Big Rigs, Big Danger On Interstate-10

It’s nearly impossible to drive on Interstate 10 through the Coachella Valley without being in the shadows of tractor-trailors.

But, with all those big rigs, come big dangers. Many of them are not safe enough to be out on the road, according to a CHP report.

For trucks heading west into the L.A. basin and major metro areas, they go through the CHP’s weigh station and inspection facility in the Banning Pass.

More than 2,500 trucks pass over the scales every day.

But crews at the station inspect more than just payloads. They’re looking for any safety violations. What they come across is often startling.

“You see them coming from Texas, Florida. When they come here to get inspected and find something broken, I’m surprised how they make it all the way here,” said Gerardo Medina, a truck inspector.

For these big rigs weighing up to 80,000 pounds, the number one problem is the brakes.

“Their stopping distance is already considerably longer than a car. So anytime the brakes start wearing down, that makes that stopping distance a lot longer,” said truck inspector Shayne Larkins.

Preventing a disaster on the highway is a non-stop job here. The station is one of 16 across the state open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If violations are bad enough, after inspections, trucks are taken to a nearby lot where they will remain until repairs are made. Or else, they do not go back on the road.

It’s up to trucking companies to call in crews to make the repairs.

“It’s pretty common. Right now, my month total, I’m about 43 percent out of service for all the inspections I’ve done,” said Larkins.

The facility is the busiest in the state, with nearly a million vehicles passing through last year.

They did more than 30,000 inspections with more than 9,000 trucks taken out of service. That is more than 30 percent.

Inspectors found nearly 51,000 equipment violations. Driver violations came in at just over 3,800. And, the CHP handed out more than 18,000 citations.

“We get a lot of interstate drivers, a lot of them fear coming through the scales here at the Banning Pass. We kind of have a national reputation. ‘If you survive the scales’, so to speak, you’re doing pretty good,” said Lt. Rodney Strate.