The Motor Carrier Safety Unit conducts roadside inspections of commercial motor vehicles to locate and enforce equipment defects, logbook violations, hauling permit violations, overweight vehicles, and hazardous material violations. This unit responses to Environmental issues and hazardous materials incidents as part of the city's Environmental Crimes Task Force.

This unit, in conjunction with the STSC (Specialized Transportation Safety Coalition), has done the only United States research on stopping distances for vehicles that are over legal weights and found that when legal weights are exceeded stopping distances increase (for more information on the research please contact MPO Godwin for facts and figures).

This unit regularly conducts safety demonstrations and provides safety lectures and training to the Police Academy, other local Police/Sheriff's Departments, as well as the private commercial carriers in the Hampton Roads area. This unit conducts CMV safety and Hazardous Materials inspections in conjunction with the other Motor Carrier Safety units in the Hampton Roads, State Police, and the US Coast Guard.