55 of 59 Trash Trucks Cited in Surprise Check

A surprise California Highway Patrol inspection of garbage trucks headed for Lopez Canyon Landfill on Friday found that more than 60% of those operated by the city were unsafe and needed emergency repairs before being allowed back on the road, officials said.

CHP Capt. Keith Miller said 19 of 32 trucks operated by the city of Los Angeles required emergency repairs. Altogether, including privately operated trucks, officers inspected 59 trucks, which weigh 36 tons when fully loaded. Thirty were ordered off the road for a variety of maintenance problems, including faulty steering and brake mechanisms.

An additional 25 trucks were cited for a variety of less serious violations that did not require immediate repair, he said. Only four trucks were not cited for any violations.

Miller said the average surprise inspection finds that about 40% to 50% of the trucks require repairs. He said the high number of city trucks pulled off the road was unusual.

Liable for Fines

Miller said the drivers or their employers will be liable for fines that will be determined by court action. The less serious violations may be cleared without a fine once they are remedied, he said.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who asked the CHP to perform the 7 a.m.-to-1 p.m. inspection in a parking lot at Foothill Boulevard and Paxton Street, said the number of trucks ordered off the road was “pretty frightening.” He called on the city to improve its truck maintenance operation.

Katz, who wore a jumpsuit over a business suit while he observed the inspection, said he saw trucks with flat tires, leaking brake seals, cracked wheel wells and other easily observed problems. “Sometimes you have to hit them over the head with a 2-by-4, but they are going to understand that even the city of Los Angeles is going to have to meet safety regulations,” he said.

Residents Complain

More than 400 garbage trucks a day wend their way on hilly streets through residential Sylmar and Lake View Terrace neighborhoods to get to the landfill. Residents of the area have complained about how early the trucks begin arriving and about their growing number.

Joe Trevgoda, assistant general manager of the city’s Department of General Services, said the department’s truck maintenance program had been strengthened recently and should have corrected most violations.

“It is surprising,” Trevgoda said of the high number of city trucks found to have maintenance problems. “We don’t know what they cited us for. It could have been something like an operator without a license.”

Although some of the violations concerned improperly licensed drivers, Miller and Katz said most of the problems had to do with brakes and steering.

Trevgoda said city trucks are fitted with equipment that automatically adjusts air brakes. That equipment, he said, should have kept the brakes from needing some of the emergency adjustments ordered during Friday’s inspection.

“I’m concerned that we may have a problem with what we are using,” said Trevgoda, referring to the adjusting mechanisms.

But Miller said some of the violations were far more serious than poorly adjusted brakes. He said mounting bolts for several of the trucks’ air brake canisters were so loose that the canisters could easily have “fallen off and made the brakes inoperative.”

Most of the trucks were fixed on the spot, but five trucks were still being repaired when the inspection ended, Miller said.