Police Officer

Takes On The Trucks

By Andrew Gorosko

With flashlight, air-pressure gauge, and tape measure in hand, Jeff Silver spends quite a bit of time probing the innards of tractor-trailer trucks that pass through town, in seeking to find various vehicular violations that may require that those trucks be taken out of service until equipment problems are corrected.

For the past year, Mr Silver, who is a police patrol officer, has specialized in inspecting commercial trucks for the police department, enforcing a voluminous code of trucking rules promulgated by the federal government.

Officer Silver became the police department’s truck inspector after receiving specialized training in the discipline. He became a town police officer in May 1999. He also is a field training officer for police recruits.

On a frigid Monday morning at Fairfield Hills, Officer Silver stood by near Trades Lane, watching as commercial vehicles passed. He stopped two trucks briefly, spoke with their drivers and then let the truckers continue on their travels.

He stopped a third vehicle, a Volvo tractor that was hauling a 53-foot-long Wabash trailer, and told the driver that he would be receiving a full commercial truck inspection at a nearby parking lot.

Such inspections take about an hour to complete. Truckers expect that their vehicles will be the subject of spot checks while in transit and generally do not object to being pulled aside for inspections, Officer Silver explained.

The truck that he inspected on Monday is owned by Swift Transportation Company, Inc, of Phoenix, Ariz. The trailer held no cargo.

On starting the inspection, Officer Silver interviewed the truck driver, checking various trucking paperwork including licensing and a logbook, which a driver is required to keep to document his activities. Basic questions are asked of the driver, including the truck trip’s point of origin and its destination, as well the type of cargo that is being hauled. Documents for the tractor and the trailer are reviewed.

Officer Silver then began a methodical inspection of the vehicle, checking all of the many lights on its exterior and the condition of the tires and the wheels.

Using an automotive creeper, he lies on his back and rolls about on the ground alongside and underneath the vehicle with a flashlight in hand, checking mechanical parts beneath its engine and trailer.

Officer Silver estimates he makes about ten commercial truck inspections per month, having made about 120 such inspections on a variety of commercial trucks since he started his specialty.

The policeman said that of the trucks that he has inspected during the past year, he removed about 80 percent of them from service until serious violations could be repaired.

For lesser violations, truckers are allowed to complete their trips, but are required to have violations corrected after reaching their destination.

Monday’s inspection of Swift’s Volvo-Wabash rig turned up an air leak at a coupling in the braking system, Officer Silver said. He instructed the trucker to have the problem repaired after he reached his destination.

Problems with brakes and problems with load securement are the most common violations on inspected commercial trucks, Officer Silver said.

Near the site where he inspected the Swift truck, stood an independently-owned tractor that had been hauling a wide-load trailer that carried a towering portable gravel-processing machine. Officer Silver had taken that vehicle out of service three days earlier after discovering that the chains used to secure the processing machine to the trailer were inadequate and unsafe.

The vehicle remained out of service until the problems were corrected.

Later on Monday, Officer Silver took out of service a large box truck that had blown its engine and was generating heavy smoke along South Main Street.

Commenting on the truck inspection program, Police Chief Michael Kehoe said, “Jeff is an integral part of traffic enforcement in Newtown.”

Police decided to create a truck inspector position after receiving complaints from residents about the problems posed by commercial truck traffic, Chief Kehoe said.

Based on manpower levels, police allow Officer Silver to inspect trucks as much as possible, Chief Kehoe said.

“It’s very tough work. He should be commended for the effort,” the police chief said.