At the end of September, The Vancouver Sun highlighted the issue of emissions from heavy and medium-duty trucks in British Columbia, drawing attention to the problem of operators tampering with emission controls using "delete kits." These kits essentially disable emission-reducing technologies in trucks, leading to higher levels of harmful emissions. While Metro Vancouver is poised to present a report on this to a climate committee, this issue has been prevalent for years across Canada. Ontario, for example, has been grappling with delete kits for over six years now.
Metro Vancouver has outlined three potential solutions to decarbonizing the trucking industry:
I hate to state the obvious but, 2019 called, they want their problem back! Delete kits have been an issue for a long time. Maybe it takes a few years for problems to migrate from Ontario to British Columbia. Metro Vancouver could have saved themselves some time and energy and just read all the information Ontario has been publishing for the last 6 years.
These are all important goals, and the industry has been working on these solutions for some time. But, in reality, the immediate challenge lies in the interim period. The reason delete kits are so common is simple: emission systems in older trucks, particularly from the early 2000s, are unreliable. Trucking companies can't afford the downtime caused by malfunctioning emission systems, so many take a "fix it or fuck it" approach, opting for delete kits to keep trucks running.
A significant barrier to addressing delete kits is the lack of consistent enforcement and inspection criteria across Canada. While some jurisdictions have made strides in identifying tampered vehicles, roadside inspectors and repair technicians lack Canada-wide guidelines. For instance, in April 2023, British Columbia raised this issue with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), asking that emission controls be added to Level 1 inspections. This is what was decided: Canada has a regulation in NSC 11B that the exhaust cannot be tampered with. Discussion about how enforcement can determine this roadside, such as with glider kits. Enforcement may not be able to identify which parts, if any, are missing from the system without proper training, however, in some jurisdictions in Canada, roadside inspectors are trained to detect delete kits/tampering, etc. This is like a shock absorber which is a violation in Canada but not in the US. There is no regulatory section in Part 393 that would allow the inspection and a violation to be written regarding the emission system. The consensus is we leave it alone in the United States, unless a state law addresses it. Canada may address it through relevant laws and it would be a critical inspection item under Exhaust (therefore, the vehicle, in Canada, would not obtain a CVSA decal if a violation of the emissions system was present in Canada). In no case, would this be an OOSC condition. There is no uniform agreement across North America.
In Alberta, the Commercial Vehicle Inspection Manual (CVIP) still exempts emissions controls from inspections until future regulations are introduced. This leaves many sections of the 2014 NSC 11B, particularly those related to diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) systems, unenforceable. Ontario, on the other hand, has specific inspection criteria and penalties in place, making it the only province that actively enforces regulations on delete kits.
Ultimately, as provinces like British Columbia and Alberta lag in enforcement, the trucking industry is evolving. By the time regulatory amendments are made, manufacturers may have resolved emission control issues, or trucks may have switched to alternative fuels entirely. Until then, the enforcement of delete kits remains inconsistent, with Ontario leading the charge while other provinces struggle to keep up. If a truck fails a level 1 CVSA inspection anywhere but, Ontario I would ask to see the inspection criteria used to determine the truck was deleted.
The real question is, in the time it takes for studies and regulatory changes to occur, how much further will the industry progress, and how much will the problem of delete kits still matter?
