OK, a week ago Ratchet got a ticket for overweight on his drive axle. The fine is well under 150.00 so it isn't a huge deal. He knew he might have a problem but went with dispatch's advice to get the load out and off a.s.a.p.

He is an independent contractor so is responsible for this kind of thing himself.

Oh, yeah, was asking a question, wasn't I?

His boss wants him to fight the ticket. Won't this be on Ratchet's record no matter what? No points against his license and it will cost us more to hire an attorney to fight the ticket than the fine will cost.

A close friend who has been driving since the early 80s has told us to just pay the fine and get it over with. He doesn't believe fighting it will do any good.

My feeling is just to pay it and get it over with. What is the use of fighting something that won't affect his license?

What say?

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The brain works in mysterious ways, if it works at all.

I'd like to know as well, as we are sitting on a $70.00 ticket for the same reason. My hubby's company won't pay it, of course they didn't tell us until we got a summon to go to court but we were just thinking of paying it.

If your boss is supplying the money for the attorney, and making arrangements to cover your lost wages for you to appear in court- by all means I would fight the ticket because it will probably put an end to frivilous tickets in that particular area. If the above is not happening, and it doesnt put points on your liscense, then I would simply pay the fine and go about my business. Im sure your employer would like to stop the ticket gouging, but he should be willing to pay some of the costs for you instead of expecting you to do it by yourself.

Where does frivolous tickets and gouging come from? If he knew he might have a problem then in his own mind he suspected he was overweight and if possible he should have gotten legal. Next time ask dispatch if they are going to pay the ticket if he runs illegal. As to your original question I would pay it ASAP and move on. It was his bosses employees decision that got him in this in the first place which makes any further advice suspect.

My hubby got his in MD, he says that they just give the ticket and your on your way. Virginia will give you an hour to correct it.

Native-
If the fine was under 150.00 then he wasnt massively overweight. Being grossly overweight and borderline overweight means a big difference between a minor fine and huge one, including felony charges. Some states if you are hugely over gross on weight you can face felony charges. It also means the difference between a frivolous fine and a big one. Alot of scale masters and DOT will let you go if you are borderline, unless you happen to get an officer who is hard nosed or trying to meet quota. Regardless, my advice was directed towards handling the problem since it has happened, rather than scolding him for getting the ticket in the first place.

The thought of the boss paying for an attorney or make up for lost miles made me laugh! Really!
I think we're just going to go ahead and pay it. It's only 125.50 which isn't bad. It was corrected by moving the tandems so the weight shifted back just a little.
Ratchet's learning, for sure. He has to listen to his instinct about this kind of stuff. He scaled this morning and had weight distribution problems. Moved tandems, rescaled and he was fine.
He's a stickler about his logs, inspections and speed limits and the boss knew this when he hired him. Better get used to him being a stickler about weights, too.
Thanks, all! Will go with just paying it....

__________________
The brain works in mysterious ways, if it works at all.

Yeah I agree with you, you are better off paying it. I got a crappy ticket from a hardnosed DOT officer in PA my first day of work for a new company
The shop pre-tripped my truck and trailer, I pre-tripped the truck and trailer, and when I got 2 miles from my delivery point I got stopped for inspection. Sometime between the time I left the home terminal and arrived there, a breaker for the trailer lights had shattered in transit. The seal around the breaker box was bad and allowed water into the box and the breakers had rusted. My crystal ball must not have been working that day cause I had no way of knowing either thing had occurred without taking a screw driver and taking the box apart and looking, which generally is not part of my normal pre-trip unless im trying to figure out WHY something isnt working LOL
The nice DOT officer gave me a 150.00 fine for not having lights. Fortunately, my employer paid the ticket, but it was still made out to me.

I had an over weight ticket in AZ, like you wasn't a big amt 2 pay # first but in the long run it cost me more by sitting on it. 700.$'s worth. The ticket will go on DMR with NO! points because it goes with ur DL# (non-moving) Don't fight the ticket or it might cost you two more monies.

Have spoken with the clerk of court and assured her that a cashier's check will be there long before his court date.
She was very nice, which helps...

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The brain works in mysterious ways, if it works at all.