North Carolina has more state-maintained roads than any other state except Texas.
Those roads are kept busy in large part by tractor-trailers. Plunger Piston
According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, more than 15 million tractor-trailers passed through the state last year. A specialized unit within the Highway Patrol known as the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) is devoted to ensuring those vehicles and their drivers are following the laws.
"The commercial vehicle itself, at times, can weigh 80,000 [pounds] or more," explained Lt. Travis Ingold, who has served 15 years with MCSAP. "So when a collision occurs, it’s catastrophic most of the time."
"Somebody’s family is riding next to that truck," said Trooper Scott Baker, who is assigned to MCSAP. "Routinely, we see violations going down the road where the equipment is broken, falling off, dangerous. Anything from mechanical stuff to hazardous materials, leaks, stuff like that...There’s countless, unfortunately, memories, of things going wrong."
Bridgett Brown, from Sampson County, knows firsthand how high the stakes are. In 2022, a tractor-trailer hit the truck she was driving with her two eight-year-old daughters inside. The collision caused serious injuries they are still battling.
"I had a brain bleed, lacerated spleen, liver, kidney, broken clavicle [and] several broken ribs. Over half of my vertebrates were fractured," Brown said. "The vehicle we were driving, honestly, looked like a crumpled soda can."
One daughter, she said, suffered a broken arm and knee, and is still getting treatment for severe scarring to her face. The other daughter now suffers from PTSD.
Brown is grateful for the work of MCSAP in working to prevent tractor-trailer crashes.
"These are enormous vehicles," she said. "They can easily take a life."
Statewide, Lt. Ingold says 89 troopers are assigned to the MCSAP unit. They perform inspections on tractor-trailers at the state's weigh stations, checking things like tire pressure, lights, and brakes, as well as checking the drivers for any signs of being fatigued or impaired. MCSAP troopers are also afforded the unique ability to stop tractor-trailers on the roads, at any time. Unlike other law enforcement officers, they do not need a specific reason to initiate a stop.
Last year, Lt. Ingold said his team performed more than 100,000 inspections.
"You stop multiple trucks a day," he explained. "When you finish one, you’re looking for another truck to stop."
Data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows that North Carolina "consistently ranks" among the ten states with the most deadly crashes involving commercial motor vehicles. "Several factors contribute to this fact," the report explains. "North Carolina’s high traffic volumes, major interstate and non-interstate 'pass-thru' corridors, large and widely variable geography, steadily increasing urban population hubs and expanding east coast commerce centers all play pivotal roles in this statistic," it continued.
"For the [commercial motor vehicle] industry, we are basically halfway up the eastern seaboard," Lt. Ingold said. "So it’s very convenient for them to set up a company here and operate out of North Carolina. We’re happy for that, but it does create commercial motor vehicle traffic that needs to be inspected."
MCSAP troopers can issue criminal charges, but most commonly they are giving out civil fines. The largest ticket they can write, according to Trooper Baker, is $10,000 for a weight violation. The money collected by MCSAP ultimately goes to the Department of Public Instruction.
In 2024, numbers provided by the Highway Patrol show nearly $10 million in fines were issued, from more than 32,000 violations.
Lt. Ingold says while DPI is a worthy recipient of the funds, for his troopers, it's not about the tickets. It's about ensuring families are safe.
Industrial Plunger Pumps "I think about my kids; I think about my loved ones, my parents," Ingold said. "It is personal. From the standpoint of we want to keep everyone safe. Whether it’s our family or their family, we want to keep everyone safe."