Tackling Trucks

A cloud of black smoke puffed out of the green garbage truck as driver Carlos Sanchez shifted the transmission to neutral and pressed the accelerator.

“That’s a smoker,” said Darryl Gaslan, an inspector for the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Resources Board.

Sanchez’s was one of more than 200 trucks pulled over in Sun Valley on Tuesday for surprise inspections.

In addition to checking for smog-belching trucks, a task force of Air Resources Board inspectors, and California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles police officers looked out for modified emission systems, hazardous materials, and safety and mechanical defects--such as missing lights, cracked wheel rims and faulty brakes.

The task force was stationed in an industrial area along Tuxford Street and Glenoaks Boulevard.

“You have a lot of people that work and live in this area. These homes are going to be impacted by the trucks,” said Richard Varenchik of the Air Resources Board. “We want the air to be as clean as it can be.”

Sanchez’s employer, Waste Management, received a $300 citation, the normal fine for excessive exhaust smoke.

*

In all, the Air Resources Board issued about 20 citations Tuesday, mostly for exhaust. The LAPD and CHP each issued 10 citations for such violations as disconnected smog controls, faulty brakes, lack of registration or unsafe transportation of hazardous materials.

Varenchik said the task force focused on big-rig diesel trucks because they produce about 30% of the nitrogen oxide found in smog and 65% of soot emissions in California.

Gaslan said the average failure rate for trucks during surprise inspections is between 6% and 8%. That is much lower than the 44% failure rate in 1991, when the state launched surprise inspections, Varenchik said. By 1998, it had dropped to 20%.

“The word is spreading,” Varenchik said. “We feel that has really contributed to the significant drop.” This is the second surprise inspection in Sun Valley this month. The Air Resources Board tries to do them at least twice a month in heavy truck areas. Inspectors test trucks emitting clouds of dark smoke, such as Sanchez’s.

“I think this truck is fine,” said Sanchez, who was on his way to Van Nuys to pick up a load of trash. “You can see other trucks with real bad smoke. This just wastes my time.” The companies that own the trucks are cited, so drivers don’t usually have to pay the fines, Gaslan said.

*

Juan Contreas, 45, a driver for LANDCO Landscape Services in San Fernando, was on his way back to the truck yard when he was pulled over. The CHP cited the gasoline-engine truck because it did not display a company name. After an inspection, the truck was also cited for a cracked wheel rim, a fan belt that had been tampered with and three wires that looked like they had been cut to pass emissions tests.

“This particular truck is out of service,” CHP Officer Dave Ceniceros said. “He’s not going anywhere.”

Contreas was told to return the vehicle to the company and not drive it until repairs are made, and that if he is caught again, the vehicle will be impounded.

The inspectors will be back in Sun Valley today to issue more citations.

“We’re doing these continually,” Varenchik said. “You never know where.”