Target 11 investigates big rig truck inspections

PITTSBURGH — At the Interstate 79 rest stop near Bridgeville, officers from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission recently set up temporary shop. They spent the day conducting truck inspections.

During the past two years, these officers have inspected more than 14,000 trucks across the state. They have uncovered more than 20,000 violations. Some of those violations were so bad that 2,500 trucks were immediately pulled out of service. That’s nearly one out of every five trucks driving down the highway.

"The safety of trucks on the road is of paramount importance to us. You see the size of these trucks coming down the road and the amount of time it takes them to stop. They are going at the speeds they go. You know it's important for the over mechanics," said Enforcement Officer Jim Murray, who's been with the PUC for seven years.

Inspectors told Target 11 investigator Rick Earle that the most common violations they find are issues involving brakes.

"The brakes being out of adjustment, chafed hoses, just brake systems in general, air leaks on brakes," Murray told Earle.

On the day Target 11 followed inspectors; they discovered a brake out of adjustment on one truck. It’s a minor violation and inspectors issue a warning. The driver has 10 days to fix the brake.

Inspectors said they zero in on a truck carrying explosives. They normally open up the trailer and inspect the cargo, but because of the sensitive nature of this cargo, officers opted not to open the trailer.

The driver was carrying a type of gunpowder for small ammunition.

“Because he's hauling for the Department of Defense and his paperwork checks out, I’m not going to open them up,” said Officer Christopher Urey, who found a minor brake light violation.

The driver received a warning to fix the problem within 10 days. He was allowed to continue on his trip.

But not all drivers pass inspections with flying colors.

A driver hauling ice cream from Iowa to Pittsburgh ran into some big problems with her big rig.

“Her last entry in her log book was yesterday, so she's behind on her log book so that’s a problem for her,” said Murray, who also discovered that the driver didn’t have her log books from the previous seven days.

Drivers are required to carry them at all times.

The driver told Murray that she accidentally left entries in another truck when she transferred into the new truck.

Inspectors also found more problems.

While inspecting underneath the trailer, they uncovered a broken shock and a bad brake. But that’s not the worst of it.

“Both tires on the fourth axle on the left hand side are out of service because there's less than 2-32nd's of an inch on three adjacent treads,” said Murray, who then posted an out-of-service sticker on the trailer.

The refrigerated trailer filled with ice cream wasn’t allowed to move from the rest stop until new tires were installed. And because of the log book issues, the driver wasn’t allowed to get back behind the wheel of her truck for at least 10 hours. She was forced to wait it out at the rest stop. Inspectors said the bottom line for all of this is safety.

“One of the main reasons for accident on highways is driver fatigue, so it's important that they keep up on their log books and they know that,” said Murray.

Some of the drivers told Target 11 that the inspections are a bit of an inconvenience but they also said they realize the importance of random inspections. One driver told Earle that he was glad inspectors looked at his truck because he doesn’t want to be driving a truck that is unsafe.

WPXI