Rai trial day four

“Somebody hit my truck”

That is what Sukhvinder Singh Rai told his boss moments after crashing into the Skyway Bridge on July 31st, 2014.

This morning court heard details from 51 year old Tajinder Gill, owner of Peel Transport, the company that hired Sukhvinder Singh Rai.

Phone records show that Rai called Gill five times in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

Gill, who speaks Punjabi and communicated through an interpreter, said that Rai told him that he “had an accident” and “his truck was hit on the Sky Bridge.”

Gill recalled saying to Rai “you have made such a big mistake, you have beaten us all.”

At the time, 37 year old Rai had been working for Peel Transport for three months.

Court heard that Rai had received between one and two weeks training before he was trusted on his own.

On July 31st, 2014, Rai was supposed to travel between Brampton, Hamilton, and Kitchener as he hauled scrap metal between locations. By the afternoon, Rai called Gill from Hamilton and said that he would not make it to Kitchener in time. Gill told Rai to come back to their Brampton location. Minutes later the crash occurred.

Court also heard testimony about the process of raising the bin on the truck that Rai was driving.
Gill explained that in order to raise the bin, drivers must engage the clutch, put it in gear, and move the lever into the “up” position. Gill said that a driver would have to lean over to their right, and take their eyes off the road in order to raise the bin.

Court had previously heard that the bin was in the down position just two kilometres from the crash site.

Later that night Gill picked up Rai from the police station. Gill testified that he asked Rai “what have you done?” And “you have affected so many people’s income.”

Gill said that Rai sat silently the entire time.

Rai is facing four charges related to the crash, including impaired driving.