Many truck drivers have learned about North Carolina’s new enforcement initiative the hard way — after being ticketed for resting on the side of the highway.

According to a report by The News & Observer, Gov. Pat McCrory initiated a crack down on sleeping truckers after a wealthy political donor urged the governor to put an end to “unsightly” semi trucks on the side of Interstate 77.

The donor, former Board of Transportation member and wealthy business executive Charlie Shelton says his primary concern is the “trash and safety (issues)” caused by truck drivers on the side of the road.

The fact that a majority of the citations are issued near his award-winning vineyard is merely a coincidence, he says.

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Back on June 3rd, the North Carolina Highway Patrol announced a statewide enforcement effort to crack down on vehicles parked on interstate highways. The initiative was attributed to Col. William Grey, the patrol commander, who in a press-release stated that he “traveled the state and noticed a lot” of semi trucks parked on the side of major highways.

The announcement generated a lot of controversy in the trucking community, as the lack of adequate truck parking forced many drivers to park on the side of the roads in order to meet federally mandated hours-of-service restrictions.

It was later discovered that the decision to ramp up enforcement of illegally parked trucks didn’t come just from Col. William Grey’s observation.

A memo which was issued three months prior to the announcement asked troopers to crack down on sleeping truckers, specifically on Interstate 77, due to complaints that came through the Governor’s office.

It was later discovered that those complaints came directly from Charlie Shelton, the owner of the award winning Shelton Vineyards, located off Interstate 77.

In a public interview, the 80-year-old Shelton voiced his grievances with semi trucks parking on the state’s major highways.

“It’s unsightly,” he said. “It’s against the law to park a tractor-trailer and go to sleep there and throw your trash out on the road…”

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After a private meeting with Shelton, Governor McCrory issued the memo to troopers to “patrol the exit ramps on I-77 in Surry and Yadkin for parking violations on the ramps … throughout your work days and not just once.”

However, Shelton wasn’t’ happy with the outcome. An email between one of Shelton’s employees and McCrory stated the following:

“There still doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference – trucks are still parking on the exit ramps.”

In the email, she also asked Gov. McCrory to call to “to see if there is anything else we can do to clean this up,”

After a second discussion, troopers received orders to increase enforcement further, specifically of trucks “still parking illegally on the Zephyr Road Ramp to I-77,” the ramp between the highway and Shelton Vineyards.

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Shelton publicly thanked the governor for focusing on enforcement of illegal parking on Interstate 77 “and its exit ramps that were being abused by the trucking industry.”

A week after signing the letter of appreciation, Gov. McCrory’s reelection campaign received another donation from Shelton, although Shelton claims the donation had nothing to do with the increased enforcement.

When asked by reporters from the The New & Observer if the campaign donations were in return for political favors, Shelton denied the claim.

He says his support of state leaders cracking down on illegally parked truckers will help “make this state look better.” “I don’t need any favors out of the governor for me personally.” he added.

Shelton also added that he will continue to push for enforcement until there are no more sleeping truckers on the highway.

“The only way you’re going to solve it is giving tickets until you get this problem solved” he said.