According to a story from the Associated Press, Maryland’s auditor said the state police Motor Carrier Division was failing to effectively enforce trucking laws, including not policing overweight trucks.
The audit, released Aug. 30, noted the Motor Carrier Division was understaffed and did not effectively use highway scales to track overweight trucks. According to the audit report, the state’s 21 weigh-in-motion scales recorded 69,000 overweight trucks in June 2000 – 38 percent of all trucks weighed. But law enforcement did not properly monitor the scales and was unable to catch those overweight trucks. The report also found inaccurate scales, including one that under-weighed trucks by 21 percent.
Inspector Charles Culton, assistant commander of the division, told AP the state relies more on its 100 portable-scale-equipped patrol cars than its weigh stations. In one month, more than 60 percent of overweight truck citations were issued from portable scales.
