Upper Macungie Township Police Chief Edgardo Colon and Sgt. Cory Reader recently provided information to the media regarding the Good Neighbor Coalition, a joint effort to address commercial motor vehicle issues in the municipality.

The coalition, which has the support of the board of supervisors and township manager, is seeking to enhance safety and to improve relationships between residents, businesses and trucking industries.

“The issues of commercial motor vehicle traffic in the Upper Macungie Township and Lehigh Valley has created a problem that has been here, continues to be here, and will continue to be here in the future,” Colon said. “The goal and intent of the coalition is to bring together the police department, the community, the commercial and warehousing industry and the trucking industry that traverses through the township to create the safest environment possible regarding the movement of commercial motor vehicles through this township.”

Since 2013, there have been seven fatal crashes on township roads; five of those crashes involved commercial trucking vehicles.

Every day, there are 7,350 commercial motor vehicles traversing Route 100, south of I-78 and trickling into the township.

“Those statistics combined with the existence of such a high volume of commercial motor vehicle traffic started to show an unusual and unsafe nexus with these crashes involving commercial motor vehicles,” Colon said.

Additionally, resident complaints have poured in reporting the dangers of and damage from commercial motor vehicles and the effects increased traffic has on their quality of life.

Colon, who was formerly the head of State Police Troop M barracks, Fogelsville, shares the sentiments of residents.

“That station has been there for over 20 years,” Colon said. “I’ve had to bear witness to the issue of commercial traffic growing even back then in this township. It’s easily identified as one of the major issues in this township.”

Crashes, resident frustration, property damages, overweight and unsafe commercial vehicles, parking of commercial vehicles, inherent dangers, snow on trucks, damage to roads, drivers who get lost relying on GPS, and finally sometimes just complete disregard for the laws make up the list of known impacts in the community.

The coalition has identified several strategic objectives which are the starting points to help create safer roadways, they include re-education of commercial motor vehicle operators, safety of the officers put to task is the key issue, improved traffic; reducing complaints and reducing disruption, and finally, identify, address, and correct adverse driver behavior.

In response to these objectives, there are several tools being investigated as potential solutions.

At the forefront is getting more officers certified in the Motor Carrier Safety and Assistance Program known as MCSAP.

Additional measures include a truck enforcement area with weighing scales designated for CMV inspection, intersection area cameras, more truck parking and rest area space.

The Good Neighbor Coalition will be presented to township businesses, residents and trucking companies in the near future and will ask for the cooperation in forming problem-solving work groups.

“Hopefully, we will get together and have some ideas as to how we can solve these problems and hopefully share some ideas with surrounding townships,” Colon said. “Enforcement is not the answer all the time. We would like to see compliance rather than enforcement.

“That is our biggest goal.”

Sgt. Reader is the co-creator of the coalition and the Upper Macungie Police Department authority on traffic.

He oversees traffic and motor inspection and enforcement, crash investigation, and is one of the three MCSAP trained officers.

“Pretty much every day something involving a commercial vehicle is out there… it’s a constant thing,” said Reader, who entered the meeting slightly late, due to a hit-and-run trucking issue earlier that morning.

One of the challenges of the coalition will be over-the-road drivers not directly connected to a trucking company or a business and are a bit more difficult to establish communication with.

The coalition will work together with Keystone Consulting Engineers, the township Public Works Department and PennDOT to help report deficiencies in signage, as well as work with stakeholders, businesses, landowners and residents, all combining their expertise.

“Communication and integration are key to this effort,” Colon said. “What can’t be stated enough due to my personal knowledge and experience along with the numerous complaints I get from the community is how people in the township get around the township to get to their homes and their places of work while integrating with the large amount of commercial motor vehicles in this area.

“We don’t have all the answers.

“We are trying to get the support and involvement of the community and all these businesses to get together and solve some of these problems.”