State Police Cast Truck Safety Dragnet At FedEx Field

[Wizard777]

State Police cast truck safety dragnet at FedEx Field

State Police and other Maryland law enforcement agencies this morning are conducting a truck safety dragnet, pulling hundreds of tractor-trailers, tankers and flatbeds off the Capital Beltway for inspection in a parking lot at FedEx Field.

More than 112 troopers, civilian inspectors and police cadets are part of the operation at the Redskins' stadium, while on surrounding roads other officers are patrolling to catch truckers who attempt to evade the checkpoint.

By 9:30 a.m., the impound lot held more than a dozen trucks cited for a range of problems, from bad brakes to dangerous tires. On the windshield of each truck is a white sign, bordered in red stripes, warning that the truck cannot be driven until defects are repaired.

[Wizard777]

Inspectors are checking for defective equipment, falsified log book entries, unsafe cargo and drugs.

They shouldn't waste their time looking for drugs. The evidence will never see a courtroom. SCOTUS has already ruled that drug checkpoints are illegal and the only thing more illegal than drug checkpoints are drug dragnets. The use of dragnets are only permited by the courts under the most extreme emergencies. I don't think this would be legal even as a Sobriety Checkpoint.

[crabsnbeer]

American trucking companies are some of the safest and most taxed and regulated companies in the world.

The new CSA 2010 regulations as well as EPA 1994, 1998, 2004, 2008, & 2010 have driven the cost of truck purchasing and operation through the roof.

On top of that they are letting Mexican and Canadian trucking companies in the our market with out forcing them to comply with the same standards.


http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/default.aspx

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/highway-diesel/index.htm

[crabsnbeer]

http://www.dieselnet.com/news/2012/03nada.php

EPA underestimated compliance costs by a factor of 2 to 5, according to ATD analysis. ATD calculated actual truck compliance costs based on individual sales invoices and OEM sales documents. Many invoices contained specific cost line items—surcharges or escalators—that specified cost increases attributable to the new emission standards.

For 2010 emission compliance for heavy heavy-duty trucks, the actual surcharges by different manufacturers varied from $7,736 to $9,600, compared to an amount of $3,419 predicted by the EPA.

The cumulative surcharges for 2004 through 2010 emission compliance in heavy heavy-duty trucks by Freightliner, Volvo and Western Star were $21,440, $21,471 and $21,876, respectively, while the EPA predicted a cost increase of $5,136.

If we average the cost at $21500 and add federal excise tax (12%) that puts us at $24080 in federally mandated costs PER TRUCK in the last 8 years.

Plus, these changes have made the trucks less efficient and less reliable.

[Wizard777]

Thank you Crabsnbeer! There goes any compelling government interest. They have a less intrusive means of achieving their objectives.

[ChiefWiggum]

Had a truck stopped years ago and the fuel tank was leaking. Called out the Fire Department and they couldn't stop the leak. The FD called out a haz mat unit and they sort of slowed it down. A Maryland Dept of Environment guys shows up, he's a truck inspector. He casually notices a couple missing lug nuts on several wheels. Then he noitces several bald tires. This truck was en route from MD to Georgia. The truck was impounded, and later that week numerous inspectors went to the truck yard to inspect all of the companies vehicles.

[Wizard777]

State Police run truck-safety dragnet at FedEx Field: Updated

— Just after dawn Tuesday, law enforcement officers began yanking hundreds of trucks off the Capital Beltway and funneling them to an inspection lot a long touchdown pass from FedEx Field.

The truck-safety dragnet pulled over 420 rigs and resulted in 12 drivers and 87 vehicles being taken off the road. Offenses ranged from falsified log books and drivers spending too many hours behind the wheel to bad tires and defective brakes.

"Within an hour, drivers from Maine to Florida will know we're out here," said State Police Capt. Norman Dofflemyer as the first truck pulled into a makeshift inspection lane at 7:24 a.m. "They get on the radio and on their phones. News travels fast."

[Wizard777]

It's good to see the Truckers taking this in stride, being very accepting of it and in some cases even being down right helpful. Truckers are good people.

I don't have a problem with Safety Inspections. If the Truckers support it and don't find it to be overly intrusive. I don't even have a problem with it being done like this. But when the police mix general policing like searches for drugs with these Safety Inspections. That begins to raise the question, are the police legitimately conducting Safety Inspections or are they conducting illegal drug check points under the guises of Safety Inspections? That's where a program even the Truckers support can run into some real legal problems.

[crabsnbeer]

Looks like they found plenty enough truck and driver violations to justify their actions. I suspect that there will be more of these. I have always felt like the DC market had a less responsible group of truckers. I don't see any mention of weight violations. I wonder if they had a portable scale out there. Would seem dumb not to.
Of course we have the port. Owner Operators pulling drayage out of the port can't afford to run new trucks and many of them are running mid nineties trucks just trying to make ends meet. They don't do many annual miles and the pay does not justify a $130k new truck. Older trucks like that can almost always get busted for something if you look hard enough.