By Renée Rodgers
A concentrated effort to get unsafe trucks off Ontario highways is underway.
The OPP, Ministry of Transportation, and Ministry of Environment will be working together on Operation Corridor. The annual initiative began Tuesday at 6 a.m. and will continue for 24 hours.
Police will be on alert for speeding truck drivers while the ministries will be checking for maintenance and emission problems.
The focus will be on Highway 11 and 17, as well as all 400-series highways.
During last year’s operation, the police pulled over almost 1,800 trucks. About 160 speeding charges were handed out.
Constable Ken Upton of the OPP said while most truckers drive responsibly, some do not obey the rules of the road.
“There still seems to be evidence that some of the commercial motor vehicle drivers are continuing to drive aggressively and are failing to adhere to some of our province’s basic highway laws,” he said. “We see this from day to day in regards to driving behaviour such as speeding, failing to drive in their marked lane and other common highway traffic act offences.”
Upton said while police are always watching for highway infractions, Operation Corridor reminds truckers of that fact. The operation also reminds the public that police are doing their part in keeping unsafe trucks off the road.
“The general motoring public who are not commercial motor vehicle drivers are aware that there are many trucks on the road,” he said. “Sometimes these general motorists see infractions made by these operators. It’s good for those motorists to be aware that we do take it very seriously and we are watching for these type of drivers.”