Officers of the Bellefontaine Police Department have recently launched a commercial truck enforcement aspect to patrol duties, Police Chief Brandon Standley reports.
“Historically, we have worked with our state enforcement partners to assist,” he said.
“However; in recent years, numerous complaints of truck violations in our downtown and around our city continued to be problematic for our local businesses, residents, pedestrians and other motorists. This led our agency to take a more proactive approach to truck enforcement.
“It was no longer possible to expect all drivers were going to follow the laws. Not that we wanted more to do, but this quickly became a necessity of enforcement and answering concerns from our community in a professional way.”
Earlier this year, a Bellefontaine Police Department officer received advanced certification to become more ready to respond to violations by trucks causing either traffic or pedestrian safety concerns.
To-date, the officer has made 22 stops, and has issued two citations.
“That’s a testament to the fact that we are willing to help educate drivers and companies,” the police chief said. “It’s also a testament to our approach that issuing tickets is not the goal, but keeping our roadways safer is the ultimate goal.”
One of the safety concerns includes semi-tractor trailers who ignore laws that prohibit them in the downtown areas without making a delivery, which gives rise to immediate enforcement.
“We improved signage and temporarily placed digital signs out ahead of our downtown to help caution our visitors. We still had semis ignore our laws. We noticed that in most of those instances, they were out-of-state trucking companies,” the police chief said.
In addition, Chief Standley explained that trucks that are overweight are a serious concern for two primary reasons.
“First, they cannot stop as quick when they are too heavy. Second, they more quickly destroy our infrastructure, which taxpayers help try to keep nice. Overloaded trucks wear down our asphalt, curbs and more.
“Imagine an overloaded truck that cannot stop and crushes a vehicle in front of it. Is it worth costing property damage and lives? This is why truck safety is critical to our duties, and worthy of checks and balances.”
Recently, the police department has borrowed portable scales from the Ohio Department of Transportation to aid in the enforcement effort.
“As predicted, most of our outstanding drivers were legal and within the normal operating levels per type of truck. However; we did find a couple anomalies. One was overweight by 13,000 pounds and another by 9,300 pounds.
“Even with two overweight trucks, we are confident that our local drivers and companies understand safety and work hard to make deliveries on time. Truckers keep accurate records with them, and almost always know their actual weight before they leave for their destination.”
Since borrowing the scales, Chief Standley said it was helpful that many trucking companies quickly spread the word.
“Apparently, our visibility efforts have worked and helped bring attention to this very serious matter. The last thing we want to do is issue a CDL operator a citation.
“We understand that this is their livelihood and supporting local businesses. However, we won’t make excuses for enforcing laws to keep everyone safe. We are confident that everyone agrees with this commonsense approach. We’re hopeful that before a company places a driver at risk, they too have considered the risk to their drivers.
“Delivering products on time, and within legal standards, is far better than risking piling on more products to get more goods out the door illegally.”
The BPD officer is available to assist any company with free inspections, safety talks and weight inspections if equipment is available and with any laws that may need clarification.
“We approach traffic safety just like many other facets of our duties. We take the approach of education, prevention, and enforcement,” the police chief said.
If you would like to request this service, contact the police department at (937) 599-1010.