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There’s a need for truck inspections

3 min read

Two officers with the Waynesburg Borough Police Department who recently completed training to become certified in commercial traffic enforcement conducted their first truck inspections last Monday on High Street in downtown Waynesburg.

The enforcement activity was certainly visible. At one point, three tri-axle dump trucks were lined up at the curb cater-corner from Greene County Courthouse, not permitted to move until equipment violations were corrected.

The location, in the center of town, helped enforce the message police are trying to get across that truckers coming through the borough should obey the law and make sure their trucks are in proper operating condition.

Waynesburg police were able to begin the program after two officers, Marcus Simms and Shawn Wood, completed the training to become certified commercial traffic enforcement officers. The two officers still must complete a number of field training sessions with a certified officer before they can strike out on their own. On Monday, they worked under the supervision of Officer Scott Bashioum of Canonsburg’s police force, who is certified.

But the officers’ initial efforts did attract much attention from the public, as well as from borough council, which met that night. At the council meeting, police Chief Rob Toth was greeted with calls of “nice job.” Council later in the meeting voted to purchase scales at a cost of $9,350 to weigh trucks in order to augment the enforcement effort.

Truck traffic in Waynesburg, and in the region as a whole thanks to gas drilling, resulted in numerous articles as well as editorials in this newspaper. People complained about trucks running red lights, speeding and damaging signs and sidewalks and, of course, our roads. We believe most truck drivers follow the law; a few don’t. But residents especially in small towns like Waynesburg are simply getting tired of the constant truck traffic, the noise and the dust they generate, and the trepidation they feel when sharing the road with these huge vehicles.

Waynesburg Borough can’t stop trucks from using state roads, but it can make sure they are safe and drivers obey the law, at least in the borough. Some have claimed the only reason the borough is interested in commercial traffic enforcement is to generate more revenue from fines levied against truck drivers and their employers. Toth admitted the efforts could bring in a lot of money, but he also emphasized the inspections are a matter of highway safety.

The enforcement activities last Monday seem to suggest there is a need for these inspections.

Three of the trucks that were stopped Monday were tri-axle dump trucks that had front tires rubbing against the mechanical parts of the steering system. One of those trucks also had an expired registration. Another trailer placed out of service was being pulled by a pickup truck carrying an all-terrain vehicle. The trailer had no emergency breakaway system that would have prevented it from careening who knows where if it had become unhooked from the truck.

“These were serious safety violations,” Toth said later.

They also sound pretty serious to us. Certainly more serious than having a burnt-out bulb above a license plate.

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