I went trailer trucking a few weeks ago. Late in the night I had a blowout on the inside rear tire, driver’s side, on the trailer.
Thankfully, the pieces of rubber that flew from the exploding tire didn’t hit any vehicles. They did, however, knock off the mud flap behind the tire.
I pulled my rig safely to the side of the interstate, flipped on the flashers, placed my warning triangles and called my dispatcher to report my situation.
A surprise visitor
Some two hours later, a tire service truck arrived. A short time later, so did a state trooper.
The trooper, a commercial vehicle enforcement officer, asked if I was okay. After I answered that I was, he did a full-on Level III roadside inspection – right there alongside a busy Interstate.
Level III is one of the six levels of roadside inspections.
A Level III is an examination of only those documents pertaining to the driver – commercial driver's license, medical certificate, logbook/electronic logging devices and hours of service and documentation of the annual vehicle inspection – and hazardous materials, applicable.
The trooper did a very detailed examination, and I am happy to report that I passed. Not a surprise, really, as I strive to keep to all paperwork current.
Turns out the trooper was only six months out of commercial vehicle enforcement training and he is out to prove himself. He proudly noted that he leads his class in roadside inspections.
My point in relating my experience is that you never know when a driver and/or a commercial vehicle will be inspected. Always have everything – driver and vehicle – in proper working order.
