BC Trucking Regulations Are Broken — Why Carriers Are Looking South

British Columbia has world-class highways — but the BC trucking industry is being held back by some of the most outdated freight regulations in North America.

For anyone trying to start or scale a BC-based freight business, you’ve likely run into it:ICBC regulation overload, red tape, and a process that moves slower than a truck in a snowstorm.

1. ICBC Regulation = No Options, No Competition

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: ICBC, the government-run insurer.

In BC, every truck — even if it runs cross-border into the U.S. — must be insured through ICBC.

• No private options

• No competitive quotes

• No control over timelines

In the U.S., trucking companies can get quotes from dozens of private insurers, often in the same day In BC? You wait, you overpay, and you have no leverage.

That’s a huge disadvantage for new carriers trying to enter the market or grow.

2. IRP Plates and Prorate Process: Broken by Design

Want to haul freight into Washington or Oregon?You’ll need IRP plates — but in BC, those are only issued through ICBC’s Prorate Office in North Vancouver.

This isn’t like Florida or Texas, where you can walk into a tag agency and be running in 48 hours In BC, you’re stuck emailing back and forth, submitting paper forms, and waiting days (or weeks) for approval.

The system was built for bureaucracy — not for business.

3. NSC Red Tape and Fleet Growth Pain

Before your truck even touches freight, you need to apply for a National Safety Code (NSC) certificate.But even once you have it, you’re still in the maze:

• Need to change your business name? More paperwork.

• Want to lease on an owner-operator? Good luck.

• Moving offices? Prepare to refile everything.

This kind of friction kills momentum and discourages small fleet owners from growing.

4. BC Punishes Growth — While the U.S. Builds for It

In the U.S., you can:

• Get insured in 24 hours

• Register your MC/DOT online

• Activate IRP plates in days

• Start running freight and getting paid fast

In Florida, you can go from startup to cross-border carrier in under 2 week In BC, that’s just the wait time for someone to respond to your IRP email.

Final Thought: BC Trucking Has the Talent — But the System is the Problem

There’s no shortage of skilled drivers or equipment in British Columbia.But if we’re being real — the ICBC regulation system, the broken IRP process, and outdated BC freight rules are costing carriers time, money, and opportunity.

Until BC modernizes its trucking system, carriers will continue looking south — where business is built to move, not stall.