OOS for not having a permit

Understandably so. You hear many complaints about the trucking industry. You hear complaints about the laws. But every time one of these boneheads screw up, bonehead legistators start pushing for more bonehead legislation. Bonehead legislation doesn't just affect bonehead drivers...that's the unfair part. I would be all for legislation targeting bonehead drivers and motorists. Screw up and injure someone through negligence, lose your license. Screw up and kill someone, execute the screwup on the side of the road. Give the people sitting in the traffic jam a real reason to rubberneck. Call the magistrate and the coroner to the accident on the side of the road, have all your eyewitnesses together and get it over with. Problem solved, no repeat offender. Roads instantly safer.

 

Getting a permit is so easy, it just doesn't make sense not to.
90% of the time I drive is with permits.

 

@pavrom

I get that you're trying to maximize your profits but what you have to realize is that, when you begin cutting corners in order to do it, you aren't maximizing profits any longer. You're operating at below cost.

As you found out, eventually you will be caught cutting those corners and (fortunately not this time) the costs will all catch up at once by way of fines, lost miles, etc.

Why, you may ask, do we care if you operate below cost if you'll soon be out of business by doing it?

It's because business owners who want to stay in business have to compete in the same marketplace.

There are drivers on this forum who have been in business for decades. They manage to stay in business by charging a fair rate for their services; a rate that will allow them to stay profitable long-term.

Unfortunately, those drivers have had to endure and compete against THOUSANDS of start-up owner/ops who enter the market and unknowingly run freight at below cost, either by failing to account for maintenance or by cutting the corners of legality.

These start-ups inevitably fail unless they learn and charge the fair value of their services. However, there is an endless supply of new drivers willing to fill the void and run at below cost.

Shippers, receivers, and brokers count on it.

I don't know your story but I do know that many Eastern European drivers immigrate to this country to provide a better life for themselves and their families than can be had at home.

There, cutting corners is required to compete because the value of labor is so desperately reduced as to make every penny saved an important one; it seems normal to cheat in order to survive.

And that is exactly what this country will become if every driver begins cutting corners and running freight at below cost, as you now do.

In essence, by operating as you do, you are taking a small part in turning this country into the country you left behind.

So, please, if you need an extra thousand dollars a month, charge for it.

 

In my not so humble opinion i think getting caught running without a permit should result in impoundment of the truck trailer and load.

The problem is there is no real punishment for these things so you get guys cutting corners for a competitive edge because they know getting caught won't hurt.

 

Try it in Pennsylvania or Virginia, they will make you hurt. Also if you get in a accident, no matter the cause it will be on you.

 

pavrom, I am not going to beat up on you like others, but offer some advice, when you have anything hanging over, get a permit or rework the load.

I had a situation where there was a "couple" feet of overhang on the right side of the truck, the load was pushed onto the bed and the driver thought he could just run it. He hit something on the way out of the city, he knew he hit something but he didn't know what it was until we got a court summons for hit and run, they id'd the truck but not the truck number or driver. So it was simple, we sent down the legal people to deal with it, they came back and asked for logs, bols and the driver's file and went back down to the court. I can't say what he hit, there was an injured person, we did a payout for the claim, covered the driver to a point and moved on, but the judge said if we gotten a permit, the liability would not have been so severe. I now make sure the flat beds are covered by permits with anything over the side.

I know it cuts into the profits but hell I can justify every permit now after cutting a $35k check.

 

Good. Every state needs to adapt that policy.

 

Then you weren’t put out of service you were just waiting on a permit

 

Well put. Thank you.

 

I believe there’s a verse in the Bible that states he without sin cast the first stone!!! I hope everyone who has been so harsh has never speeded, made a improper turn, stayed off-duty and drove to the shop or truckstop, never stayed up on the phone or watching tv while in the sleeper, or took a load that put you over gross but dodged the scales