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Trucks are blitzed in annual initiative

Almost 500 vehicles receive secondary inspections during three-day campaign in Delta

Delta police officers were joined by a number of partner agencies last week for the department's annual commercial truck inspection blitz.

This marks the 10th year the Delta Police Department has partnered with the province's Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement branch (CVSE), as well as a host of other police and regulatory enforcement agencies from across the Lower Mainland and B.C., for the three-day initiative.

Delta has one of the highest ratios in the province of commercial vehicles transiting its roads and the annual inspection blitz is one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the province.

Seventy officers fanned out across six inspection sites in the community Tuesday through Thursday, and every truck passing an inspection site was required to stop.

Sgt. Mike Scholz of Delta's traffic section said the sites covered all the major arteries in the community, with some mobile sites moving to different locations over the course of the operation.

Each truck passed through an initial visual inspection. Any vehicle that looked like it could have a problem was then subject to a secondary, more thorough, inspection where officers looked at the general condition of the truck - tires, brakes, lights, steering and load security - as well as mechanical components. The inspectors also look at driver licensing and for signs of fatigue.

After being inspected, vehicles are given either a pass, violation or out of service designation. Any trucks with an out of service designation are not allowed to proceed until the problems are fixed. The department had mechanics, tire companies and tow trucks on standby to help fix any issues to get trucks back on the road.

In total, 472 trucks were targeted for a secondary inspection. Of those, 79 (17 per cent) passed with no defects or violations, 166 (35 per cent) had issues and were put out of service and 227 (48 per cent) had a violation or defect that did not require an out of service designation but did need repair. Because inspectors are targeting trucks that look like they might have an issue, the out of service rating is always high.