Observations from roadside inspections

Very true eckz. Passenger vehicles do get stopped but as you said, the officer needs a good reason to do so. We get stopped all the time. I even had one DOT officer in California tell me "I WILL find something wrong with your truck or trailer." I was like what is this a competition?

I asked him why he said that and he said "Simple you truckers are always violating something." Glad I don't go out there anymore. By the way? He didn't find anything wrong.

 

I am going to send a pm.

Would that hold true for any vehicle?

 

I understand your point, but carrying a full load up a hill in South Georgia or Florida for that matter in that truck was hell. I am not kidding when I say if I lose my speed in that truck, I WILL not be going up the next hill faster than 45 mph, because some jerk had to cut me off. A stupid day cab Ford L-8000 hauling 7 cars, with around 200 HP and a 6 speed, not 10 or 13. And then to top that off, when I get slowed down that slow, it pisses all of the other drivers off trying to get around the idiot (me) who is doing 45 in a 70. All because someone wanted to pass the truck in front of him at .25 mph faster. He could have just waited one more second.

 

You just have to deal with it and not let it get to you, cuz it's probably gonna happen again, and again...................

 

I came up with bicycles to emphasize the seemingly lack of the potential threat other vehicles, including cars driven by rank amateurs pose on our roadways.

Heck, just last week I witnessed a Bus sizes RV's pulling a trailer driving straight down the zipper taking up both lanes on I80 just east of Morris IL.(Driven by a 80 something silver hair women)

 

The op mentioned the smith system I think somewhere on this thread and I agree 100% that if you follow the smith system long enough to start believing in it then your day of driving becomes alot less stressful if your one that lets everything on the road bother you.
I live about ten miles away from a steel mill and junk rolls in and out of there all day long.
The company I work for has every truck on a ten thousand mile service and inspection schedule, the trailers once a month. Inspected six times in the four years since working there and no violations,even had them compliment the equipment.
The op also said something about watching drivers follow at only fifteen feet from the truck in front of them, these people need to have there cdl taken away.
One more note about the smith system, if more companies used this and enforced it, which isnt hard if you have a obc in your truck so braking and all that crap is monitored then I think the morons would be weeded out and the good drivers just have to face the times we live in and get used to it, Accidents involving big trucks would drop dramatically.
If you question this line of thought then just get a copy of the smith and follow the rules for a while,you might have a better day at the wheel.

 

True but there have been plenty of cases of local law enforcement stopping trucks and then wanting to do level one inspections or look at logbooks. I have even heard cases of the officer getting the logbook and then looking dumbfounded... obviously he didn't know what to look for.

 

That's when you ask them if they are DOT certified. If they so no then sorry officer your not getting my logbook or doing an inspection. If yes, sure officer as soon as you show me your certified. Usually you'll know right away from their initial reaction if they are DOT certified or not.