St. Louis police are targeting the log books of long-haul refrigerated truckers.

According to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch every Tuesday and Saturday, specially trained commercial vehicle enforcement officers randomly pull over refrigerated trucks on I-44. Officers find log book violations in about 10 percent of the truckers pulled over on Tuesdays and about 25 percent of the trucks pulled over on Saturdays.
The city's commercial vehicle enforcement program noticed a couple of years ago that a large number of trucks they were pulling over for speeding were refrigerated rigs - and many of them had logbook violations. The department did a six-month pilot program targeting refrigerated trucks in 199. They got a federal grant to do another 12-month enforcement program, which began in October.
Officers check toll and fuel receipts, the driver's log book and other records to see if the times and dates on all of them match.
"What we are finding is that in order for the produce to get to market, they are driving straight through," and not getting the required west, St. Louis Police Sgt. Ron Klein told the paper.
One driver pulled over Saturday, the paper reports, highlights the problems in the industry. Gary Brice was hauling carrots from Texas to Ohio. His paperwork showed he wasn't given enough time to make the trip and still get the required rest. Brice opted to follow log book regulations and get his rest, even though it would mean he would be about 12 hours late for his delivery.
"They'll probably dock my pay," he told the paper, probably by $150. "I saw that and said I wasn't going to be able to make it. They just said do the best you can."