NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release 2008TRAN0032-001027 July 3, 2008	Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
DAWSON CREEK GRAND OPENING FOR ONE-STOP PERMIT SHOP

DAWSON CREEK – The Province has officially opened the new Provincial Permit Centre to provide centralized permitting and improved service for the commercial trucking industry in British Columbia, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Kevin Falcon and Community Development Minister and Peace River South MLA Blair Lekstrom announced today.

 

            “This new centre provides better service for the trucking industry,” said Falcon. “It also enables staff at the 23 commercial vehicle inspection stations to concentrate on their main responsibility – road safety – without having to devote time to issuing permits.”

 

            The project’s first phase was the completion of the new centre on 103^rd Avenue in Dawson Creek in 2006. Phase Two had the centre staff equipped to take over permitting responsibilities for the northern and southern Interior regions in 2007. The new centre became the prime permit issuer for commercial vehicles for the entire province at the end of March.

 

            “Dawson Creek is a great location for the permit centre because this region is where most of the permit activity in B.C. takes place,” said Lekstrom. “About 44 per cent of the permits issued in B.C. are from the northern region.”

 

            “Centralizing the permit approval and issuing process is making it easier for commercial truck drivers to do business,” said Paul Landry, president and CEO of the BC Trucking Association. “Receiving permits in a timely fashion benefits not only the trucking industry’s productivity, but also our customers.”

 

To better serve the trucking industry, the centre’s hours of operation are 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, and the centre is open on most statutory holidays.

 

-30-

 

Media contact:	Jeff Knight Public Affairs Bureau Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure 250 356-7707
For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.