The Evanston Port of Entry is the second largest port in Wyoming, second to Sheridan, in terms of volume of trucks passing through and personnel on hand. HERALD PHOTO/Becky Crum

Anyone driving on Interstate 80 sees the port of entry as they enter Evanston.

However, unless they’re a commercial driver, they have probably wondered exactly what goes on in there.

A common question that is asked by many people is, “Why do some trucks go by while others stop at the port?”

“The state of Wyoming made an agreement with pre-pass. It is a truck handling system that some companies have chosen to eliminate time-consuming stops at every state port so their drivers can keep going,” Skeeter Crompton, the Evanston Port of Entry Supervisor, said.

How it works

In order to have pre-pass, drivers must pre-file all the paperwork with the system, Crompton said.

He said trucking companies that use pre-pass must have an excellent safety rating and must maintain their safety status and keep their paperwork current.

“If they not hauling livestock, are not oversize or overweight, then they can keep moving down the interstate only if the transponder in their truck gives them a green light,” Crompton said.

Crompton said if their transponder gives them a yellow or red light, they must exit the interstate and check in with the port authorities.

Crompton said that the pre-pass has it set up so that 5 percent of all the trucks are pulled in for routine inspections.

“When we do our 72 hour inspections, the pre-pass is shut off so that all trucks have to pull into the port. During slower times and when we have a full staff working, we will shut it off and bring trucks in to check paperwork and do log book inspections,” Crompton said.

Crompton said that private individuals moving their own goods are not required to stop at the port. But a private individual hauling livestock must stop.

“We need to fill out paperwork on anyone who hauls livestock into the state so that we know where they are going and if there is a problem, there will be a paper trail on how it got into the state and when,” Crompton said.



The second largest port in Wyoming

The Evanston port of entry has 12 counter clerks. It is the second largest port in the state, with the Sheridan port the only one bigger, Crompton said.

The Sheridan port personnel are trained to take over the Montana officer’s duties, so they have two crews that handle both Wyoming and Montana.

“We are averaging about 3,000 trucks every 24 hours,” Crompton said. “During the summer months, we get from 3,500 to 4,000 trucks. When the winter weather starts, a lot of trucks will run more in the southern highways to avoid the weather conditions.”

The inspectors are port of entry personnel. They have two clerks that handle Level 1 and Level 2 inspections.

A Level 1 inspection is a full truck inspection. They pull the truck into the bay and check airlines, tires, brakes, and lights and give it a thorough full truck inspection to make sure it is in safe condition to return to the freeway.

A Level 2 inspection is a walk around inspection. They don’t pull it in the bay or get under the truck. They will walk completely around the truck and check the tires, airlines that they can see, lights and things that can be noticed by walking around the truck. The Level 3 inspection is a paperwork only inspection. The inspectors check the trucker’s logbooks, medical cards and driver’s license.



Communication and paperwork

Crompton said that some of the truckers aren’t familiar with all the paperwork, as they might be former truckers who are getting back into trucking and the paperwork has changed.

He said that over the past three years, the registration formats look different and the truckers might not recognize some of the changes.

Another problem they see is foreign drivers who have been trained to drive trucks safely, but have communication difficulties when it comes to speaking English.

“Last March at our supervisors conference, we were instructed that it is a Federal law that all commercial drivers must be able to communicate and understand English. They have found that some of the big pileups on Elk Mountain are because the person who originally started the accident does not know English well enough to read or understand the overhead signs to know there is a problem ahead,” Crompton said.

Crompton said that since the conference, they’ve implemented a two-sided test to give to drivers the clerk believes to be having difficulty answering the necessary questions that need to be entered into the computers when truckers are being processed through the port.

“We ask them to read and explain different signs that are on the test or phrases. If they can’t read or understand the test, then they are put out of service, as this is a Federal violation,” he said.

Sometimes the port will get notices to be on the lookout for stolen trucks or trailers. If the port personnel notice a truck that is on that list, they call the highway patrol and let a trained trooper take care of the situation.

“We’ve had several instances where some of the county sheriff offices, Utah or the highway patrol dispatcher will call to have us look out for a particular vehicle. We can’t detain them if we see them. We don’t have arrest authority. We can call them into the port to do an inspection and if we find a violation, then we can sometimes put them out of service. We usually notify a trooper and let them detain them and take care of it,” Crompton said.

The port has a test that is given to any truckers who they believe might be under the influence of alcohol. All the port of entry clerks have taken the alcohol recognition test training. If someone is tested and shows positive, they can be put out of service.

“We have been trained to recognize the signs of drug use. If we see someone that we are suspicious of, we usually let a trooper take care of it. The highway patrol is stationed at the port of entry and troopers are usually in and out doing their paperwork,” Crompton said.



Wintertime

During the winter months, the port receives calls from people wanting to know the road conditions. Crompton said they don’t mind the calls, but want people to know that the port sometimes doesn’t have immediate information.

He said that a lot of skiers who are going to Park City get lost on the I-80/84 split and end up in Evanston. They will come into the port and port authorities redirect them. He said that sometimes during blizzards vehicles will be following a truck and follow him into the port.

When they realize where they are, they usually exit the port and keep going.

“Especially if there is a bad storm, we don’t always know when the roads will be open. Sometimes if the road has just been shut down, we don’t know if it is due to an accident or weather related. It might take a while for the information to get back to us. Most of the time, dispatch is good at getting the information to us quickly, but sometimes it may take a while,” Crompton said.

Crompton said that they have received some far-fetched questions.

“We’ve had people traveling from California and call us to see what the weather will be in Nebraska three or four days ahead. We don’t always know the answer, but we have phone numbers or sites that we can give them so they can check with surrounding states to get the information they are seeking,” Crompton said.

Crompton said that some people in privately owned vehicles stop at the port of entry for a rest.

“People stop at the port for a number of reasons. They might be experiencing medical or mechanical problems. They might stop to rest or run out of gas. We assist them as much as we can,” Crompton said.

Crompton said that the main goal of the Port of Entry is to provide safety for the trucking public and the traveling public.

“By doing inspections, making sure the vehicles are in proper working condition and making sure the drivers are not exceeding their hours of service and are doing everything right, then it makes things safer for everyone out there who is utilizing our roadways,” Crompton said.