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| Sgt. Ken Sutton (right) talks to a truck driver that was stopped for an inspection. Trooper Robert Clemmons (left) was one of six troopers taking part in the commercial vehicle inspections on I-155. The troopers had 10 commercial vehicles and three drivers that were placed out of service as a result of failed inspections. |
Wednesday was commercial vehicle enforcement day in Dyer County as Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers utilized the inspection area at mile marker 5 on I-155 as their operating station.
The inspections started at 7 a.m. and went until 7 p.m.
Eight troopers checked between 40 to 50 commercial vehicles.
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| THP Sgt. Ken Sutton holds a piece of metal that fell off of a commercial vehicle as they pulled it over for inspection. The object could have posed a danger to other drivers had it fallen off on the highway. Load securement was one of the things troopers were inspecting during Wednesday's commercial vehicle enforcement day in Dyer County. |
THP Sgt. Ken Sutton was in charge of the operation and said the troopers use the North American Standard Inspection Procedure when inspecting a vehicle.
Sutton has taught the system all over the country and said Wednesday's inspections were part of his 90-day enforcement plan.
"We're doing our best to start back and implement commercial enforcement," said Sutton.
 Trooper Robert Clemmons inspects the brakes of a commercial vehicle that was pulled over for inspection. He measures the distance the push rod goes into the brake chamber to determine if they are safe or not. While on the creeper he checks the beams and makes sure the frame of the trailer is not cracked. It is possible for only the trailer to fail inspection and not the truck. The driver has the option to leave the tractor and trailer there until it is fixed or he can just leave the trailer. [Click to enlarge] |
A list of infractions ranged from drivers being disqualified to drive to not having the proper license. Truck drivers not only have to maintain their paperwork, but they have to maintain their rigs.
"If a vehicle is placed out of service, it's placed out of service here on the spot," said Sutton.
When a commercial vehicle is placed out of service due to a maintenance issue, it must sit in the area until a repairperson can come and fix the infraction. One service vehicle that came to fix a vehicle infraction had tags that expired in February of this year and the driver was cited.
Some of the trucks were placed out of service for suspension defects, bad brakes, lights and improper load securement.
While the troopers pulled one of the trucks over for inspection, a large piece of metal fell off of the truck and rolled down the inspection area.
"You can't have heavy metal objects and stuff falling off the trucks," said Sutton. "It's too dangerous to have them going down the road."
Another trooper inspected a truck that only had two mechanical pins holding a sliding sub-frame on a trailer where there should have been four pins. It could be possible for the trailer to slide off of the sub-frame without all four pins.
"That's the type of defects that we're looking for, trying to prevent a commercial crash from occurring," said Sutton.
Trooper Robert Clemmons was assisting in the inspections and said they can tell if some trucks need inspecting just by the way they sound.
"You're able to hear brakes and bad air leaks," said Clemmons.
Sutton said they had a good day and would continue inspections as much as possible to keep the highways safe for travelers.
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Way to go THP keep up the good work in keeping our roads safe! Thanks
WAY TO GO .
This need to happen about once a week and different times of the day -- lots of truck would not pass inspection -- to include local farm trucks with large lots of beans and corn etc.
Interstate 40 and 24 are bad in this state.
This shows you we need the weigh station to be open 24/7. look at the safety and fines we could be getting
Duck Hunter, the farmers are exempt from nearly every law in the book and get every break imaginable. Their equipment cannot be inspected. And alot of them are the worst offenders for marginal equipment and overweight loads.
jscott, I agreee.
"Youknowimright", farmers are not exempt from safety or vehicle inspections on trucks over 26,000 lbs. GVW. They're held to the same standard as the commercial transports in the article. Yes it is hard paying for a truck that is on the road less than 3 months out of the year that meets the same standards as commercial trucks on the road every day. On weight laws they only have a 10% variance since they cannot weigh what they load in the field. Gravel trucks, etc. have the same variance. Their only exemption is a driver is exempt from CDL requirements within 150 miles of the farm. A box of corn flakes has only 3 cents worth of corn. If you don't like their truck then pay them more for what they produce. No, I am not a farmer but I do appreciate where my food comes from. I guess "Iknowuarewrong."
agr538, You are correct about the 150 mile radius. But as long as the equipment is being used for the farm operation it is EXEMPT from a DOT inspection. Sure they can be ticketed for speeding, headlights out, etc. to enforce those laws that apply to everyone. Do me a favor and tell me the last time a farmer in Dyer Co. got ticketed for an overweight load of soybeans or got a DOT inspection during operation for a farm. YOU CAN'T TELL ME OF ONE. NOT A SINGLE ONE!! And i've been told the variance for regular trucks is only 2,000 pounds over 80,000 before they start getting ticketed. This means that 10% of 80,000 is 8,000 pounds! Alot more than anybody else gets! No wonder Great River Road is so rutted up from all those grossly overweight trucks destroying the roads on the way to Bungee. But I personally don't mind the rutted road because I prefer a can of corn that's $.79 rather than $1.50 And for the record I don't have anything "against" them. I just know what kind of equipment alot of them use and how dangerous they can be. Just look at 'em. It's obvious the condition of some of them. I'm about as pro-farmer as you can get. I appreciate them and agree on the breaks and exemptions they get. They should get them. No, I'm not a commercial truck inspector, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!! Repeat after me, YOUKNOWIMRIGHT!! Hahahaha. Next!!