Small cars and large trucks share many of the roadways in and around D.C. The Fairfax County Police Department’s motor carrier safety unit spent Tuesday trying to make sure that trucks on the road were safe for all involved.
Many trucks driving in the busy Virginia State Route 28 corridor were waved over for inspections on Tuesday, and WTOP was there to learn about how truck inspections are done.
“We chose the Route 28 corridor from Loudoun County down to the Prince William County line,” said Sgt. Stephen Cicinato, head of the motor carrier unit. “It’s a heavily traveled road for commercial vehicles.”
Detective Jared Warner, with the unit, conducted a Level 1 inspection — the most thorough — on a dump truck that had recently dumped its load near Leesburg.
Taking notes, kicking tires, directing the driver to flip, pump, click and otherwise activate dozens of pieces of equipment on the truck, Warner spent approximately 30 minutes checking all aspects of the truck.
The only violation was that the windshield wiper fluid reservoir was empty. No driver received a copy of the driver/vehicle examination report, which noted the wiper fluid wasn’t working during the inspection.
“You’re not going to know unless you get underneath there and are able to check everything out,” Warner said. “It gives the company, and the public, peace of mind, knowing that a certified inspector was underneath there, was able to check everything and they know they have a good truck.”
Cicinato said the delay for a busy trucker is a minor inconvenience, but part of the job: “Having that commercial driver’s license endorsement, these drivers know that they could be stopped at any time to be inspected.”
“Conducting a thorough Level 1 inspection, bringing to their attention the defects that are found so that they can correct it, so that way the truck can get back in service, make money for the company, and operate safely on the roadways here,” Cicinato said. “That is our main focus.”