In a three-day period in 2016, three tractor-trailers lost their brakes and barreled down Route 93 into the town of Nesquehoning.

Two made it to the Route 93-209 intersection before crashing, while the third used the runaway truck ramp but had so much speed behind it that the truck ended up beyond the top of the ramp, nearly heading over into the ravine.

In 2022, another rig lost its brakes, rolling over in the middle of the Broad Mountain hill before catching fire.

And most recently, in August, a big rig sped across the intersection, barely missing a car that passed seconds before, and slammed into an embankment next to a building at the bottom of the intersection.

Because of these incidents, as well as the increasing truck traffic traveling south from Hazleton without heeding the traffic signs, Nesquehoning and Beaver Meadows officials are asking state officials if anything can be done to help the situation before someone is killed in one of these crashes.

On Thursday morning, several members of Nesquehoning council, one of three borough fire chiefs and two police officers met with representatives of state Sen. David Argall’s office, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Members of Beaver Meadows police and council also attended to add input into the discussion.

Police Chief Bradley Hess outlined the number of citations and incidents on Route 93 this year.

“So far this year, we have had 279 separate citations just from oversized loads and vehicles not stopping, trucks specifically not stopping at the stop sign at the top of 93,” Hess said, adding that since Jan. 1, there have also been four calls for trucks with smoking brakes; two truck fires; four trucks on the runaway truck ramp; 10 general calls from residents reporting trucks traveling down the mountain; and one truck crash.

“Our big one this year was we had a truck runaway and couldn’t stop,” Hess said. “It went all the way down the mountain, through the stop sign at the bottom and crashed into a property. ... It was pretty bad. If there was a vehicle at the bottom of that mountain, there was no way that truck was going to avoid them.”

He added that one of his officers has been sitting up on Route 93 at least three days a week to try to stop trucks coming from the Hazleton distribution centers before they come down the mountain.

Officer Richard Bekesy said that he feels the signs should be changed from just trucks to all vehicles over 21,000 pounds must stop. Since patrolling that area, he has seen charter buses full of people not stop before going down the mountain.

“That’s an issue that I’d like to address with the state,” he said.

But one major problem with the signs, most officials agreed upon, was that either the truck drivers were ignoring them all together or they can’t read English.

It also comes down to the navigation system the drivers are using, Hess said. The GPS on phones brings them this way, while the trucking navigation system that they should be using has these routes restricted.

“I don’t know what could be done or how that could be changed, but the GPS has to tell them they can’t be on that road because if they are just going to follow the GPS, they aren’t going to pay attention to any of the signs. They’re going to say, ‘Hey, the GPS told me to go this way’ and that’s what they always tell us because it’s the quickest route to the turnpike.”

The group stressed this problem isn’t with local truck drivers and companies, but third party contractors who are hiring people from out of the state or country to drive the trucks.

Councilwoman Mary Fox said that CDL licensing has become too lenient, with the third party testers rubber-stamping licenses and drivers not getting properly trained anymore.

Officer Mike Melvin, Beaver Meadows officer in charge, said that he stops quite a few in Beaver Meadows as well, pointing out that the majority of the trucks are coming from the Amazon distribution center.

“It’s the Amazon trucks; they are the heaviest ones,” he said. “And to touch on what the other officers here said, the first thing the guy does is he says, ‘The map takes me this way.’ They’re using the app that’s installed on their cellphone when they’re supposed to be using the trucker navigation app.”

All officers in attendance said that they have called Amazon to see if anything could be done and they were all told no.

“The way they look at it is, they say they’re professional drivers. They have a license. They’re supposed to read the signs. Amazon doesn’t really care,” Melvin said, adding that some trucks are also not properly maintained and shouldn’t even be on the road.

“It’s just a matter of time until somebody gets killed,” Nesquehoning council President David Hawk said.

“We’ve been very fortunate over the years,” said John McArdle, Nesquehoning Hose Company fire chief. “I’ve been an emergency responder here for 46 years so I’ve seen my share of accidents. We’ve had things from pigs to soap to car carriers, you name it, come down that hill. My concern is coming to the 93/209 intersection, how long is it going to be before we have a school bus or a carload of people coming through unsuspecting that a truck is coming down that hill and takes that vehicle out. It’s going to be a tragedy.”

Councilwoman Suzanne Smith said that it seems the companies take the position that once the drivers leave the facility, it is on them and not on the company any longer.

The group brought up a past discussion that took place with state officials several years ago regarding the possibility of creating a truck turnaround on the straightaway before the truck pull-off at the top of the mountain; however, a land swap between the state game lands and PennDOT would be required.

They also suggested the possibility of adding bilingual signs, solar flashing lights to the signs and creating a regional task force that could provide the resources to get an officer or two trained in inspecting the rigs much like the state police unit can do. Any citations are then filed against the company and raise the company’s insurance. The borough’s citations do not do that.

Officials also asked Argall if something could be created in the form of a bill or other matters that could help address this problem.

The meeting ended with PennDOT officials going back to supervisors to ask about the signs, while Argall’s office will look into grants to see if any funding is available for the purchase of equipment or begin looking into the matter of expanding the center’s quarters.