The owner of a trucking company that hauls waste regularly to the BRADS Landfill in Blythe Township was threatened with criminal charges and jail time if she and her husband didn’t immediately address safety issues with their vehicles.
On Thursday, the owners of Twin Turbo Trucking and 7 Win Turbo Trucking were fined nearly $8,000 for numerous safety violations on their vehicles found during inspections by State Police at the dump on Burma Rd.
At summary trials held before District Court Magistrate Judge David Plachko in Port Carbon on Thursday, the companies were found guilty of numerous safety citations. 7 Win Turbo is owned by Carla Balerio while Twin Turbo is owned by her husband, Jesus.
During the trials, Plachko noted how the companies’ trucks have very similar logos, nearly identical. Police testified that only some coloring in the logos makes them different in appearance. Each company has its own hauling license number.
In testimony, police detailed myriad safety violations found during periodic safety inspections. These inspections don’t happen very often, about once a month, at the BRADS Landfill site.
On Twin Turbo trucks and trailers, police say they found flat and bald tires, defective brakes, inoperable turn signals and headlamps, loose lug nuts, the lack of fire extinguishers, and debris falling from the back of a vehicle. A tire measured 0 PSI during one inspection.
On one truck, the driver’s side door could not be opened from the outside.
Some of these violations were not corrected from an inspection the previous month.
Similar violations were discovered on 7 Win Turbo vehicles and trailers.
One truck didn’t have a VIN and there was no registration available for police when it was requested.
Brake lights were inoperable. Soot was found in an exhaust pipe. Wipers were not functioning on one vehicle and the windshield was so dirty it impaired the driver’s vision.
During an inspection in January, one vehicle and trailer had three flat tires.
In February, 7 Win Turbo sent a truck to BRADS that hadn’t been inspected since 2019. The windshield wipers weren’t working, the driver couldn’t read or understand English on road signs and he had a warrant for his arrest in another county, police testified.
This wasn’t the first time these trucking companies faced numerous safety violations before Plachko and on Thursday, he’d clearly had enough. After rendering his guilty verdicts in these cases, he read the Riot Act to Carla Balerio (Jesus was a no-show).
“It’s appalling that you would allow these vehicles to travel that road in this condition,” Plachko said. “I don’t know how you still have a license to operate. I don’t know what it’s going to take to make you stop.”
He didn’t stop there.
“You’re seeing profits over people,” the judge continued.
Plachko said he’ll consider referring future cases in his court to the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office for criminal reckless endangerment charges, saying that her and her husband’s vehicles travel the same road as people visiting a golf course and state parks.
“It’s going to be a terrible day when one of your trucks goes out of control and wipes out a family,” Plachko added. “I implore you to stop or it’s going to be an ugly ending for you. Get these trucks and trailers in compliance or stay far, far away from Burma Rd.”
Balerio did not have the money to pay off her company’s fines, which means she must now have a Payment Determination Hearing before Plachko. He said he could technically incarcerate her for up to 72 hours before such a hearing is scheduled.
“Are you prepared to go to jail today?” he asked.
.
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