Alberta launches trucking app to stop interprovincial drivers from hitting its bridges

OTTAWA — Alberta is taking matters into its own hands after incurring millions in damages from semi-trucks and other large vehicles hitting bridges.

The province is launching an app to help commercial truck drivers across Canada plan routes and avoid low-clearance bridges they might otherwise hit and damage.

The Alberta government app, called the Canadian Trucking Regulations Hub , will go live to truckers across Canada later this month, offering guidance in both English and French.

Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen told National Post that the province has set aside $75,000 to develop the app, which he hopes will benefit drivers and communities across Canada.

He said the move was a no-brainer from a cost-benefit perspective.

“We pretty much said, what’s $75,000 when these totally preventable accidents are causing millions in damages to our infrastructure?” said. Dreeshen. “So we took the ball and ran with it.”

The app, which functions like an online map service, will allow drivers to input multiple points along their route and generate hazard-free guidance that avoids low-clearance bridges and other potential obstacles.

Drivers planning interprovincial trips can also use the app to learn about different provincial permit information and safety code standards.

He added that federal, provincial and territorial partners have contributed their own map data to the project.

Alberta expects to hand over control of the app to the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators later this year.

Dreeshen said the app is part of a broader strategy to improve training and safety in the commercial trucking sector, noting that the province shut down five driving schools last year for poor training standards and has stiffened fines for traffic violations.

He added that the province also plans to strengthen English proficiency requirements for commercial truck drivers.

Albertans have seen recurring headlines about commercial trucks hitting overpasses. The province reported 39 bridge strikes on Alberta highways between 2023 and 2025. Twenty-three of these collisions happened when drivers tried to drive under bridges that were too low for them, creating some $11 million in structural damages.

Edmonton’s High Level Bridge, just outside the Alberta Legislature Grounds, was hit five times in 2025 alone by trucks that were too tall to clear it. Yet another incident occurred in February when a semi-truck became wedged inside the bridge, forcing it to close for two hours.

(A bright yellow sign ahead of the bridge guides large trucks to take a detour.)

Dreeshen didn’t say whether out-of-province drivers were more likely to hit bridges.

Alberta is far from the only jurisdiction in Canada dealing with this problem. Neighbouring province British Columbia recorded 46 bridge strikes between 2024 and 2025, and has seen at least four more this year .

Bridge strikes have also occurred with frequency in Ontario and Saskatchewan .

An October 2025 investigation by National Post columnist Jamie Sarkonak found that a “distinct pattern” of truck crashes has shown up across Canada in recent years. She added that governments and transportation companies haven’t released enough information about the drivers involved in these accident to make sense of this pattern.

“All Canadians can do to establish that pattern is pick through news stories and draw common themes because the statistics required to make a data-based argument simply don’t exist,” wrote Sarkonak.

National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com

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