Allows trucks to keep moving while weight, credentials checked

YUMA – Weigh-in-motion technology that allows the Arizona Department of Transportation to check commercial trucks for their weight, permit and registration compliance while the trucks continue moving will be expanded to areas near Yuma and Gila Bend.

Next week ADOT crews will continue installing sensors in the roadway at three locations. Drivers in both directions should expect right lane restrictions and minor delays during the work:

• Interstate 8 at milepost 121, just east of Butterfield Trail in Gila Bend, where work should be completed by Friday, Dec. 15.
• State Route 85 at milepost 130, near Cotton Center, about 10 miles north of Gila Bend, on Monday, Dec. 19.
• I-8 at milepost 16, east of Fortuna Road on Tuesday, Dec. 19, and Wednesday, Dec. 20.

A fourth weigh-in-motion sensor will be installed at milepost 1.8 in central Yuma in January. Lane restrictions and minor delays are expected at all sites while the work is being performed.

Also next week, from Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 18-20, crews will begin installing the second overhead electronic message board in the Yuma area on eastbound I-8 at milepost 0.5, just a half-mile east of the state line.

The project also includes installation of the Yuma area’s first closed-circuit camera that will help traffic operators in Phoenix see Yuma traffic in real time for the first time. Images from that camera eventually will be posted to AZ511.gov.

Weigh-in-motion technology allows officers from ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division to check the weight and registration of trucks without requiring the trucks to stop. Sensors in the roadway check the trucks’ weight and cameras check identification numbers to be sure the truck’s paperwork is in compliance with state requirements.

The camera technology does not measure or record vehicle speed and is not connected with any traffic enforcement for speeding violations.

Most commercial vehicles operate in compliance and will not be required to stop for inspections. That will result in more-efficient weight and truck screening operations, increased safety and less traffic congestion during truck inspection projects. Trucks found to be in violation will be subject to a closer inspection by ECD officers.

There are currently three weigh-in-motion programs in Arizona: Along I-17 near the McGuireville rest area, along I-10 near the Sacaton rest area and on I-17 near the Canoa Ranch rest area.

PHOENIX – Arizona Department of Transportation officers seized $29,000 hidden in a small cooler when a truck driver and passenger arrived at an Interstate 40 port of entry near New Mexico with no registration, no trailer and a suspicious story.

The officers, whose primary duty is making sure commercial vehicles operate safely and legally in Arizona, found the money Tuesday, Aug. 1, after the truck driver and his passenger gave permission to search the cab for paperwork that would help identify the truck.

The pair told officers at the Sanders Port of Entry that they had no knowledge of the money, which was in stacks tied with rubber bands, and that they had been sent by the truck’s owner to pick up the vehicle because it had been abandoned in Gallup, New Mexico.

A check of the semi’s vehicle identification number and license plate showed that the truck set out from Sacramento, California, and traveled through Utah, Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico before arriving in Arizona – all without picking up any cargo.

ADOT officers sought assistance from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, which dispatched a drug-sniffing K-9 unit. While there were no drugs in the truck, the dog picked up the residual scent of drugs at various spots along the vehicle. The dog also alerted officers that the money found in the cab had the scent of drugs.

ADOT officers seized the money and arrested the two men, who were booked into the Apache County Jail on misdemeanor charges including providing false information and commercial vehicle violations. The semi was towed to a holding facility for the owner to retrieve.

ADOT officers are continuing to investigate the truck and the two individuals.

In addition to making sure commercial vehicles are safe to drive on Arizona’s highways and have proper permits, ADOT Enforcement and Compliance Division officers at ports of entry coordinate with local law enforcement agencies when necessary.

PHOENIX – While their primary duty is manning ports of entry to make sure that commercial vehicles operate safely and legally on highways, officers with the Arizona Department of Transportation Enforcement and Compliance Division coordinate with local authorities when they come across criminal activity.

Case in point: two marijuana seizures this year from vehicles passing through the Topock Port of Entry, on Interstate 40 near the California line.

