivers less than the regulated rates. The companies were forced to pay almost $140,000 owed to their drivers, noted the ruling.
In 2018, they were investigated again. An audit of the companies found they “were guilty of non-payment of regulated rates, falsification and modification of records, and failure to produce relevant documentation,” Coval said in his ruling.
The trucking commissioner found both companies “intentionally employed a system that resulted in non-compliant rate payments” and engaged in a “pattern of obfuscation intended to undermine or weaken the impact” of the audit. The “egregious” conduct led the commissioner to cancel the companies’ licences.
By the time the companies had their request for a judicial review heard, their cancelled licences had expired. The case was sent back to the commissioner, and on reconsideration, he issued the companies a $500,000 penalty.
Companies allege 'administrative discrimination'
When the commissioner opened the truck tag application process in June 2024, the maximum number was capped at 1,550 — down from more than 1,700 — evenly distributed between companies and independent owner-operators.
Gulzer and Jet Speed applied for a combined 74 company tags. Under a new scoring system, both companies were docked six points for previous non-compliance, so that by the time their turn came up, only independent owner-operator tags were left.
The companies claimed before the judge that the process added up to “administrative discrimination.” Both companies claimed they were being forced to bear almost the entire burden of the overall company tag reduction — a situation that allowed other licensees to grow their fleets.
The “two companies with the worst fines ended up with an overall tag increase,” they told the court.
Drivers associations split on who to back
In December 2024, the two trucking companies were given a temporary injunction that allowed them to use their old 2022 tags. Once lifted, it's not clear what will happen to 75 independent owner-operator tags that were handed to Gulzer and Jet Speed last year, but remain unused.
Backing the commissioner, the United Truckers Association said Gulzer and Jet Speed’s continued use of their old truck tags has had “a devastating impact” on independent owner-operators who would otherwise would have had work. The association is made up of individuals who provide container trucking services.
According to Transport Canada, company drivers are usually paid as employees by the hour, while owner-operators are normally paid by the trip and are considered independent contractors selling their services to container trucking companies as drivers.
Intervening on behalf of the two companies, the Port Transportation Association claimed the commissioner’s approach would result in instability and was patently unreasonable. The non-profit represents more than 60 licensed container trucking companies across the Lower Mainland, which together employ more than 900 drivers.
Gulzer and Jet Speed claimed in court that they will likely be forced to terminate over 100 drivers, sell their fleet of almost 70 company trucks, and slip closer to insolvency after more than 20 years in the trucking industry.
Both companies and the commissioner's office were not immediately available for comment.
