One in four of the 18-wheelers on Texas’ highways have safety violations serious enough to be pulled off the highway.

That’s what the Department of Public Safety and other Texas law enforcement agencies found during a recent 72-hour period. Troopers inspected 7,993 commercial vehicles at random and discovered that 26.5 percent safety violations.

Throughout During the operation, DPS troopers inspected safety equipment and checked driver log books, driver licenses and endorsements. They also looked for possible drug or alcohol use.

Of the big rigs that were inspected, 26.5 percent were placed out of service because they were found to have serious enough safety violations to be removed from service until repairs could be made, including issues with the braking systems, tires, lights and safe loading.

Texas law enforcement officials have conducted this operation since 1988 and there has been a significant decrease in the commercial vehicle crash rate in North America since the program’s start. However, this year’s results echo previous year’s in that about a quarter of all trucks that were inspected have serious safety violations.

Source: Texas DPS Office of Public Information