Klausner delivers truckload of safety
to Houston streets

With calls about potentially hazardous big trucks coming in from all over
the city, HPD sergeant C.J. Klausner juggles radios and a cell phone
to coordinate his officers in the field.

By Paul Beckman

HPD Sgt. C.J. Klausner doesn’t work for the circus. But his knack for juggling can wow any observer.

The truck enforcement unit’s leader juggles nearly everything – from a busy schedule packed with truck inspections and educational presentations to three radios where officers in the field crackle for his attention.

And Houston’s streets are safer because of Klausner’s talent. Along with his crew of 28 officers, he makes sure the big trucks that rumble through Houston are safe. When they aren’t, they’re shut down.

Klausner may juggle, but he never clowns around at work.

“We do about 10,000 truck safety inspections a year,” Klausner said. “When we stop these trucks, we’re going to go inside the cab. We’re going to go inside the trailer. We’re going to go underneath the trailer and the tractor. All told, 57 items will be touched. If we identify a federal violation, we shut the truck down.”

In 1999, when Klausner and crew became federally certified and started holding trucks accountable, 75 percent of the trucks they stopped were so dangerous they had to be shut down. Now that number has dropped to about 50 percent, he said.

“(The drop is) pretty dramatic, but the national average is at 20 percent,” Klausner said. “So we’ve got a ways to go. When we first stopped these big trucks, we averaged 17 violations per truck. Now that’s down to eight. I can see the fruits of our labors and so can my officers.”

But Klausner knows that time is money in the trucking industry and shutting down trucks cannot be done haphazardly. With that in mind, he and his unit constantly review ever changing federal regulations.

“The stakes are high,” Klausner said. “You can’t shut down a million dollar load heading to the port fixing to head out of the country and ‘oops, I guess we made a mistake. We’re sorry.’”

He rewards safe trucks by issuing them a decal that frees the truck from the 57-point inspection for 90 days and lowers the truck’s insurance.

“I consider the stop always a win – win,” said Klausner. “If we can reward them, that’s wonderful. If they’re so dangerous that they have to be shut down, they aren’t going to be on that road again until they’re safe.”

Trucking industry driving up safety
But does the trucking industry view the unit’s work so positively? After all, making trucks pass under a microscope as they roll through Houston wouldn’t seem to make Klausner very popular in the trucking sector.

Though Klausner said there was some resistance at first, companies realize the value of having him and his unit around.

“I have children, and I want them to be safe on the road,” said Gary Hoffman, president of Shark Trucking. “Sometimes, some things done on inspections are wasteful and a pain, but I am totally with the idea of safety. Anything I can do to promote safety within my company or within the community is a valuable tool.”

Klausner connects with the trucking industry by speaking to employees about what the unit does and how it works. He makes about 75 presentations each year.

One of those presentations was at Shark Trucking. Hoffman said he and his drivers were able to ask questions that probably wouldn’t be asked beside the road during an inspection. He added that Klausner’s presentation gave a touch of a “personal connection” and “de-demonized” the unit.

Klausner also makes an equal number of presentations about the unit’s work to community groups. A bundle of positive energy, Klausner never leaves an audience dissatisfied or bored.

“When I do go out to these meetings, my enthusiasm certainly bleeds,” Klausner said. “And I do not read from a script. Truck safety, road safety – it involves all of us. I literally have people sitting on the edge of their chairs. I have questions coming to me from all over.”

While speaking to an HPD Positive Interaction Program group in Kingwood, Klausner not only explained what his unit does, but also invited the group to see for themselves.

“Five of our PIP members followed up on his invitation,” wrote A.N.M. Geldens.

Geldens said they found multiple brake failures, improper loading and load securing, unsafe straps, and flat and bald tires among other violations.

“In one case, the female driver of a rig had three outstanding warrants and was promptly transported to jail,” Gelders added. “Watching the truck enforcement unit in action was a real eye opener for all of us … We observed Sgt. Klausner and his team in action for more than two hours and were very impressed by what we saw and heard.”

If those activities don’t give Klausner enough things to juggle, he also serves on City Council’s Transportation, Infrastructure & Technology committee and makes presentations in Austin and Washington, D.C.

And like all good jugglers, he never lets anything slip through his fingers, often putting in days that start at 4 a.m. and end at 6 p.m.

“Most people who drive on Houston’s streets aren’t aware of the work Sergeant Klausner does,” said Mayor Lee P. Brown. “Still, some of them are alive today because of his diligence. His mix of toughness with a positive attitude makes Houston safer for all of us.”