Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Task force targets violating commercial vehicles

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 15:07:08 -0500

Task force targets violating commercial vehicles

JOHN HALL
Staff Writer

MURRIETA ---- After wandering across an open field, talking to his boss on his Nextel
phone,
Chris Barnes sat on the curb and waited for a ride.

Barnes was one of more than 100 truck drivers stopped Wednesday by law enforcement
officers
targeting commercial vehicles that aren't typically inspected. He also became one of two
drivers
who had their trucks taken off the road.

Barnes, 28, drives for a Corona electrical company and was headed east on Murrieta Hot
Springs Road near Winchester Road when he came upon the inspection checkpoint.

After two Brea police officers ---- members of a task force of Orange and Riverside County

authorities ---- checked the truck, Barnes was told the truck could no longer be driven
because
the permit issued to it showing it was in compliance with the law had expired.

"Well, the law's the law," Barnes said after hearing the news.

"There are so many laws everybody gets confused ---- except for them," he said, gesturing
toward
the officers.

After talking to his boss, Barnes said his company thought the permit had been properly
taken care
of. "But obviously not in the right way," he added.

Barnes didn't expect that the problem would lead to any real problems for the company. "It
just
upset my boss a little bit," he said with a laugh.

The slightly beat-up white truck was one of a half-dozen vehicles impounded by the task
force
Wednesday, said California Highway Patrol Officer Ron Thatcher.

Over the six hours the task force converged on the area, officers checked 124 vehicles and
found
only 32 to be in complete compliance, Thatcher said.

Officers impounded six vehicles, issued 79 citations and 59 verbal warnings and ordered
that 24
vehicles be taken out of service for violations involving brakes, steering, wheels, frame
or
suspension, and lights, Thatcher said.

When a commercial vehicle is taken out of service, it must be locked up and not driven
until it is
mechanically repaired at the site, or it is towed away to be repaired or have any expired
permits
properly taken care of, Thatcher said.

The checkpoint was one of three along Winchester Road conducted Tuesday by a task force
composed of several dozen Riverside County and Orange County police officers. Others were
set
up at Scott and Los Alamos roads.

The area was chosen because authorities have found there is a significant problem with
commercial
trucks not being in compliance with the law. The vehicles targeted Wednesday are those
that don't
routinely have a reason to go through permanent inspection checkpoints such as those along

Interstate 15, said CHP Sgt. Rodney Strate.

"There is so much construction going on in this area, we're seeing a lot of commercial
vehicles
traveling through here," he said. And most are not traveling through the area legally.

Last month, for example, the one CHP officer assigned to look for such violations from the
San
Diego County line to Highway 74 stopped about 100 vehicles and found that only 11 percent
were in compliance with the law, Strate said.

That compares to a 35 percent to 40 percent compliance rate at the CHP's truck inspection
facilities on I-15, south of Temecula, said Lt. Gary Smith.

"Time is money for these companies," Smith said of those business who own the trucks
targeted
Wednesday. "Unfortunately, even these minor violations start turning into major issues if
they aren't
found early on."

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, dozens of police motorcycles could be seen
lining
Winchester Road, waiting to pull over commercial trucks. Officials estimate 35 to 40
motorcycle
officers where among the estimated 70-plus officers who took part in Tuesday's program.

"This area has needed a program like this for some time," Smith said.

Strate said officers find a lot of mechanical violations during checkpoints like this one.
"Many are
grievous and we can't allow them to stay on the road," he said. "We need to get them to
comply
with the law to prevent future traffic accidents."

Strate pointed out a large truck parked along the north side of Murrieta Hot Springs Road.

Officers took it off the road for more than one problem.

According to Strate, the truck's brakes were out of adjustment, it had a cracked frame,
bald tires
and a steering box violation. "The driver could barely turn the wheel," the sergeant said.

Contact staff writer John Hall at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2628 or [email-masked].

1/16/03

http://www.nctimes.net/news/2003/20030116/51721.html

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