Police in Red Hook, NY, are planning a crackdown on illegal oversized trucks that are frequently used by warehouses and factories in the city’s industrial center to reduce their shipping costs, according to a DNA info report.
City regulations limit tractor-trailers to 55 ft. in length, however city residents complain that trucks as long as 70 ft. regularly rumble through Red Hook's streets. “Our streets were not designed for 70- or 55-ft. tractor-trailers,” Brooklyn Community Board 6 district manager Craig Hammerman said. “It’s trying to fit 21st-century vehicles onto a 19th-century street grid. It defies the laws of physics.”
The reason truckers in and out of the industrial center run illegal equipment is purely financial, David Meade, director of the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corp. said. “They have very tight profit margins, and when they have to do what’s best for them, it’s a challenge.”
Marrone said the next enforcement operation is scheduled to take place in November. However, he noted that enforcement efforts in the past have only deterred oversized trucks for a short while.
“Is it effective? It probably is for a little while, but after an amount of time, the trucks come back,” Marrone said.
