MELFORT — A review of the log book of the driver of the semi-truck that collided with the Humboldt Broncos team bus noted 70 federal and provincial regulation violations.
The review was part of a forensic report filed for the sentencing hearing for Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, who pleaded guilty to 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury.
The review examined Sidhu’s log book from March 26, 2018 to April 6, 2018.
“If Jaskirat Singh Sidhu had been stopped and inspected on April 6, 2018, prior to the incident, he would have been placed under a 72-hour out-of-service declaration for failing to produce the current daily log and the previous 14 days, preventing him from operating a commercial vehicle,” the review read.
Sidhu had been driving commercial truck for about a month before the crash occurred.
Common violations cited by the review included failure to sign inspection reports, to indicate which province he was in, and to report his locations when there was a change in duty status.
Entries for March 30 and 31 were missing, the review noted.
On April 1, the log book failed to document the fuelling of the power unit as on-time duty.
“This becomes a violation for falsification of a daily log,” the review read.
If the fuelling was accounted for, Sidhu would have been on duty for more than 14 hours, the maximum amount of time a driver can be on duty.
The review said there were unanswered questions about the day of the collision, April 6.
“We have strong concerns regarding the timeline of Jaskirat Singh Sidhu’s day on April 6, 2018 as there are unanswered questions as a result of the incomplete log of that day,” it read.
Sidhu had failed to identify any of the locations of the day once he left Saskatoon, which resulted in 58 minutes unaccounted for in the log.
There were also question about the distance Sidhu travelled that day. The distance from Saskatoon to Carrot River to the collision site is 341.7 kilometres, while the distance recorded on the odometer was 373.5 kilometres.
The review also had concerns about the five hours of off-duty time Sidhu recorded from 10 am to 3 pm.
“This is not a common practice in the industry.” the report read. “In order to claim off-duty time the driver needs to stop working or be relieved of responsibility by the motor carrier.”
The owner of the trucking company Sidhu worked for, Sukhmander Singh of Adesh Deol Trucking, is facing eight charges relating to non-compliance with federal and provincial safety regulations in the months before the crash.
A review of the log book of the driver of the Humboldt Broncos bus, Glen Doerksen, turned up no violations.
