BC Container Trucking Act and driver pay rates.

What the Container Trucking Act covers

British Columbia regulates container trucking at its Lower Mainland ports through the Container Trucking Act, passed in 2014. The law exists to keep driver pay and licensing stable for the trucking that serves the port terminals. It is administered by the Office of the BC Container Trucking Commissioner (OBCCTC), which describes its job as enforcing compliance with the Act, issuing Container Trucking Services (CTS) licences under the Truck Licensing System, and supporting policy review.

If you dispatch containers in and out of Vancouver terminals, this is the rulebook behind your driver settlements. Getting it wrong shows up as underpaid drivers, complaints and enforcement, so it is worth building a routine around it.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. The OBCCTC publishes the authoritative rules, orders and decisions. Where a figure or deadline matters, we tell you where to check it instead of quoting a number that may be out of date.

Who needs a CTS licence

According to the OBCCTC’s FAQs, a company needs a CTS licence if it performs container trucking services that require access to a marine terminal in the Lower Mainland. The FAQs also say off-dock moves that do not need terminal access do not require the licence, and that licensees cannot subcontract container trucking work to non-licensees. “Container trucking services” means transporting a container by truck, and a container is defined in the regulation as a metal box furnished or approved by an ocean carrier for marine transport of goods.

Two practical points follow. First, check which of your moves actually touch a terminal, because that decides which work falls under the licence and the rate order. Second, check any carrier or owner-operator you hand work to: sending port work to someone without a licence is a licence problem for you, not just for them. The OBCCTC publishes the current licence terms and a record of enforcement for current licensees, so read them before you rely on a summary like this one.

How the rate order is structured

The Commissioner sets minimum remuneration through a rate order. The 2026 order took effect on 1 July 2026, and rates have been adjusted on 1 July in recent years, so treat the date as something to check each summer. The order separates three groups of drivers:

• Independent operators, paid hourly or by the trip.
• Employees, meaning drivers employed directly by the trucking company, paid hourly or by the trip.
• Indirectly employed operators, meaning employees of independent operators, paid hourly or by the trip.

A few features of the structure matter for dispatch and settlement:

• For employees and indirectly employed operators, the hourly minimum depends on whether the driver has worked fewer than or at least 2,340 hours of container trucking services for any licensee. That means you need a way to know each driver’s experience.
• Independent operators paid by the trip are paid from on-dock and off-dock trip rate schedules, which also depend on rate zones. The OBCCTC publishes a rate zone map.
• Each group has wait-time provisions, and independent operators receive a fuel surcharge calculated under the regulation. There is also a callout payment when a driver is made available for four continuous hours.
• Overtime for company drivers is handled in separate material, and the OBCCTC offers an overtime calculator.
• Positioning trips without a container are paid through the Positioning Movement Rate, which licensees must show separately on driver pay statements.

Do not copy rates from an old article or a spreadsheet. Open the current rate order on the OBCCTC site and use it as the source for every settlement.

Where settlements go wrong

Most pay errors come from the gap between how the work was dispatched and how it is paid.

• Flat trip rates that hide long waits. A driver on a trip rate who spends hours in a terminal queue still has to receive at least what the order requires. The OBCCTC FAQs note that a driver eating while waiting in a terminal line is working and must be paid for that time, and that a break can be deducted only if it was actually taken.
• Mixed pay methods. A fleet with employees, owner-operators and a carrier’s own drivers has three sets of rules. Using one pay method for everyone is a common source of shortfalls.
• Missing wait-time records. If you cannot show when a driver arrived and left a terminal, you cannot show the wait was paid correctly. Timestamps and GPS entries into the terminal area are the evidence.
• Pay statements that blur categories. Positioning pay has to be visible as its own line.

A pay check you can run every period

The most reliable control is a comparison made before payment goes out, not after a complaint.

1. Collect the period’s moves for each driver from your dispatch records, with start and end times.
2. Classify each move: on-dock or off-dock, the rate zone, and whether it was hourly or by the trip.
3. Work out what the current order requires for each driver, including wait time, fuel surcharge for independent operators and any overtime for employees.
4. Compare it with what you are about to pay, line by line.
5. Pay the difference as a visible adjustment, and keep the working.

An illustration with made-up numbers, not real rates: say the order required, for one week, an amount equal to 40 hours at a made-up hourly figure, and your trip pay plus wait pay for the same week came to less than that. The shortfall is a straight underpayment, and finding it before payday is far cheaper than finding it in a complaint. The point is the habit of comparing your payout with the order every period.

Records worth keeping

The OBCCTC can ask a licensee to show how it complied. The regulation and your licence terms set what you must keep and for how long, so read them on the OBCCTC site rather than relying on a rule of thumb. As a baseline, keep dispatch records for every move, terminal gate times, driver time records, pay statements, the rate order version you applied, and your working for each period’s comparison. Records that agree with each other are the best protection if a driver questions a statement.

Good habits for dispatchers

• Record arrival and departure at each terminal for every move, not only the delivery.
• Note the reason for a long wait when it happens, such as a closure or a hold.
• Keep each driver’s pay type and experience band on file, and update it when they cross the hours threshold.
• Subscribe to OBCCTC bulletins so a new order or advisory does not surprise you.
• Review each period’s pay before it is released, not after.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Container Trucking Act apply to every trucking company in BC?

No. The OBCCTC says a CTS licence is required for container trucking services that need access to a marine terminal in the Lower Mainland. Off-dock moves that do not need terminal access do not require it. If you are unsure which of your moves are covered, ask the OBCCTC.

How often do the minimum rates change?

Rates are set by the Commissioner in a rate order, and recent orders have taken effect on 1 July. Check the current order on the OBCCTC website each year and whenever a bulletin announces a change.

Can I pay an owner-operator a flat rate per trip?

The rate order allows independent operators to be paid by the trip or hourly, using the published trip rate schedules and rate zones. Whatever you agree, the remuneration must meet the order, so check the current order and your licence terms before setting a flat rate.

Where do I find the official rates?

On the OBCCTC website under Rates: the rate order, the rate zone map, the fuel surcharge page and the overtime calculator. Do not rely on a figure quoted elsewhere without checking the current order.

What if I discover I underpaid a driver?

Correct it promptly, document what happened and how you fixed it, and read the OBCCTC’s guidance. For anything serious, speak to a lawyer or the OBCCTC directly.

Where Dispatch Board fits

Dispatch Board has an optional BC port compliance add-on built for this routine. It keeps the rate order in the board, runs a pay check each period against what you actually paid, and prepares a file for the Commissioner. It starts from the published 1 July 2026 figures, so confirm them against the current order. The add-on works with the rest of the system: settlements for employee drivers, owner-operators and carriers, with deductions carried forward, and a waiting-time audit that uses GPS pings in the terminal geofence as evidence.

If you are not in Vancouver, the same discipline applies to any pay rule you have to meet: record the move, record the wait, compare the pay. You can try it on your own freight with a 14-day free trial.

This guide is general information from the Dispatch Board team, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Rules and rates change: confirm against the official source linked in the text before you rely on them.