DOT and the State Boys have gone Mad!!!!!!!

Well, they use to here to. See the problem here is that a load of logs isnt nearly as valuble as coal or pretty much anything else. Loggers cant afford a higher truck bill, heck their just barley gettin by. Alot of loggers are folding here, mills are full, and prices are cut. Just last week I hauled 2 loads of poplar logs in to the mill, after the land owner was paid, and the trucking took out, the logger took home 268. dollars, he showed me the check. I made alittle over 700. So how could a person ask for more, as some would suggest I do. I cant do that. He's just like me, A poor man tryin to make a rich man's dollar.

 

I don't know what State got you, I'm guessing WV, but I know my State is on us to weigh trucks period. They want us weighing and inspecting. So I look for the trucks I know are running overweight. My question to you is, Why don't you get a tractor with a pole trailer and stretch it out? No offense but you running 80K on a 3 or 4 axle truck, no wonder they weigh you all the time. Your lucky with getting warnings for overweight as well, the guys I work with never write warnings for OW, especially having to drag those dang scales.

 

Yea, its WV. and we have ran TT. TT's are harder to get in and out of the woods than a triaxle. Takes more road, more stone, and alot of the hollers we go up are very narrow. With a TT you also have the added expence of having to have a stationary loader, whereas my triaxle has 1 on it. Stationary loaders run about 100k, the loader on my truck if bought brandnew about25-30k. Now bout the weight. Tell you bout a trick DOT's pulled on coal haulers round here. The coal haulers were coming out of a mine traveling on a primary road and when pulled over they were told they would allow them by grossing 88000. Sounds like a pretty good deal, ehh, But after traveling about 6-8 miles on the primary, they had to get on I-79 for about 1.5 miles then back onto primary road. Guess where the DOT went and waited- on a on ramp half way between where they got on and off the interstate. Nailed those guys 1 after another on that little stretch of interstate becouse they were over 80000, and they will not allow anything over that on a TT on the interstate. So why would a person put all that added expence in a TT if I can haul 77000 legal and TT's can only get 80000. And as for you all not giving warnings for ow's, as I said ,the DOT's around here do understand the industry of log and coal haulers around here and its why some of them are easy going with us. Fact is if they continue to crack on us as they have been, they will run all of them off the road, And I dont think thats what they want. I read in 1 of your guys post to the bull haulers wife, " If Truckers done their jobs you all wouldnt have 1". I think its all about those foodstamps, and when the economy gets booming again they will back off again. I've got no problems with most of the DOT's, their just doing their jobs and rightly so, but some of them are on powertrips. I think its a fine thing making sure those rigs are safe, without the DOT I have no doubt there would be alot more deaths on the roads, but as I said, My truck has not been inspected by a Dot, I'm just getting weighed and fined.

 

I have been an O/O for 6 years and yes I have never been placed oos I have had a ticket for a bald tire but not placed OOS. I log my driving time exactly how I drive it and never been placed OOS for logs either. I do not have a fancy truck it is a 1999 model KW that came out of a fleet it is a plain Jane truck But it is paid for thankfully given the current economic situation if I had a Payment I would most likely be a company driver or working somewhere else now.

I do most of my own mechanical work grew up in that type of environment and also went to college in heavy equipment repair. I have had a class in air brake systems etc. so yes I guess I have been lucky but I am able to spot things before they become an issue and I would suspect most O/O could and do have the same ability.

I am also glad they are not on welfare per say but most of them get some kind of government aid here in California ever wondered why the state has a 40 billion deficit.

 

I also do most of my own mechanic work, but just for an example, I got pulled over a couple months ago and I had a carter pin that came out of a self adjusting slack adjuster and recieved an oos. Now, the slack adjuster still worked fine without the carter pin but I was still oos. I simply got a small bolt out of my tool box, took about 1/2min. to fix and I was released. Something so small as a carter pin missing put me oos. I grease my truck twice a week and never cought it (with grease fittings right there on the slack adjuster) The carter pin had to come out along the road as I was traveling, so you see Im just saying you have been very lucky, or may be good maintanence with luck throwed in there. And a 40bill. def. WOW. thought cali, with all those movie stars would be doin better,But at any rate, Watch those brokers, they will trick you if they can to haul freight cheaper to. Hats off to you for standing your ground.

 

Does WV have a truck weight division and then an inspection division? Or do they do it all (i.e. weighing and inspecting). In my State we weigh and inspect. Years ago though we had two seperate entities that one weighed, the other inspected. I agree that is a little B.S. tell them one weight, go down the road and nail em on another. I stop and weigh and inspect the log tractor trailer around here from time to time. If they aren't piled high I don't usually stop them. I have got em as high as 95,000 lbs before. If I were to guess most all always around 83-85000. I think I have stopped and weighed two this year both were 87,000 +

 

Face it, times are tough and state revenues are down. So what does a state do? Send out the revenue enhancement squad. Anything that they can write they will write, and in some cases make stuff up. So try your best to keep your feces in an equilateral container.
Daggum revenuers.
Remember you don't have to be safe, just compliant.

 

Yes, we used to have the scales, and DOT, but now all of them have their own set of scales. And your right is is BS, but like I said all of them are not like that, but man there is about 4 or 5 around here that really get under my hide, I tell ya, I had 1 tell me he was going to kick me in the unmentionables, with 3 other officers standing there. Now I've always been a yes sir, no sir type of guy with them but here latley seems like their testing me. On this particular stop and weigh, 2 carloads pulled me over at the same time, 2 officers in each car. As they were adding up the weight for each axle 1 of the officers asked me what I was licensed to haul, I said I dont know, (like he needed me to tell him anyway's). This is when I started getting treated nastey. He replied with a grin, you mean to tell me you own the truck, and you dont know (which at the time I knew it was 74 or 76) I said no, at which point he turned to the other officers and started laughing. Well, I got alittle upset and blurted out, "buddy, I dont pay attention to those numbers, I load this truck with what it was built to haul and I go with it". He turns back to me and says, "Well, buddy I'm bout to kick you in the -----. I replied "kick away, I've been kicked there before". I have nothing but respect for law enforcement, but Im alittle to old to have a sawedoff punk talk to me that way just becouse he is wearing a badge. I was out here long before that lad was thought of, Its just down right disrespectful. Was I in the wrong? Yea, I was over weight, but they got no right to badger a man like that. But like I said there not all like that, but there is some out there that is driving a wedge between Drivers and DOT.

 

Well, I cant say I have ever had 1 makeup stuff on me, but I do think they are after the money.

 

Speaking of making stuff up,,, had a friend that got a speeding ticket, 80 mph going up hill with 80,000 lbs, he told the cop his truck couldnt do 80 up the hill empty! Made no difference!