Drivers may have noticed more DPS vehicles along the Southern Arizona stretch of the I-10 the past few days.
For the third year in a row The Arizona Department of Public Safety has unleashed "Operation Southern Shield." The operation began on Tuesday and will go until Friday morning.
Commercial truck drivers are on high alert this week. DPS officers are conducting the operation starting as far west as Casa Grande, to as far east as the New Mexico border. The officers are looking for several violations that include, a false log book and fatigued drivers. Federal law states that a person can drive 11 hours and must take a 10 hour rest.
For Officer Todd Korth, it seems like he can spot a violation a mile away. He has more than 15 years working in law enforcement. Korth said, "When you see a driver standing by your vehicle while you are talking to him and he's looking like he's falling asleep on his feet, to me that's very dangerous."
The goal of the program is to try and prevent accidents involving commercial vehicles. Over the last 2 years of the operation, DPS has made over 15 hundred stops of commercial vehicles. They have taken almost 400 drivers off the road for violations.
Despite the presence this week or following weeks. Some drivers will push the limit and take a risk. "Like I said, you are an hour away from home and you can get home and beat the system, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't," said Juan Hernandez a truck driver.
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