"Significant danger:" Acting sheriff orders enhanced truck safety enforcement on freeways

MILWAUKEE -- Citing "significant danger" when not maintained, due to their "massive size," Acting Milwaukee County Sheriff Richard Schmidt has ordered "enhanced truck safety enforcement" on Milwaukee County's freeways.

According to a news release from the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, safety inspection operations on commercial motor vehicles are conducted by deputies certified in truck inspections.

Unsafe trucks with serious equipment violations, combined with excessive speeds, is a recipe for disaster on the 158 miles of the Milwaukee County expressway system, sheriff's officials said in the release. Truck enforcement requires highly-trained deputies who will use their training to take commercial motor vehicles out of service that are not in compliance.

“The massive size of trucks when not properly maintained provides a significant danger to the motoring public. The Sheriff’s Office enforcement efforts will hold companies accountable for equipment violations, as well as aggressive operators who speed, tailgate and drive without due regard for the safety of the vehicles around them. We are changing the culture to avoid catastrophic consequences," Acting Sheriff Schmidt said in the release.

The inspections cover equipment violations involving brakes, lights, secured loads, suspensions and tires -- along with logbook violations.