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78 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, April 29, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend April 14, 2004 Medford police officer Travis Henson prepares to inspect the cab of a truck he stopped for inspection Tuesday on Rossanley Drive. Henson is one of four Medford officers trained to inspect commercial vehicles in the city. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Truck inspectors on the lookout Medford joins ODOT, other agencies, in effort to keep truckers in compliance By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Striving to keep sleepy drivers, rickety trucks and unsafe loads off the streets, Medford police have teamed up with the Oregon Department of Transportation to inspect commercial trucks in town. "Now we have more tools in our bag to keep the streets of Medford safer," said Lt. Tim George, who spearheaded the police department’s plan to work with the state. The department has four officers trained to inspect commercial vehicles, drivers and cargo for safety. The officers add the inspections to their other traffic and patrol duties, officials said. The first officer trained in truck inspection was Travis Henson, a former Oregon State Police trooper who lost his OSP job to state budget cuts last year. He joined the city’s force in July 2003. Advertisement His truck-inspection skills — a standard part of his trooper training — soon were called into service for the city, he said. A commercial truck was involved in a minor accident and no state troopers were available to make sure it was road-safe, part of the required response to a truck accident. Henson handled that inspection and continued such work until his certification expired at the end of the year. The city’s agreement with the Oregon Department of Transportation enables Henson to keep his training current and other officers to be trained by the state at no cost to the city. The newly trained officers who started inspections this spring are Don Lane, Jason Becker and Jim Swanson, all members of Medford’s traffic enforcement team. Two or three additional officers might be trained later, officials said. David McKane, manager of ODOT’s truck-safety program, said the department has partnerships with about 60 agencies around the state, including cities, counties and state police. Of the roughly 50,000 truck inspections done each year in Oregon, partner agencies do about 20,000, or 40 percent, of them, he said. ODOT inspectors working at weigh stations do the rest. Oregon State Police is the busiest partner, inspecting 16,000 trucks in 2002, the most recent year in which statistics are available. Other local agencies that inspect trucks as ODOT partners include Ashland police, who inspected 32 trucks in 2002, and the Jackson County weighmaster, who checked 50 trucks in 2002. In an inspection, Medford officers scan brake lines, tires, wheels and other visible equipment. They ensure cargo is secured — for a quick run across town, many drivers don’t properly tie down their loads, Henson said. Officers also check for safety gear such as fire extinguishers, reflectors and flares and review the driver’s log book, shipping papers and other documents. Weight limits, especially around the city’s weakened bridges over Bear Creek, are a concern, although any officer can enforce those limits. "There’s no shortage of violations out there," George said. Henson said the most common problems he finds are cargo that’s not secured properly — from gravel or soil falling from construction vehicles to commercial containers of chlorine bleach poised to spill onto streets — and drivers who have been on the road too long. Last year from July through December, he conducted 17 inspections, took two trucks and one driver out of service for serious violations, issued numerous citations and gave lots of warnings. Penalties for violations range from $100 per safety violation to up to $10,000 for a hazardous-material violation, according to ODOT’s Web site. Drivers are cited in most safety violations, but trucking companies can be held responsible in some cases. Medford Municipal Court handles the citations. "It’s a shock to some drivers now that word is getting out that we’re doing inspections," Henson said. As the truck-inspection program gears up, the city is getting calls from owners of small trucking operations seeking information and from people who complain about possible violations, Henson said. "Most people are supportive of more enforcement," said Mike Card, president of Combined Transport Inc., a Central Point-based long-haul trucking company that moves lumber and other goods by the truckload. "We think more inspections are a great thing and we encourage enforcement of all safety regulations," he said. He added, however, that inspectors must be properly trained so they don’t delay truckers unnecessarily. Combined Transport operates in the contiguous United States and Canada, and drivers have noticed that motor carrier enforcement is typically stronger on interstates than on state roads and city streets, Card said. Many large port cities have numerous old, potentially unsafe trucks that shuttle goods around industrial areas on city streets without traveling to weigh stations or other inspection points, he said. Medford doesn’t seem to have that problem, he said. Henson said drivers have told him that some small local shippers here dodge state highways to avoid inspections. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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