In partnership with Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the FMCSA is developing a new program that will train police officers on the skills needed for traffic enforcement of large trucks and busses.
According to FMCSA Chief Safety Officer Jack Van Steenburg, many police officers won’t pull over large vehicles because they’re not sure how to proceed once they do. Other officers don’t pull over trucks because they’re afraid of pulling a truck over on a busy highway.
Those that do attempt traffic stops or inspections often don’t know what paperwork needs to be filed or can’t properly carry out inspections. The executive director or the CVSA, Stephen Keppler, even admits that even when the information is gathered, it is often entered into the wrong federal safety database.
While police officers who know what they’re doing may help improve highway safety, this “national” program may take a while to roll out. The course, dubbed the Large Truck and Bus Traffic Enforcement Train-the-Trainer Course, will begin on February 17th in Fairfax, VA. Its next stop is on April 13th in Jacksonville, FL.
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Source: truckinginfo, gobytrucknews
Image Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Chatli says
Ok heeeere we go!! More harassment! Don’t even try to say it’s for safety! I’ve seen the harassment from local yocals already in my home town! I’ve seen them pull over brand new trucks sitting at a stop light in a truck route! Seriously? As violent as this country has become and you really need the truck revenue that bad? Go to work boys and just stop! Ugh smh
Michael says
Reminds me of the guy who gave me my CDL exam. He took off points because I didn’t touch the “spacers” on my wheels. They didn’t HAVE any spacers! Look, genius, those wheels over there on that old trailer with 5-lug star wheels have spacers, and here they are, but this here trailer has dish wheels, and they bolt together without spacers. No spacers!
I didn’t succeed in educating him. I can’t wait for the local “DOT-trained” cops to tell me about the problem with my spacers on my super singles, or tell me the S-cams are worn out on my disc brakes.
Sigh…
Eddie says
You are 100% right. I have a trailer repair shop and you wouldn’t believe the citations I see. Like ABS malfunction on a 1992 trailer without ABS (ABS required after 1998). Bad equalizers on an air ride trailer. It goes on and on. I actually had a driver bring me a ticket he got for an air leak on a specialized yacht trailer with electric brakes. Now, how am I supposed to fix that?
Cliff Downing says
Boy, just what we need. A new crop of “Barneys” to play fast and loose with the regs to fit their agenda and as a revenue enhancement scheme. You know that the inmates have finally taken over the asylum when they are willing to sacrifice safety, i.e. having local police stop trucks for inspections in busy metro traffic, in order to make some gesture towards enforcing safety.
Stephen says
I would rather be pulled over by an officer who has some modicum of training and understands at least SOME of the rules, than one who doesn’t know the difference between an airbag and a brake chamber!
Nothing is lost when anyone receives more training in their field. I applaud this action.
Cherokee says
That’s all we need, more patrol officers that will go out of there way to pull us over just to prove they can, wonder how many will get hit by other vehicles because they won’t know the right place to do an inspection and the side of the highway isn’t the right spot definitely not when loaded with Hazmat, I can see a lot of lawsuits coming in the future.