A worker at an Edmonton truck parts and service centre was struck by a vehicle hood and fell into an open drop pit on January 22, 2024. The company responsible has now been fined $138,000 two and a half years after the incident.
Fleet Brake Parts & Service Ltd. pleaded guilty on June 24, 2026 in Edmonton Court of Justice to one count under Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Code for failing to ensure a worker was protected from falling. The court imposed a $138,000 fine including the victim fine surcharge. Thirteen other charges against Fleet Brake were withdrawn as part of the guilty plea. Fourteen related charges against Parts for Trucks Inc. were also withdrawn.
Both the company and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalty.
What happened at the Edmonton shop
A drop pit is a below-grade service bay dug into the floor of a truck shop a recessed area workers stand in to access the underside of heavy vehicles without lifting them. They are standard equipment in heavy-duty truck service centres. They are also open holes in the floor, and falling into one causes serious injury.
On January 22, 2024, a worker at the Edmonton location was struck by a vehicle hood. The impact sent them into an open drop pit. The worker was seriously injured.
Why drop pits are one of the most dangerous features in a truck shop
Heavy-duty truck service centres are built around the reality that semi-trucks and large commercial vehicles cannot be lifted on a standard hoist the way a passenger car can. Drop pits solve that problem recessed bays cut into concrete, typically several feet deep, that allow mechanics to walk underneath a vehicle and access the drivetrain, brakes, exhaust, and undercarriage without lifting equipment.
Every truck shop that does undercarriage work has them. They are practical and necessary. They are also open holes in a concrete floor surrounded by moving vehicles, heavy parts, and workers carrying tools. A worker standing at the edge of a pit while a hood comes loose has nowhere to go.
Alberta's OHS Code requires employers to guard, cover, or otherwise protect any floor opening that presents a fall hazard. The charge Fleet Brake pleaded guilty to was failing to meet that obligation on January 22, 2024.
Who Fleet Brake Parts and Service is
Fleet Brake Parts & Service is a Calgary-headquartered, family-owned Canadian company operating since 1978. It has 14 locations across Canada including Edmonton, Lethbridge, Red Deer, and Grande Prairie in Alberta, alongside locations in Calgary, Regina, Penticton, Kamloops, Winnipeg, Mississauga, Montreal, and Halifax.
Its national service network operates under the Parts for Trucks brand which is why charges were also laid against Parts for Trucks Inc., though all 14 of those charges were ultimately withdrawn.
How the fine compares to other Alberta OHS cases
The $138,000 fine sits on the lower end of recent Alberta OHS penalties for serious workplace injuries. A company fined after a worker was fatally injured in a forklift incident was ordered to pay $350,000 to fund safety training programs. A company whose tent collapsed and fatally injured an attendee faced 10 counts. A company where a worker fell from scaffolding and died faced 13 counts.
What sets this case apart is that the worker survived, and the company resolved the charges with a guilty plea on one count rather than a trial. Guilty pleas that resolve multiple charges through withdrawal typically result in lower penalties than contested proceedings. The $138,000 reflects a serious injury conviction resolved through a single guilty plea.
What Alberta's OHS system is designed to do
Alberta's OHS laws set minimum health and safety rules for workplaces across the province. Charges can be laid when failing to follow those rules results in a fatality or serious injury. The goal is not just to punish it is to deter. A fine that hits a company's bottom line is meant to make the cost of non-compliance higher than the cost of doing the work safely.
For a company with 14 locations and nearly five decades of operations, $138,000 is a meaningful penalty. Whether it is proportionate to a worker's serious injuries is a question the court weighed in sentencing.
What comes next
The company and the Crown each have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalty. If neither appeals the conviction stands and the fine is paid. The worker who was injured has not been identified publicly.
Sources:
Government of Alberta, Company fined for workplace injury, June 29, 2026 (alberta.ca)
Edmonton Court of Justice, Fleet Brake Parts & Service Ltd. guilty plea, June 24, 2026
Government of Alberta, Convictions under OHS Legislation (alberta.ca/convictions-under-ohs-legislation)
