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150 citations given to truckers breaking rules

Pinellas County and state officers at a checkpoint stop dozens of commercial vehicles and drivers.

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 10, 2005

LARGO - Pinellas County and state officials went looking this week for commercial trucks that were overloaded, out of repair or steered by drivers who shouldn't have been behind the wheel.

They didn't have to look hard.

Officials checked out at least 75 trucks they encountered within 5 miles of the Florida Department of Transportation's maintenance yard on Ulmerton Road.

Fifteen sheriff's personnel and three motor carrier compliance officers from the DOT conducted the checkpoint.

Trucks that looked like they had obvious violations - excessive loads, improperly covered loads, no mud flaps or scrap metal hanging out the sides - were pulled over and directed to the DOT's maintenance yard. Some trucks also followed signs in to be checked.

The majority of trucks from large commercial fleets were in compliance, said sheriff's Sgt. Glenn Luben, supervisor of the agency's traffic enforcement unit.

At the checkpoint, 47 vehicles were weighed, and deputies wrote 150 traffic citations.

"If they were already empty or they didn't look overweight, they were not weighed," Luben said.

State officers also conducted 58 inspections and issued citations carrying fines totaling $6,589. The inspections turned up 37 load violations, 73 equipment violations, four cases of drivers having a suspended or revoked license and four cases of drivers having the wrong class of license.

One older dump truck had "no business being on the road," with leaking brakes and a steering assembly secured to the truck's frame with a piece of rebar, Luben said.

"We understand he's trying to earn a living, but we've got to weigh the balance of what's best for public safety also," Luben said.

"We want them to understand that we're out there and we're not going to announce that we're doing these," he said. "We want them to say, "Hey, I better not try that. I don't want to get pulled in. I don't know when they're going to be out there."'

[Last modified December 10, 2005, 00:51:18]