Rallying the troops for Big Rig safety

By Julia LeDouxJuly 30, 2009

Rallying the troops for Big Rig safety
Sgt. Casey Smith, left, and Cpl. Andrew Brown, center of the Fort Belvoir Police Department, listens as officer M.P. Gibbons of the Fairfax County Police Department explains the results of a safety inspection to an unidentified truck driver Tuesday a... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- Civilian law enforcement officers from Fort Belvoir joined forces with their counterparts from Fairfax County and Virginia Department of Transportation inspectors Tuesday to conduct a daylong, joint operation that targeted trucks for unsafe equipment, licensing, and weight violations.

"The main concern isn't to write a whole bunch of tickets to these truck drivers who are trying to make a living or give them a whole bunch of fines they can't pay," Fort Belvoir Police officer, Sgt. Casey Smith, stressed. "The whole point is to make sure the installation is safe, to make sure the motoring public is safe, not only on the installation, but on Route 1, and the Fairfax County Parkway."

Fairfax County motorcycle officers pulled numerous trucks off the Route 1 and Interstate 95 corridor near Lorton, and guided them to the parking lot at Gunston Plaza Shopping Center, where the big rigs' tires, brakes and other equipment were checked to make sure everything was in proper working order.

Trucks deemed too unsafe to be on the highway were slapped with an out of service violation and not permitted to leave the parking lot until repairs were made or unless they were being towed to a repair shop.

One truck Smith inspected was found to have a leaking brake air tank.

"The actual tank was leaking," he said. "The officer we're working with, he's been doing this for five years, and said he's never seen that before."

Pfc. Dan Johnson, Fairfax County Motor Safety officer, said citizens triggered the operation by reporting safety violations they spotted to Fairfax County police.

"We had several complaints called into our Mount Vernon District Station and our Franconia District Station about truck traffic on Route 1, specifically the Fort Belvoir area," he explained.

According to the Fairfax County Police Public Information Office, of the 23 trucks checked, 22 were placed out of service for serious safety infractions. In addition to a 95 percent out-of-service rate, officers placed two drivers out of service, made 28 traffic charges and uncovered 40 out-of-service violations.

The operation gave Smith and fellow Belvoir Police officer, Cpl. Andrew Brown, a chance to put into practice what they recently learned in the classroom. The officers completed commercial motor vehicle inspection training with the Virginia State Police Department July 17 at the Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy.

Part of that training included a visit to the truck scales in Dumfries, where they helped to inspect the big rigs for the first time in a "real world" setting on July 16. A Fairfax County police officer that trained them in Dumfries invited the Fort Belvoir officers to participate in Tuesday's inspection.

"As part of our training we have to get 31 inspections with another inspector," continued Smith. "This just works towards our certification. We have to have those completed within 90 days."

Brown and Smith helped inspect two rigs on their way to Belvoir during the operation.

"Three days after the class we're able to get out here and get hands-on again and work with our counterparts putting it all together," Brown said.

Smith said it is both difficult and not recommended for law enforcement officers to conduct safety inspections along a road. He said Tulley Gate, which trucks are required to use in order to access the installation, is an ideal location for such inspections.

Smith also said plans are in the works for some of the installation's military police officers to become certified in commercial motor vehicle inspections as well.

"We wanted to get the civilians in place, set the policies, set the procedure with what we do," he said. "Just like the Army is transitioning to civilian police officers so that we have the same people enforcing the same laws. The laws never change."