Provincial police are patrolling Ontario roads in transport trucks this week in an effort to crack down on distracted driving by commercial truck drivers.

Ontario Provincial Police say the five-day road safety blitz launched Monday is the first time officers have used transport trucks on patrol.

They say being in the trucks will give officers a better vantage point for spotting distracted or dangerous drivers.

OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes says the OPP has responded to more than 6,200 collisions related to transport trucks this year.

Hawkes says 69 of those collisions were fatal, killing a total of 84 people.

The OPP say inattentive driving causes over a quarter of all commercial vehicle collisions.