Truckers welcome safety inspections

The highway patrol checks trucks hauling hazardous materials.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HUBBARD -- Truckers along Interstate 80 don't mind being pulled over if it means reducing the chances that the hazardous materials they haul are used in terrorist attacks.
Checks by the Ohio State Highway Patrol's motor carrier enforcement inspectors began statewide stops Wednesday along interstates and bypass routes.
"We haven't had any complaints from any drivers," said Sgt. Mike Schneider of the patrol's Southington barracks, which conducted checks at the I-80 westbound weigh station here.
Safety focus: The level three inspections, he explained, will be done indefinitely to focus on safety and because of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The inspections consist of checking drivers' credentials, shipping paperwork and destinations. The stops take about 20 minutes.
Schneider is among three troopers and seven civilian inspectors in Trumbull County.
"A lot of materials can be used as explosives," he pointed out.
On Wednesday, trucks identified by placards or decals as carrying hazardous materials were pulled into the weigh station.
"It makes me happy they're doing their job," said Jack Allmendinger of Knox, Pa. "I know my family is safer back home" because of the checks, he said.
Allmendinger was hauling a tanker full of used sulfuric acid.
"They really need to come down on these terrorists to get it stopped," he said.
Allmendinger noted that his load is dangerous, adding with a smile that "it's safe as long as it stays in the tank."
Although pulling an empty tanker, Louis Brideneakeo of Limestone, N.Y., also welcomed the check.
"It's new to me. I think it's a good idea," Brideneakeo said as he waited for an inspector.
Alphonsa Boyd of Rocky Mount, N.C., was carrying more than 1,000 used batteries filled with acid.
Effort: Boyd said the checks won't stop terrorists, "but every little bit helps."
When Boyd stops for fuel or a bite to eat, he said, his fellow truckers are constantly talking about the attacks in New York City and near Washington, D.C., and urging retaliation against the people of Afghanistan.
He disagrees with the opinions on retribution. "The Afghans didn't have anything to do with it, only their leaders," he said. "How can you punish a child just born or a child in school or an old man in the hospital who's sick?"
Schneider said the checks will continue for a week or two before a decision is made to continue them.
Letters were sent to all commercial carriers, telling them their trucks would be stopped.