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Wi&fBY lý&ËpeÉâ p -bOý , ApWJL 6, 19U8PAG Ai f. 'A concentra.ted enforcement effort' Flying hit squad looks for uns afe truclker By JOHN COOPER worked with our counterparts in the to carry. Then they have to start "'They were s0 bad we wouldn't (from The inlstry of Transpor- U.S. at border crossings into On- teaching the shippers, how to load even let them into the province. tation NEWS) tario." their trucks and when to load And tbey were-hauling gasoline," Drivers of unsafe trucks What if truckers pass on infor- them.", Doherty emphasized. -beware! You could be next on the mation via C.B. radio and fellow The program is a proven success. "Therë's a definite need for en- Ministry of Transportation'à "bit drivers attempt to avoid inspection For example, during a recent forcement and a definite need for list." by taking altemnate routes? blitz i the Town of Vaughan north. better communications with the NOw~l flCUi, d nn<iv f Metro. 189 vehicles were trücking industry. " The "1flying.hit squad"l as it's nicknamed, keeps tabs on errant truckers with the co-operation of local police forces. While the squads are not well-. known to 'the general public, they've been an all-too-familiar fix- ture in trucking circles for years, according to Bill Doherty, Toronto district manager for D & V. Following requests from municipalities or tips from ministry patrollers, truck inspec- tors join with local constables. The crews set up shop at well-travelled intersections or on busy stretches of highway frequented by truckers. Dates are arranged well in ad- vance. On the day of the operation, local police officers, carrier control workers and vehicle inspectors are mobiized,, setting Up in the early hours of the morning, beginning work by 7:30 a.m. "It's what we cail a concentrated enforcement effort," noted Doher- ty. Truckers are first checked for proper licensing and registration, proper seat belt use, insurance and ownership. SPortable scales are brought out and the truck weighed to see if any weight regulations are broken. "'They mayhit four different locations in one day in the Metro area, in rural areas at key intersec- tionis, of ten just north of Metro, " said Doherty. "And our people have (NC)--While car body styles change and evolve ftom year to year, what's happening underneath the hood sur- passeswhawe see on the outsidc. Many famiiarpart have disappeared and more will becomne obsolete. Among themn are voltage regulators, ignition distributors, power steering pumps and speedometer cables. According: tç Mark Cocroft of Gen- eral Motors' Advanced Engineering staff, nine ou of every ten North Amri can cars last year had a voltage regula- tor. Within thec next five years that numnber will decrease to at lems six'of 10. Cocroft also says hydraulic pumps that supply regular steering with a power assist are on their way out. "The problem with conventioflal power steer- ing is that if the engine stails, you have an 0ld.fashioned truck steerlflg wheel in your hands. We are extcnding the use of electric motors to do the job." Electroli- ics will also be used for diret flring of spark plugs ( which eventually wil be phased out in favor of quartz crystals) instead of using a distributor, and sPeed- ometers will operate by electrical sys- tems instead of a metal cable. Ministry trucks are dispatched to the next intersection -sort of a modemn version of "heading-them off at the pass. 9 Doherty admits to being "frankly shocked'" at some of the glaring in- fringements truckers try to pass off as safe. "But the benefit of our work is in taking unsafe vehicles off the road," he said. '-The only problem is a shortage of staff." No two days are the same when stopping vehicles, said Doherty. "Some days, we've had as many as 14 dump trucks lined up at the weigh station. .. vehicles which we wouldnt allow back out on the road." Naturally, there is the other side of the coin. In an industry where success is measured by how much you can deliver in how littie time, there is no lack of complaints. "We get a lot of three-axle truck owners who complain they cant live with the laws, despite the fact current regulations have been in place since the late 1970s," said Doherty. "1Whenever we start hit- ting them bard, they cômplain. " Better knowledge of their rigs is the number one solution, said Doherty. "The owners have to educate their drivers a littie more, check the weight their vehicle is allowed AUTO FACTS Multiplexed circuitry is another coming technology. Already in use on the Cadilac Allante, this systemi will soon find its way to other mnodels. Multiplexed secuity rids an average vehicle of about 170 feet of wmrng and related fuses. Safety is enhanced be- cause there are no wire leads that can short out. An Output switch module reports any bulb failure, for example, to a computer module and can even acti- vate a substitute- ail within a matter of milliseconds! Outside the hood, other changes in- clude anti-lock breaking and anti- wheel spin systemns, according to Cocroft. Today only 2 percent of the world's new cars feature anti-lock brealcing. By 1990, that figure could easily be 40 percent. That's dramatic change! And it's only the tip of the technology iceberg. -NOTICE- The lot where chance is only a word... CY WILSON SALES* Quality Used Cars & Trucks ,517 Brock St. N., Whitby 666-4100 Before you buy - ""See Cy!" laid. In Metro, the scýuad examined.168 vehicles and laid',106 charges, in- cluding 44 for unroadworthinesS.U Ten of the vehicles were taggedas grossly unsafe. However, despite a staff of 39 i- spectors and two area supervisors,- the ministry cannot keep Up. There is definitely a need for the "&race track" type of scales at weigh stations. They speed up the process of weighing trucks. "And at our weigh stations on- Hwy. 400, we definitely need more room to, park unroadworthy trucks," said Doherty. Constant vigilance is also necessary. "If- we're not. continually checking commercial vehicles on a regular basis, the condition of the vehicles goes down dramatically,"' Doherty noted. "We're dealing with people who expect us to tell them how to maintain their vehicles. " While there are problems, ini the long run Ontario-truckers are more aware of safety than their out-of- province counterparts. "I've personally noticed that in the province of Ontario, the truckers drive much safer rigs than those coming in from the U.S. or Quebec," said Doherty. A case in point was the situation a while ago at the Queenston Bridge, near Niagara Falls. TransportationI officiais turned back three gasoline tankers. 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