A recent commercial vehicle enforcement blitz in the Niagara Region found that half the vehicles they stopped to inspect were riding dirty.

As a result, 16 of the 31 vehicles stopped were pulled from the road and prohibited from being operated any further.

Niagara police say that the joint initiative was targeted at catching commercial drivers who were deliberately skipping the mandatory inspection station in Vineland.

They say that in total, 150 vehicles — both passenger and commercial — were redirected into the station.

Enforcement officers from the Ministry of Transportation worked alongside police officers from the province, Niagara and Halton to hand out a total of 37 tickets in a single day.

In addition to the lofty sum of infractions, police say they also pulled a singular pair of plates.

The offences range from failing to conduct daily inspection reports to driving with an insecure load.

The joint enforcement initiative stemmed as a response from a community concern that noticed an “increased commercial motor vehicle traffic in Lincoln and West Lincoln.”