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SIZE AND WEIGHT

Police crack down on unsafe trucks

By Andale Gross Beacon Journal staff writer

Some of the trucks hauled loads that were thousands of pounds over the limit. Some had bad brakes. Others had mechanical problems.

All were forced off the roads this week and last as part of a police crackdown on commercial trucks, which authorities say are contributing to too many accidents.

``We're getting a lot of unsafe trucks off the road,'' Akron police Lt. Tom Hanley said. ``It's bad enough they're overweight, but many have mechanical problems and violations, and it becomes real scary.''

The Akron Police Department is one of several law-enforcement agencies, including the State Highway Patrol and Summit County Sheriff's Office, helping with truck enforcement.

Hanley said working with the patrol allows police to catch more violators because the patrol is certified to perform truck inspections.

``We can stop trucks for the same things we stop cars for,'' he said. ``We stop them for bald tires, inoperative turn signals or moving violations like failure to use a turn signal or speeding. We can check for weight and general unsafe things.''

But with the patrol's help, Akron officers were able to do more thorough mechanical checks.
Since last week, the area crackdown has led to more than 700 inspections, prompting more than 200 citations. Violations have included brake problems, unsecure loads and too much weight.

In Akron, drivers who were stopped for a traffic violation were directed to go to the city garage on East Market Street, where their trucks were weighed and checked for problems.

Among the violators were a garbage truck with inoperable brakes and a dump truck with numerous mechanical problems that was hauling 24,000 pounds more than it should have.
Trucks were stopped on state Route 8, East Exchange Street and other heavily traveled roads.
Darren Mishler, a 24-year-old truck driver from Hartville, said he didn't feel inconvenienced when officers pulled him over Thursday on state Route 91 for a license plate that wasn't lighted.

An inspection of his truck at the city garage didn't turn up any major problems. Mishler, who was hauling limestone from Akron to Green, was sent on his way.

``It was pretty helpful,'' he said of the inspection. ``We don't want things to get out of hand (with the trucks).''

State Highway Patrol Sgt. John Maxey said commercial vehicles were involved in nearly 2,000 accidents in Summit and Stark counties in 2004, the most recent data.

``It's a large business district and we have a major interstate and some major state routes that traverse through the area,'' said Maxey, who is from the Massillon patrol post.

``You have a lot of vehicular travel,'' he said. ``When you combine that with that much truck traffic, the potential for danger is there.''