Saturday, June 7

MONTPELIER -- Vermont Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officers this week took more than 100 vehicles and drivers out of service and arrested four people during a three-day safety check along the Massachusetts border that ended June 5.

Inspectors checked and weighed 3,696 commercial vehicles, and conducted 373 inspections. As a result, they placed 75 commercial vehicles out of service as well as 36 commercial motor vehicle drivers. Officers also detected a total 933 violations, and issued over $45,000 in fines related to those detected violations.

DMV inspectors arrested four individuals. Charges included commercial motor vehicle DUI, criminal driving while license suspended, possession of marijuana (2.4 grams) and having an outstanding arrest warrant from Orange County.

The United States Border Patrol, working in partnership with the Department of Motor Vehicles, detained five individuals for immigration violations.

Thirty-two enforcement officers from the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, the South Burlington Police Department, Shelburne Police Department, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. Border Patrol and the Internal Revenue Service's Federal Fuel Compliance Program completed an around the clock, three-day (June 3-5) Commercial Vehicle Safety Checkpoint at the Guilford and Vernon inspection facilities on Interstate 91 near the Massachusetts border as part of International Road Check 2008.

Officers checked critical safety elements on the vehicles, determined drivers' fitness for duty, and verified commercial vehicle drivers for safety belt usage.

Although inspectors perform this work everyday, International Road Check 2008 placed a special emphasis driver safety programs aimed at saving lives on North American highways.

The highest numbers of infractions were related to drivers violating hours of service regulations and vehicle brake violations. Inspector also detected eight seat belt violations and 11 load securement violations, which were special emphasis areas this year.

These emphasis areas are particularly pertinent since Road Check 2008 is occurring at the same time as the national Click It or Ticket campaign, while load securement was identified as a contributing factor in a recent fatal commercial motor vehicle crash on Route 9 in Woodford.