1-in-10 Commercial Trucks Fail Oregon Inspections

Two persons were found in possession of methamphetamine and a third was in possession of marijuana.

A OSP drug dog searches a commerical vehicle for drugs during Operation Trucker Check XIII. Photo courtesy: Oregon State Police

(CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. ) - According to preliminary statistics, 512 inspections resulted in about 1-in-10 vehicles and nearly 20 percent of drivers placed out-of-service for equipment and driver-related safety violations during last week's three-day interagency commercial vehicle inspection at the Interstate 84 eastbound Cascade Locks Port of Entry.

This inspection and enforcement safety effort involving police, highway department truck safety inspectors and trained Drug Recognition Evaluators (DRE), was Oregon's 13th trucker check operation since the program began in 1998 targeting impairment and vehicle safety.

Operation Trucker Check XIII began 12:01 a.m., Tuesday, September 18th, and concluded September 20th, involving a team of law enforcement officers and ODOT commercial vehicle inspectors targeting driver impairments related to alcohol, drugs, or fatigue, and vehicle equipment safety.

Participating agencies included Oregon State Police, ODOT-Motor Carrier Transportation Division, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Portland Police Bureau, and Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.

A total of 512 commercial vehicles were inspected of which 55 (11%) were placed out-of-service for critical safety violations.

Ninety-nine (19%) drivers were also placed out-of-service for assorted safety violations including excessive driving hours, log book deficiencies, and driver qualification issues.

Officers and inspectors issued 21 motor carrier-relation citations and 606 warnings.

Two persons were found in possession of methamphetamine and a third was in possession of marijuana.

"The preliminary statistics were consistent with previously held Operation Trucker Checks in Woodburn, Ontario and Ashland," said OSP Sergeant Alan Hageman. "On a positive note, no drivers were determined to be under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Just in case, though, we had the new Mobile DUII Processing Center motor home on site to help with testing and processing any possible intoxicated drivers."

Another aspect of this operation was to determine the extent of substance abuse by commercial drivers through voluntary collection of urine samples for forensic testing.

Urine samples are being forwarded to an Oregon State Police Forensics Laboratory for testing, the results of which may not be available for several weeks.

Toxicology tests completed by the Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division on nearly 500 voluntarily provided anonymous urine tests during Operation Trucker Check XII in April 2007 indicated about one in ten commercial drivers had controlled substances in their system.

The following are the analysis results of the 487 urine samples obtained during Operation Trucker Check XII:

* 8 (1.64%) drivers tested positive for the presence of amphetamines, equal to the number of drivers tested positive in 1998. * 18 (3.70%) tested positive for the presence of cannabinoid (marijuana), nearly double the number of drivers tested positive in 1998. * 2 (0.41%) tested positive for the presence of methadone. * 16 (3.29%) tested positive for opiates (e.g., oxycodone), double the number of drivers tested positive in 1998. * 3 (0.62%) tested positive for propoxyphene (synthetic opiates). * 5 (1.03%) were positive for more than one drug category. * Overall, 41 (9.65%) of the 487 drivers provided urine which tested positive in at least one drug category.

Source Oregon State Police