Working to Get Unsafe Vehicles Off the Roads

Many of you either saw or read our story last Thursday about the multi-agency Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (CVE) working traffic on SH 114. The CVE Task Force, made up of officers from Southlake, Grapevine, Euless, Hurst and the Texas Department of Public Safety, started about 6:30 a.m. and concluded around 11:00 a.m. that day.

Each officer works daily to get unsafe trucks off the roads in his or her respective city – but twice a month the task force works together as a team to concentrate on one area in a particular city. On Thursday, August 6^th the team worked SH 114 in Southlake.

During that time, CVE officers stopped and inspected 18-tractor trailer vehicles. Of those vehicles, more than half were taken out of service for being unsafe. Here’s the breakdown of the days activity:

• 18 Inspections
• 9 Taken ‘out of service’
• 9 Hazardous violations
• 1 Non-hazardous violation
• 1 Texas Transportation Code violation (I.E.; vehicle registration, annual inspection, driver’s license violation)
• 52 Warnings

The worst violation the CVE team found included one 18-wheeler with 6 out of 10 brakes that were inoperative. Southlake CVE Officer Chris Garrett said, “We take our jobs seriously. Getting unsafe vehicles off the road prevents dangerous accidents and makes the highways safer for all drivers.”

Vehicles with minor violations received tickets and notices that required them to make repairs the next business day. Some of those non-hazardous violations included:

• Tires that were close to being worn
• Brakes that were close to wearing down
• Improper load securement (Loads that could shift while driving)

The nine vehicles that were taken ‘out of service’ were taken off the road immediately for violating federal regulations. The trucks were simply too dangerous to be on the highway.

Officer Garrett has been in law enforcement for 25 years (13 at the City of Southlake). It takes about nine months of training to become a CVE inspector and with continual training and education to keep up the certification.