At three hazmat checkpoints, Tennessee officials placed 19 drivers out of service and discovered violations on everything from hazmat to seafood. The Tennessee Highway Patrol and other agencies conducted the daylong hazmat checkpoints June 27 at the Manchester Scales Complex in Coffee County, June 28 at the Monteagle Mountain Brake Check area on Interstate 24 near Chattanooga, and Aug. 10 at Watts Road and I-40.
Officers inspected 312 trucks and discovered 115 safety defects, including hazmat violations. They placed 19 drivers out of service for hours or logbook violations; two of those did not have a current commercial driver’s license. Officers took 17 trucks off the road for safety defects.
They also ordered two trucks to pull over that were trying to bypass the inspection area with loads of contaminated seafood bound for 14 Nashville area locations. The trucks were ordered back to Georgia, their state of origin, and the food was destroyed.
More trucks travel through Tennessee than any other Southeast state.
