An Oregon Department of Transportation inspector checks tires during a truck inspection. (Courtesy Oregon Department of Transportation)About 700 truck safety inspections were completed by Oregon Department of Transportation and Washington State Patrol certified inspectors during a multi-day inspection operation held the week of March 8 along the Interstate 5 corridor in Oregon and Washington.
More than 780 violations were found during the inspections, which focused primarily on drivers’ logbooks and qualifications.
During the event, 145 drivers (or 19 percent) were placed out of service for safety violations. That rate is consistent with inspection events at other locations in Oregon and Washington state over the last few years. The national driver out of service rate is about 7 percent.
“One of the reasons that our out of service rate is so high is because these inspections are not random,” said Washington State Patrol Officer Corey Turner. “We used a variety sorting tools including weigh station records to select vehicles and drivers for inspections.”
Selected drivers were interviewed, logbooks and documentation were reviewed, and vehicles were checked for safety violations. The most common violations were drivers driving too many hours and inaccurate logbooks.
“The purpose of this effort was to prevent crashes and to help drivers ensure they are getting enough rest to safely operate their vehicles,” said Howard Russell, ODOT Motor Carrier safety compliance field manager.
