Smoky bears take down the 420 smokers

An inter-agency operation this week took 53 commercial vehicles and 93 drivers off Oregon roads for safety violations.

A team of Oregon State Police, several local police agencies and commercial vehicle inspectors with the Oregon Department of Transpiration ran the 16th Operation Trucker Check from 12:01 a.m. Tuesday through 11:59 p.m. Thursday at the southbound Interstate 5 Woodburn port of entry. The goal was to get impaired drivers and unsafe commercial vehicles off the road.

OSP reported preliminary statistics Friday. The 463 inspections during the check took 53 (about 11.5 percent) commercial vehicles off the road for critical safety violations and sidelined 93 (20 percent) drivers for violations that ranged from excessive driving hours, log book deficiencies and driver qualification issues. Officers and inspectors issued 42 motor carrier-related citations and 367 warnings.

During the previous trucker check in September last year at the Highway 97 Klamath Falls port of entry, state agencies placed 9 percent of the vehicles and 11 percent of the drivers out-of-service. And Trucker Check 14 at the westbound Interstate 84 Farewell Bend port of entry took 12 percent of vehicles and 14 percent of drivers off the road.

During trucker check 16, officers arrested a driver for possession of methamphetamine, hydrocodone tablets, alcohol, a handgun and a Tazer. Another driver was arrested during “Operation Trucker Check 16″ when troopers discovered he was in possession of marijuana plants, hashish, and a kit used for falsifying a urine test.

According to OSP Sergeant Dave MacKenzie, on April 8, 2009 at approximately 10:51 p.m. Senior Trooper Dianne Hansell contacted a commercial vehicle at the Woodburn Port of Entry to conduct a vehicle inspection during the 72-hour “Operation Trucker Check”.  While in contact with the operator, PHILLIP C. MATTOON, age 53, from El Paso, Texas, the trooper, assisted by Drug Recognition Experts,  determined he was in possession of four marijuana plants, user quantities of marijuana and hashish, and a kit used for falsifying a urine test.

MATTOON, who was driving for Complete Distribution Services Inc., a Texas trucking firm not related to a company by the same name based in Oregon, was taken into custody and lodged at the Marion County Jail.  Charges include:

• Operating a Commercial Motor Vehicle While in Possession of Marijuana
• Operating a Commercial Motor Vehicle While in Possession of Hashish
• Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance - Marijuana
• Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance - Marijuana
• Unlawful Manufacturing of a Controlled Substance - Marijuana
• Falsifying a Drug Test Result

The bond between most truckers (the brotherhood of cdl) is strong. Most professional drivers travel down the freeway assuming that the driver next to them is also a professional. Here is a reality check for those who are quick to stand up for another trucker just because he/she is a “trucker”. We are not all good, we are not all created equal. This goes for all occupations, you can apply it to most things in life really.

Most drivers might frown on this next comment, because there is a stigma to dislike law enforcement if you’re a trucker, as if law enforcement is out to get you, which is totally moronic. I am proud of all law enforcement officers who have made a decision to serve and protect, to take the scum bags off the streets. I salute you for a job well done!

So the next time you’re travelling down the freeway and you see smoky bear sitting in the middle wave high like I do(with all five fingers), he is working for you not against you!

Filed Under: truckers on police • truckers safety • trucking in general

Tags: 420, cops, dope, drugs, hightimes, pot, weed