Dangerous Rigs: Inspecting Oilfield Trucks

An investigation by News On 6 and The Frontier found that 36 people have died in crashes with oilfield trucks in Oklahoma since 2007.

A third of the companies involved in those deadly crashes have the lowest safety rating a trucking company can have and still be allowed to operate.

Thursday, News On 6 rode along with an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper as he inspected some oilfield trucks at random. And if those stops were any indication of the trucks on the road, there is cause for concern.

We looked under hoods and went under trucks, inspecting oilfield trucks operating in Oklahoma. One truck was thousands of pounds overweight and another barely had brakes.

1/7/2016 Related Story: Dangerous Rigs: Oilfield Truck Crashes Kill, Injure Dozens

Before we caught up with OHP Trooper Scott Shropshire, he pulled over a truck for a mobile weigh-in and found the truck weighed 7,500 pounds over the legal limit of 36,000 pounds. That trucking company got two tickets.

Then, he stopped a truck in Drumright for a full, Level 1 inspection. That truck passed, but another one didn’t.

The trooper found that of the six brakes on the truck, four were out. That trucking company got an "out of service" violation, which will result in a federal fine.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission used to do the inspections until OHP took over a few years ago.

A former inspector said, years ago, there were 20 officers inspecting trucks on Oklahoma roads.

A review of OHP data by News On 6 and The Frontier found there were only four uniformed troopers doing inspections as of 2012. Now, OHP says there are more than 30 troopers performing inspections.

In 2012, OHP said it fell short of meeting its inspections goal, completing just 4,300 Level 1 inspections.

OHP can also do compliance checks at trucking companies, but OHP data from 2012 shows troopers missed the goal of 110 compliance checks, completing only 65 that year.

We asked troopers how many trucks get inspected each day.

"It varies. I can sit here and say ten a day when I might only get three a day. It varies on the type of trucks that you stop and the violations that you find," Trooper Heath Ragland said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires drivers to inspect trucks "at the completion of each day's work" identifying "any defect or deficiency."

K&W Well Service of Cushing operates the truck that had the four bad brakes. A company manager said drivers are supposed to do daily inspections, but sometimes that doesn’t happen.