Yes, Florida Highway Patrol has semi-trucks that can be used to catch speeders

TAMPA, Fla. — Speeders, beware?

Our VERIFY team is always working to answer your questions to make sure you know what’s true or false.

A VERIFY viewer submitted a Facebook post shared by the account Cracked.com, which claims the Florida Highway Patrol uses a fleet of semi-trucks “to snitch on bad drivers or even pull them over themselves.” The post also claims the trucks are “hidden in plain sight.”

Cracked.com bills itself as a comedy website.

So is it true?

THE QUESTION

Does Florida Highway Patrol have a fleet of semi-trucks that can be used to catch speeders?

THE SOURCES

• Florida Highway Patrol (FHP)
• 10 Tampa Bay archival reporting

THE ANSWER

Yes, Florida Highway Patrol has a fleet of semi-trucks that can be used to catch speeders. However, the agency says the trucks themselves are rarely used to conduct traffic stops.

WHAT WE FOUND

Florida Highway Patrol first started using the semi-trucks around 2015 to crack down on other truckers texting and driving, according to 10 Tampa Bay archival reporting.

Troopers could use the trucks to look into the cabs of other trucks, something they couldn’t do from their normal cruiser.

Since then, FHP-clad semi-trucks have primarily been used for safety campaigns like the "No Zone," Lieutenant Jim Beauford told 10 Tampa Bay, to warn other drivers about the natural blind spots of large commercial trucks.

“This allows non-commercial drivers to sit inside of a commercial vehicle so they can see the blind spots and improve their driving behavior when operating near commercial motor vehicles in an effort to reduce crashes on Florida’s roadways,” Beauford said.

But the trucks are outfitted with police lights, and this photo posted by FHP shows it being used to conduct a traffic stop. 

Beauford said while trucks are capable of conducting traffic stops, one has never been assigned to patrol operations as a daily patrol vehicle.

It’s more likely to be used for spotting a speeder to radio back to a patrol car to make the stop.

As for whether these trucks are “hiding in plain sight,” pictures posted by FHP show the trucks clearly have a large agency seal on the door with the cab painted black and beige like the patrol vehicles.