Five commercial vehicles were pulled off the road during a safety blitz in Markham Wednesday.

York Regional Police officers, working with officials from both the transportation and environment ministries, took the handful of vehicles out of service because of mechanical defects and safety violations that could not be easily repaired. The vehicles were towed and their licence plates seized, police said.

In total, 59 commercial vehicles were inspected during the blitz. Seventeen were temporarily pulled off the streets while violations were fixed at the roadside. More than 70 provincial offences were noted for insecure loads, unsafe brakes and tires, improper documents and other problems, according to police.

Several trailers with loads of bricks were deemed overloaded and had to be transferred to other trailers.
Markham bylaw officers also inspected taxis and documents.