Heightened inspections on I-15 aimed at better safety

Thursday, June 5, 2003 | 9:22 a.m.

A tractor-trailer loaded with sheep pulled into an inspection station near Sloan on Tuesday, but when the inspector discovered a mother dog and three puppies, the trip was interrupted.

"I told the driver he had to move the puppies up front into the cab," Nevada Department of Agriculture Lt. Dennis Journigan said Wednesday.

Nothing large or small escapes the eyes of a team of inspectors doing an annual truck check at the site, inspectors said.

The canine family was the gentlest violation discovered so far in a 72-hour marathon inspection of commercial trucks on Interstate 15, part of a national effort to improve highway safety, Journigan said.

The inspection is scheduled to conclude at 10:30 tonight.

Officers from the Nevada Highway Patrol, the state Agriculture Department, the California Highway Patrol, Metro Narcotics Squad and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office have been working around the clock in an effort to prevent accidents and to prevent unwanted guests from moving into Las Vegas.

Unwanted visitors include fire ants, Africanized bees, and diseases in cows, horses and sheep passing through.

Inspectors check livestock, plants, perishables, cargo containers and everything on a truck from brakes to horn and windshield wipers.

Normally, Journigan said, there are no agricultural violations, but including the puppies mixed in with the sheep, a total of three violators were cited by 6 p.m. Wednesday.

NHP Sgt. W. Masterson, whose father drove a truck based in Sacramento for 26 years, said the inspection is all about safety.

"The whole idea of this is protecting public safety," Masterson said.

Trucks hauling sod or plants with fire ants are fumigated to kill the pests. If a driver doesn't have the proper paperwork for the cargo, he is sent back to his point of origin. If a truck's brakes don't work, the truck is parked on the side of the road until a repair crew fixes the problem.

A semi-trailer loaded with cargo can weight over 10,000 pounds, Masterson said. "They need to have good brakes," he said.

Of 415 truck violations on Tuesday alone, 11 were for faulty brakes, Masterson said. Another 16 violations showed some problem with the brake systems.

Ten other drivers had exceeded their 10-hour driving limit, he said.

A total of 28 trucks were put out of service on Tuesday. By 6 p.m. Wednesday a total of 33 truckers had been cited for violations since the inspections began.

Randy Rowley, a 27-year veteran NHP Commercial Vehicle Safety Inspector, taped a tag to the front of a white semi out of California after finding its brake linings contaminated with oil and grease.

"He's off the road until the brakes are fixed," Masterson said.

A truckload of sod from Sandy Valley moved through after inspectors didn't see any insect life or other problems with the truck, Lt. Chris Collis with the Nevada Agriculture Department in Ely said.

Inspectors also watch for stolen vehicles and equipment.

"Agricultural crime is big business, especially in California," Journigan said. "They steal everything."

However, at the Las Vegas checkpoint no major stolen items had been found by Wednesday night.