Commercial vehicle enforcement to be stepped up by area police

Area police plan to step up their enforcement of laws on commercial vehicles.

The Reno Police Department, which won a $165,043 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for commercial vehicle enforcement, said it plans to work with Sparks police to develop the program.

The department said it wants to reduce the number and severity of accidents involving commercial vehicles. Details of the program haven't been worked out yet.

The issue is becoming more serious, the police department said in a press release, because of the amount of truck traffic generated by the region's manufacturing and logistics industries. Trucks hauling hazardous material are a particular worry, the department said.

The police department said it will invest $33,000 in the program, mostly through staff hours for training and enforcement activities.

The Reno Police Department also won a $52,000 grant to train officers to undertake inspections of commercial vehicles.

The department said enforcement in the past sometimes has been limited because of a lack of officers trained in the specialized area of commercial transport.