Commuter Complaints About Rt. 210 Trucks Leads to Sting

FOREST HEIGHTS, MD — Numerous complaints from residents and commuters who use Route 210 in Prince George’s County led to a crackdown on commercial trucks – especially dump trucks – last week, authorities said.

The vehicle checks found that nearly 35 percent had violated weight restrictions and were taken out of service by police.

Troopers and commercial vehicle inspectors from the Maryland State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit focused enforcement along Rt. 210 in the Forest Heights. The state had received multiple calls from commuters and residents in the area who were concerned about unsafe commercial vehicles, especially dump trucks, according to a news release.

Last week’s enforcement resulted in an out-of-service rate of 35 percent, almost twice the usual average rate of 18 percent.

Authorities inspected 46 commercial vehicles and placed 16 out-of-service for violations. Nineteen of the trucks (41 percent) were found to be overweight, and 15 of those were so overweight, they were required to off-load before proceeding.

Troopers issued 52 citations and 46 warnings during the day-long operation. One driver was arrested after troopers found he was wanted for failure to appear on charges that included driving while suspended, driving while unqualified, federal out-of-service orders, and multiple equipment and overweight violations.

Authorities said additional enforcement operations are planned for the area.