Truck Stops in Greenwich

There will be truck stops in Greenwich come Monday morning. In fact, there will be three of them.

However, these stops are the welcoming respites from hours on the road.

Taking advantage of a nice weather forecast, Greenwich Police will hold truck safety inspection morning in three popular truck routes in town. A posse of 20 Greenwich Police officers trained in various aspects of truck safety inspections, at least a dozen officers from the Connecticut State Police and Department of Motor Vehicles, an Internal Revenue Service agent and canine units will be stopping all trucks on West Putnam Avenue, Ritch Avenue and King Street.

The three roads are popular with truckers, especially those trying to avoid the weight station just north of Exit 2 of I-95, according to Greenwich Police Lt. Kraig Gray.

Gray said, "Besides the safety aspects, all commercial rucks do more damage to the roadway surface than the average car. They are helping to pay to maintain the roads." When truckers bypass the weight station and inspection stations, "they really are pasing operating costs onto to ttaxpayers by not paying their fair share," Gray added.

Between 8 a.m. and noon on May 9, all trucks will be inspected. The IRS agent will check truck fuel tanks. Both diesel and home heating oil can fuel trucks. However, home heating oil is taxed less than diesel. To help determine whether truckers are trying to avoid paying the higher tax, a dye is used in home heating oil.

Gray said that police will detain trucks with found with deficiencies until repairs are made or the trucks are towed to a repair facility. In addition to safety inspections, officers will check drivers' log books and medical clearance documents allowing them to drive.

The inspections scheduled for Monday were to have been done in April but were postponed because of weather.

Gray said Greenwich Police periodically will conduct safety inspections in one location. This is the first time they have orchestrated a large multi-agency effort.