CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Truck drivers, maintenance professionals, and other members of the trucking industry will have a chance at a free crash course in truck inspections ahead of the annual 72-hour Roadcheck Inspection Blitz.
Jan Vineyard with the West Virginia Trucking Association said it’s a chance for anyone in the trucking industry to get a refresher lesson or two on safety inspections.
“What we’re aiming to do at these two workshops at 10 o’clock and 1 o’clock is to provide those safety directors–those maintenance people that work on truck–kind of a preview to see exactly what an inspection looks like,” she said Monday morning on MetroNews “Talkline.”
The blitz will result in more than 45,000 inspections. Around 9,000 of those inspections–or 20 percent–will reveal infractions that could place the truck out of service.
“A lot of safety directors are signed up to come,” she said. “Also some maintenance people. We’re hoping they come. They watch through this. Then they go back and work with their drivers. Because ultimately the driver is in charge of the truck.”
The WVTA and the Public Service Commission will co-host the training at the Meadowbrook Rest Stop located at mile marker 123 on I-79.
“We’re hoping, roughly, we’re going to train 60 people tomorrow,” she said. “And we’re hoping those 60 will go back and do everyone in their shops where they work.”
Vineyard said West Virginia truckers should be ready for the blitz when it begins next month.
“We in West Virginia, our trucking companies, will be prepared for the Safety Blitz,” she said.
Sessions will last between 60 and 90 minutes with time allotted for questions.
Space for the free workshop is limited, and participants are asked to confirm their attendance by e-mailing [email protected] or by contacting the WVTA office at (304)345-2800.