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Home My WebLink About05/07/2013 09 Commercial Vehicle Education Program ProposalBUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL - YAKIMA, WASHINGTON AGENDA STATEMENT Item No. / For Meeting of 5/7/2013 ITEM TITLE: Consideration of Commercial Vehicle Education Program Proposal SUBMITTED BY: Chief Dominic Rizzi SUMMARY EXPLANATION: See attached Resolution: Other (Specify): report Contract: Start Date: Item Budgeted: Funding Source /Fiscal Impact: Strategic Priority: Insurance Required? No Mail to: Phone: APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL: RECOMMENDATION: ATTACHMENTS: Name: ❑ vehicle education orooram docx Ordinance: Contract Term: End Date: Amount: $63,645 Revenue from citation. Public Safety City Manager Description: vehicle ed memo City of Yakima + 200S.3 rd Street Police Department Yakima, Washington 98901 Dominic Rizzi Jr, Chief of Police Telephone (509) 575 -6200 Fax (509) 575 -6007 Memorandum March 25, 2013 To: Chain -of- Command From: Jay Seely, Sergeant Traffic Division Subj ect: Commercial Vehicle Education Program Proposal This program will be designed to meet the needs of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement within the City of Yakima and to generate revenue from enforcement action taken against commercial vehicles responsible for damaging the city's road surfaces. Need The Yakima Police Department is currently not involved in proactive commercial vehicle enforcement, yet we have a significant amount of commercial vehicles throughout the city. With our large agriculture base we see a high number of semi tractor trailer combinations entering Al city on a daily basis. Without a commercial vehicle enforcement program we experience repeated instances of collision causing violations, which only come to our attention after accident or incident occurs. Two examples which come to mind are the flat bed truck hauling a load of apple bins in October 2012, which failed to make the turn from highway 12 onto N. 16th Ave. The truck flipped on its side, causing apples to scatter all over N. 16th Ave. City police, fire, and public works were called in to assist with the clean up. Next, and on a more personal note, was the large semi truck pulling two trailers full of canned fruit, which [1] hadn't been loaded properly. This semi truck attempted to turn east onto Walnut St. from 2nd Ave and when he couldn't make the turn he ended up head -on with me in the westbound lanes. After further examination by me it was determined that the semi driver failed to set his load correctly on the drive axles thus lightening his steering axles giving him no steering whatsoever. What happens to pavements exposed to loads they were not designed to handle? Repeated overweight loads, or an increased number of legal loads, damage asphalt pavements by overstressing the pavement structure, causing rutting, cracking and eventually potholes. Over time we have seen an increase in the number of roads in the City of Yakima which have become rutted and unsafe for travel. b �2� !P Ye -.tf.I • - ��:��F.�t .irf�tl .. .� _ _QfX'K�S'a.T�_ � ..__;.1__ �2� !P Ye Program The Commercial Vehicle Officer would be assigned to the traffic division and fall under the supervision of the traffic sergeant The Commercial Vehicle Officer will be responsible for promoting safe travel of commercial vehicles on city streets by conducting driver and vehicle inspections and enforcing size, weight and load laws. (RCW 46.44). He or she will be assigned dayshift hours and be subject to call -outs. All officers assigned to the traffic division will be responsible for commercial vehicle contacts with size, weight and load infractions issued at the direction of the Commercial Vehicle Officer. Personnel The commitment required to effectively run a commercial vehicle program will require more than an officer's part time involvement. I would recommend that we dedicate a full time officer to this position to assist with the initial development of the program and then to maintain the technical expertise required for this position. We must keep in mind that dedicating a full time officer to this program from the traffic unit will cut my unit by 20 %. While the officer will be working commercial vehicle enforcement, for the most part, they won't be working collision causing violations or school zones, nor will they riding a police motorcycle. This leaves a motor position open. Training The Washington State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Division will be conducting a Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) certification class and a Size, Weight and Load class at the WSP Academy in Shelton, WA. The classes will be conducted over a 3 week period starting June 3rd ending on June 28th. June 3rd through June 28th is actually a four -week class, however, we would only be required to attend the last three -weeks of the class. The cost of the class itself is free but, dorm rooms will not be available. We will be responsible for the costs of lodging; however we will be allowed to eat at the Academy. The costs are listed below: Meals $720.00 Lodging $1700.00 Fuel $225.00 The total approximate cost for training is $2645.00 An MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) will be sent to our Department from the Commercial Vehicle Division after the completion of your classes. Revenue Currently the City of Yakima sees a return of approx. 34% or $42.00 on each $124.00 infraction written. None of this money is returned directly to the courts; instead the money is placed into the City's general fund. [3] Typical driving infractions still apply to commercial vehicles with the standard penalty; however the steepest penalties are levied against overweight vehicles. Below are a couple of penalty examples associated with overweight infractions: A) 10,OOOlbs- 15,OOOlbs= $840.00 infraction= $285.60 to the city B) 20,001lbs- higher= $2640.00 infraction= $897.60 to the city I would suspect we will see an initial steep rise in commercial vehicle infractions as the program gets underway. As we continue to work enforcement and educate the driver's these numbers should plateau. At what level that plateau will occur, remains to be seen. Equipment I spoke with CVEO Michael Herron from the Washington State Patrol. The following is a list of the equipment he stated the Yakima Police Department would need to get started in the program: • Soapstone with holder, to mark pushrods on brakes • Wire brush • 1'A in putty knife • 6" ruler • Razor blade scraper • Tread depth gauge • Feeler Gauge • Tire pressure gauge • Safety glasses • Hard hat /bump cap • 30' tape measure • 100' tape measure • Creeper • 2 chock blocks • Laptop computer for ASPEN inspections • Printer • Inverter to run printer • Portable scales for weighing vehicles. (6) Haenni Scales • Ford F -150 for transporting this equipment The total approximate cost for the above listed items is $61,000.00. [4] Conclusion I would encourage the Yakima Police Department to further explore the implementation of a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement program as a means to ensure compliance of the commercial motor vehicle regulations in order to protect resources, prevent accidents, and save lives within the City of Yakima. Approved: /S/ Lieutenant Tom Foley /S/ Captain Jeff Schneider /S/ Chief Dominic Rizzi Jr. [5] /S/ Sergeant Jay Seely