Federal regulators are investigating a local trucking company whose driver is facing charges in a North Carolina highway crash that killed three people.
The Motor Carrier Safety Administration is reviewing Hawley Transport Services, which is based in Newport, Tennessee.
The driver, Ronald Eugene Graybeal, is charged with felony vehicular death, and drug possession following the deadly June 30th wreck.
In the past, Hawley truckers have been charged multiple times with speeding and violating driver-fatigue rules.
The trucking company says Graybeal is no longer an employee and the accident is still under investigation.
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With all of these charges, 11 Connects wanted to know more about the regulations on truck drivers and how safe the road is so we went behind the scenes of an inspection site.
In his 28 years of truck driving, Ralph Picardo has logged an incredible amount of miles, almost 3 million, and he says it’s an incredibly intense job.
“You have to keep your wits about you all the time and you have to watch the oncoming traffic,” Picardo explains.
Picardo's safety practices were put to the test Monday when he and his rig were chosen for a random inspection.
“Most of them get paid by the mile,” explains Trooper Paul Penley of many truckers. “They're hardworking guys and there's no doubt about that. So maybe they try to push the limits just a little bit.”
Penley with the Tennessee Highway Patrol makes sure truckers passing through Greene County are obeying the very detailed laws that regulate trucking.
“From the moment they drive in,” describes Penley of everything he looks for, “are they wearing their seat belts, do they have the proper CDL.”
But the big concern: are the drivers functioning at 100 percent.
“Are they fatigued, are they impaired,” adds Penley. “We use the driver’s log book to help us with the fatigue. He's allowed certain hours for property carry and that would be 11. The (trucks) are 80,000 pounds (traveling) at 70 miles per hour so there's a lot of safety concerns there for fatigue drivers.”
As for Picardo, he passed inspection and is back on the road to add to his 3 million mile total.
“I haven't gotten a citation in a couple of years and there's no wood to knock on, but I try to maintain that record,” laughs Picardo.
Trooper Penley says about 3,000 trucks pass the weigh station in Greene County a day.
Since so many trucks are on the road he says they only check about a quarter of those on their scales, and he estimates they hand out about 30 citations, mainly driver fatigue and truck problems.
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