Commercial Vehicle

Written by Insp. Daniel Russell of Troop K

The Maine Motor Transport Association Maine State Truck Driving Championship was back this year for the first time since 2019 and Troop K Commercial Vehicle Enforcement was proud to be there to assist with the pre-trip inspection competition again.

The Maine State Police would like to congratulate Haleigh Fickett of Corinth, a transport truck driver for RH Foster Energy for placing 1st place in the Tanker Truck class at the competition. Haleigh, who is 24 years old, competed against 11 of the top tanker truck drivers in the state and won. Haleigh will be moving on to the National Truck Driving Championships in Indianapolis in August to represent Maine with the winners of the 8 other classes of trucks from Maine. This was her first year competing. Haleigh is an alumni of Tri-County Technical School in Dexter having attended the CDL training program while in high school. High school students in Maine who attended CDL training programs receive up to 2 academic years of training tuition free, in comparison to adult programs that generally receive 4 to 8 weeks of training. Troop K has been involved with the technical center programs throughout Maine for many years and we are proud of Haleigh, her commitment to safety on Maine’s roads, and her accomplishment!

If you see Haleigh delivering gas to your local RH Foster store, or out on the highway, please congratulate her! Also, please give her the room she needs to do her job safely. Haleigh’s truck is 70 feet long and weighs over 20 times as much as your car, so please don’t cut her off, stay out of her blind spots, and if you are behind her remember: If you can’t see her in the mirrors of the truck, she can’t see you!

Thank you for delivering the gas we need for our cruisers Haleigh, we couldn’t get to the next call without you!

A truck hauling hot patch pavement caught fire this morning causing I-295 to be closed while the flames were brought under control.

On April 25, 2022, around 9:20, Maine State Police received a report of a truck on fire near mile marker 5 in South Portland. Troopers arrived on scene and determined that the commercial vehicle had multiple propane tanks on board that were igniting and fueling the fire. Both north and south traffic was shut down while the South Portland Fire Department dealt with the fire.

I-295 remained shut down for approximately 3 hours. The vehicle was travelling from Woburn, MA to Bangor. The exact cause of the fire is unknown, but the truck recently underwent maintenance to the propane heating system and it is possible this system malfunctioned causing the fire. Thankfully no one was injured.
 

State Police seized five tractor trailers on Dec. 6, 2019 – all owned by the same company which owes about $75,000 in unpaid tolls to the Maine Turnpike Authority. The State Police Commercial Vehicle Unit impounded five tractor trailers owned and operated by Commodity Haulers Express of North Kingston, Rhode Island. The truck company is facing felony theft of services charges after racking up approximately $75,000 in unpaid toll debt over the past three years.

Last month, State Police Corporal Chris Rogers was asked to investigate a toll evasion case by the Maine Turnpike Authority. The Turnpike Authority reported that Commodity Haulers Express, which employs a fleet of approximately 20 trucks, had amassed an unpaid toll fare bill of approximately $75,000 over a three-year period utilizing 12 different tractor trailer trucks. The company had been notified of the unpaid bill multiple times by the Turnpike Authority. and their right to operate their vehicles in Maine had been suspended by the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Cpl. Rogers conducted surveillance and created a timeline of when the offending trucks were entering and leaving Maine. This morning, Troopers located five of the offending trucks. One was stopped southbound in York along the Maine Turnpike and the four others were stopped along Route 122 in Poland. The trucking company hauls Poland Spring Water. The water company was not aware or involved in the unpaid tolls.

The tolls owed from the five trucks seized today was about $42,000.

2007 Freightliner RI AP 33719 - $12822.50
1999 Peterbilt RI AP 34622 - $4815
2007 Freightliner RI AP 30192 - $12934.75
2006 Freightliner RI AP 33718 - $10306.50
2000 Freightliner RI AP 22268 - $670

The trucks were towed to Copp Motors in Cumberland where they will remain until the toll bills have been paid.State Police seized five tractor trailers today – all owned by the same company which owes about $75,000 in unpaid tolls to the Maine Turnpike Authority. The State Police Commercial Vehicle Unit impounded five tractor trailers owned and operated by Commodity Haulers Express of North Kingston, Rhode Island. The truck company is facing felony theft of services charges after racking up approximately $75,000 in unpaid toll debt over the past three years.

Last month, State Police Corporal Chris Rogers was asked to investigate a toll evasion case by the Maine Turnpike Authority. The Turnpike Authority reported that Commodity Haulers Express, which employs a fleet of approximately 20 trucks, had amassed an unpaid toll fare bill of approximately $75,000 over a three-year period utilizing 12 different tractor trailer trucks. The company had been notified of the unpaid bill multiple times by the Turnpike Authority. and their right to operate their vehicles in Maine had been suspended by the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Cpl. Rogers conducted surveillance and created a timeline of when the offending trucks were entering and leaving Maine. This morning, Troopers located five of the offending trucks. One was stopped southbound in York along the Maine Turnpike and the four others were stopped along Route 122 in Poland. The trucking company hauls Poland Spring Water. The water company was not aware or involved in the unpaid tolls.

The tolls owed from the five trucks seized today was about $42,000.

2007 Freightliner RI AP 33719 - $12822.50
1999 Peterbilt RI AP 34622 - $4815
2007 Freightliner RI AP 30192 - $12934.75
2006 Freightliner RI AP 33718 - $10306.50
2000 Freightliner RI AP 22268 - $670

The trucks were towed to Copp Motors in Cumberland where they will remain until the toll bills have been paid.

UPDATE: Another truck with an outstanding toll fare debt of $5,013 was just seized by the Commercial Vehicle Unit and is expected to be towed to Copp Motors within an hour.