Commercial vehicles in town: safety checkpoint ahead

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: May 12, 2008

Tractor-trailer, dump truck and other commercial drivers rolling through town may want to make sure their rides are in proper working order and not carrying loads that are too heavy.

That’s because the Culpeper Town Police will hold its first ever commercial vehicle checkpoint Tuesday in an undisclosed location to ensure that commercial vehicles using town streets are doing so safely.

And, the department now has someone trained to do commercial vehicle safety inspections on a more regular basis.

In a news release put out last week by the town, Culpeper Police Sgt. Jason Deal said Tuesday’s checkpoint is a matter of public safety that came in response to two fatal accidents in recent years involving commercial vehicles.

In 2005, a school bus struck a young girl on the first day of school and in 2006 a box truck struck an older woman in front of the post office.

Though the vehicles involved in the accidents were not necessarily operating in violation of safety requirements, the inci-dents raised awareness among Town Police of the need for such training among its ranks, town public information officer Wally Bunker said.

The department had an accident reconstruction team then and now, but until recently it had to wait for State Police to arrive on the scene to inspect any commercial vehicles involved in accidents — at times that could take hours.

But late last year, Culpeper Officer Andy Berry successfully completed a two-week state certification course in commercial motor vehicle enforcement, according to the news release, allowing him to inspect large trucks and buses and the like to ensure that they are in proper working order.

Last month, Officer Berry spent five days in the field with veteran inspectors from the State Police Motor Carrier Unit, in-cluding a day in Culpeper during which five commercial vehicles were inspected.

“Of those five vehicles, three were placed out of service due to brakes being out of adjustment, air leaks, failure to secure roll of containers and inoperative turn signals,” Berry said.

Besides being certified at the state level, he is now working toward certification to enforce federal standards as well.

With Officer Berry certified to do such inspections, the Culpeper Police Department expects to see more violations, Sgt. Deal said.

“Every truck I have stopped has a violation — some very minor,” Berry said.

Deal said the goal of the new enforcement is safer streets for motorists and pedestrians.

Tuesday’s checkpoint will involve inspections for safe equipment, updated logbooks and weight requirements. Portable scales will be used to weigh commercial vehicles in conjunction with the Virginia State Police and DMV.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or