In February, an ADOT officer conducting a routine safety inspection on a car-hauler found that it was 3,000 pounds overweight. After directing the driver to park to address the violation, further inspection and other indicators prompted the officer to call for assistance from the Fort Mojave Tribal Police Department’s drug-sniffing K-9 unit. Officers found 83 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $373,500, in one of the vehicles.

Two weeks later, the same officer noticed red flags suggesting contraband when conducting a routine inspection of a pickup truck hauling a trailer with four cars. Once again calling in the Fort Mojave Tribal Police Department’s K-9 unit, officers seized 73 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $328,500.

“While we have our own mission of protecting Arizona’s infrastructure through enforcing trucking laws and stopping fraud related to vehicle titles and Arizona IDs, we gladly use our resources to aid others in Arizona’s law enforcement community when the opportunity arises,” said Tim Lane, director of ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division.

ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division will also aid other law enforcement agencies by helping to identify vehicles involved in crimes and using its facial recognition system to identify suspects and victims in other cases.

PHOENIX – Trucking companies should be on alert for an individual impersonating an Arizona Department of Transportation Enforcement and Compliance Division officer.

Earlier this month, a man identifying himself as an officer with ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division contacted a Mesa-based trucking company saying one of its trucks was damaged in a crash and that the company needed to send payment for a mechanic called out to make repairs.

Inconsistencies in the suspect’s story led the company’s operations manager to suspect a scam.

Trucking companies should be aware of the following if contacted by someone identifying himself or herself as an ADOT Enforcement and Compliance Division officer:

• While ADOT officers assist state troopers and local police agencies with commercial vehicle safety inspections, they don’t investigate crashes or typical traffic incidents.
• ADOT officers will assist drivers who have been involved in crashes or have mechanical problems but will never unilaterally call mechanics and hold trucks until payment is made.
• ADOT officers may call for heavy-duty tow trucks, but this would be discussed beforehand with the trucking company.
• An ADOT officer will give a trucking company his or her name, badge number, location and contact information. The officer will also provide the truck number and driver’s name. Typically, the officer will have the driver speak with his or her company.

If a trucking company has suspicions, the owner or manager can call the ADOT Enforcement and Compliance Division dispatch center at 602.712.8396.

PHOENIX – Arizona Department of Transportation detectives have arrested a man for submitting falsified paperwork when applying for veteran status on his driver license and for obtaining license plates reserved for veterans.

ADOT’s Office of the Inspector General continues investigating whether Eric Wolfe, 45, a resident of Tempe, used fraudulently obtained credentials to defraud businesses and other organizations for a business, Project 22 LLC, and a nonprofit, Freedom K-9 Rehab. ADOT detectives booked him into the custody of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday.

At one time, Wolfe partnered with a Valley nonprofit benefiting animals to train dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, using his story of a military career and subsequent PTSD.

In March, Wolfe supplied a falsified DD Form 214, the document a member of the military gets when being formally discharged, to a Motor Vehicle Division representative when applying for the driver license designation reserved for veterans. Alerted by investigators from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General that Wolfe never served in the U.S. Air Force, as he has claimed, ADOT detectives started an investigation and determined that the form was forged. 

Wolfe used the same forged military document to apply for two specialty license plates designated for veterans, one for his vehicle in March and one for a newly purchased motorcycle about two months later.

“ADOT protects the identities of Arizona residents,” said Michael Lockhart, chief of ADOT’s Office of the Inspector General. “Our detectives’ skills in investigating identity theft and forged documents helped us to arrest someone who was using the good name of military veterans for his own gain.”

Detectives ask that those who made donations to Wolfe call 602.712.6291 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, contact the ADOT OIG Fraud Hotline at 602.277.5684 or 877.712.2370.

In 2013, ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Division introduced the veteran designation on Arizona driver licenses and ID cards as a way for military veterans to display their service. Military veterans can also apply for a veteran specialty license plate for $25, $17 of which goes to a charity benefiting Arizona veterans.

ADOT’s Office of the Inspector General conducts investigations into fraudulent activities involving driver license and identification card applications; vehicle sales by licensed and unlicensed dealers; vehicle title and registration; and provides investigative support to state, local and federal law enforcement agencies.

For more information, please visit azdot.gov.