EVANSTON — The Evanston Port of Entry recently participated in an annual three-day North American law enforcement blitz, essentially concentrating on commercial vehicle safety inspection and enforcement. Port Supervisor Renier Hutchinson explained,  “It’s something we do every year. It’s nationwide and also an international road check between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.” 

This year’s exercise, from May 14-16, focused on tractor protection systems — inspecting air pressure valves and other various undercarriage applications — and alcohol and controlled substance possession. 

“The blitz is a more inclusive inspection that involves a lot more functions of truck and safety systems,” said Inspector and Public Information Officer Arron Healy.  “Drivers are aware of the blitz and that there will be extra attention paid to these systems.”  Prior knowledge encourages drivers to address any potential issues beforehand, rather than losing time on the road because they’re marked out of service.

“They [truck drivers] could probably decline, but they usually won’t turn down a federal inspector. Most are good sports,” Hutchinson explained.

Last year’s blitz focused on brake systems, which brought a Performance-Based Brake Testers (PBBT) machine to the port.  This is the second year it’s been utilized.

“This is something we do on the side. It calculates how much friction the pressure of the brake, power of the rotors and drums and resistance is applied to the brakes. It they fail the test, they’re marked out of service,” Hutchinson said of the PBBT test. 

Lead Inspection Officer Waylyn Day further clarified, “Once a trailer brake has been set, we make sure it has the air pressure power to stop itself.”

As for the alcohol and controlled-substance inspections, “We only pull them aside when we have reason or suspicion to,” explained Healy. “Only a Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) Trooper has the full authority to arrest,” he said, stating that the port has WHP officers on site only intermittently.

“People come to expect the scales and weighing the port does, but we have to make sure they’re safe as well. I did not realize how much enforcement is involved other than just issuing permits,” Healy, who has been with the Port for two years, said. “If I don’t know something, I know where to find it.”

“It’s like fishing, we catch what we can. We can’t catch everything, but we’re doing our due diligence to stay on top of things,” Healy concluded.