Deputies discovered 16 violations on one truck during an inspection effort in Houston on Tuesday.
The truck in question was stopped just off of Highway 249 on August 16th in Harris County during an inspection effort that was filmed by ABC 13.
Deputy Maurice Bucklin says that, while the truck he stopped is not technically a commercial vehicle, the obvious state of the truck led him to believe that he would find violations.
“It’s usually not a commercial vehicle but because of the statue, the way that the vehicle looked, I figured it was going to be heavy. So I stopped the vehicle and pulled it into this parking lot,” Bucklin said.
The truck met the weight requirements for an inspection, and Bucklin eventually found 14 violations on the truck and two for the driver.
“He had a tire that’s bald and two tread grooves on the front,” said Bucklin. “He had an exhaust leak and it was damaged inside the vehicle to allow those fumes to get into the cab while he was driving,” he continued.
On top of the truck violations, the driver was not even licensed to drive the truck, and received two violations himself.
“This vehicle cannot operate safely if the driver is not qualified to operate it,” Bucklin said. “He can cause a crash that can injure or kill anybody that’s on the roadways.”
A team of nine deputies is currently working in Harris County to spot truck violations. So far, the team has inspected fewer than 1,800 trucks, but has found almost 12,000 violations. 855 vehicles have been placed out of service, along with 282 drivers.
“I hate to say it, but a lot of vehicles in the area are that way,” Sgt. Dennis Castanie said.
“Fix your trucks,” Bucklin said. “It’s a lot better for you to find the issues and for you to fix it, before we find you on the side of the road.”