Truck control on the Autobahn: on patrol with the heavy-duty control group

Created: 04/27/2022, 16:40

By: Elias Bartl

The truck is examined more closely at the Stillhorn rest area.

© Elias Bartl

The Hamburg police's new heavy-duty control group has taken up its duties.

With expertise and special equipment, it's now time for trucks.

Hamburg – Due to the boom in online trade and the constantly increasing transport of goods through the Port of Hamburg, heavy goods traffic in the Hanseatic City of Hamburg is also increasing significantly.

As the Hamburg police explain, this creates a great deal of competition between the forwarding companies.

This situation regularly means that trucks are used that are not roadworthy, overloaded or are traveling with unsecured loads.

The “Heavy Duty Control Group” was founded in Hamburg to counter the resulting dangers, such as longer braking distances, damage to roads and bridges and overtired truck drivers.

The group of around eleven experts is specially trained to uncover and punish such offences.

The aim of the special unit is to ensure that truck drivers and haulage companies change their minds in the long term by consistently punishing violations.

Read more blue light reports such as: Truck driver drives with 3.4 per mille wavy lines on the freeway.

Police operation in Hamburg: Heavy goods control group on patrol on the A1 motorway

On Wednesday morning, April 27, 2022, the police officers Marlies Farrar, Michael Pinnow and Steffen Pilz set out to inspect them.

From the southern traffic department in the Harburg industrial area, take the A1 motorway.

The police officers can easily observe passing trucks from a hard shoulder.

After just a few minutes, the first truck with a sagging loading area is noticed.

The experts in the control group use blue lights to guide the trucker to a parking space near the autobahn.

The police officers inspect the entire truck for around an hour. In addition to a violation of the maximum height, the load securing is also a complaint.

After the load securing has been improved, the trucker can continue.

After the load securing was improved, the trucker was allowed to continue driving.

© Elias Bartl

Trucks in focus: Control group for heavy loads picks up speed in Hamburg

Back at the observation post on the A1 motorway, the team notices the next truck.

The team from Scandinavia is on its way to Switzerland and is being guided to the Stillhorn service area car park.

When the truck driver opens the trailer, the experts quickly realize that this check will take longer.

The driver has loaded more than 18 tons of general cargo on his truck.

The load securing?

Insufficient and more appearance than reality.

Some of the lashing straps used to secure the heavy load are defective and almost never tightened.

In the rear part of the trailer, the load is not secured at all and has already slipped.

In the rear part of the trailer, the load is not secured at all and has already slipped.

© Elias Bartl

For the driver of a Polish forwarding company, there is nowhere to go at first.

The truck is shut down at the rest area and the trailer is sealed by the police officers.

The police officers from the heavy-duty control group give the truck driver important information on how to secure the load so that he can continue his journey as quickly as possible.

The hydraulic hoses are sealed, so the truck driver cannot continue driving until the defects have been rectified.

© Elias Bartl

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Police Chief Inspector Steffen Pilz explains that they are not concerned with harming the driver, but rather with providing insight.

"Only when the drivers understand what they are doing wrong and we show them how they can do it better, do we make a lasting difference."

Freight forwarders are usually responsible for the overloading and the time pressure on the truck drivers, since the companies gain an advantage over the competition through overloading and the tight schedule.

In order to take action against such forwarding companies, a so-called profit skimming procedure is being initiated more and more frequently.

In these cases, freight forwarders have to pay part or the entire profit of a tour on which violations or manipulations are found as a fine.

Police Chief Inspector Marlies Farrar documents the violations on the truck. © Elias Bartl

The goal of the control group sounds understandable: The new control group is intended to constantly improve safety on Hamburg's roads, including in the area of ​​heavy goods transport.

The next accident figures for 2022 will show whether this works successfully.