A campaign in Wisconsin that puts police officers in the passenger seats of commercial vehicles could help address some of the safety concerns truck drivers have.

In a recent interview with Land Line Now, Sergeant Daniel Diedrich of the Wisconsin State Patrol shared details of the state’s recent “Trooper in a Truck” campaign – an annual enforcement and education initiative aimed at reducing the number of crashes and injuries involving commercial vehicles.

Diedrich said the annual collaboration between law enforcement and the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association not only increases officers’ ability to identify violations, but is also a good opportunity to hear truck drivers’ perspectives on “aggressive and unsafe driving” around large trucks.

“We see a lot of violations already, but they increase – say five to ten times – when you exceed normal traffic levels. So we really want to work with these local airlines,” Diedrich added. “There are problems, and so we want to work with the industry to fix some of the things they struggle with on a daily basis.”

According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the state has averaged about 7,000 large truck crashes per year over the past five years, and there will be 70 deaths in commercial truck crashes by 2023.

During the week-long campaign, officers focused on a number of dangerous driving behaviors in and around commercial motor vehicles, but paid particular attention to distracted driving, something that has seen a “dramatic increase” in the state, Diedrich said.

While he could not provide specific statistics, he added that the results of the Trooper in a Truck campaign had been “very stable” and that officers had “come into contact with hundreds of vehicles” during these initiatives.

“These are not situations where you think, ‘Aha, I’ve got you now,'” he said. “We know that the way patrol officers operate in a commercial motor vehicle is definitely not the norm, but we’ve had very good success in really communicating to drivers what the thought process is.”

The annual checkpoint has also helped officers get a better idea of ​​what it’s like to be behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle. Diedrich said the collaboration has given officers the opportunity to use driving simulators, which have helped officers get a better idea of ​​what truck drivers have to deal with in terms of blind spots and other safety concerns in the cab. LL

Listen to the full interview below to hear more about the program and also what kind of reaction Diedrich has received from the drivers.