Overweight on drive axle ticket after a crash

BINGO! When I hauled S&G, the cops were always on the lookout for us. T'was money in the bank, stopping a rock hauler. We knew a guy( everybody knows one) that was known for hauling "double" loads in the box. Once the cops blocked the road, he swung into a farmers field, and dumped the load before the cops got him. That stuff pays so weak, the fine wasn't worth the hassle. And S&G DOES move. Many times, if over on an axle, a sharp jab to the brakes( or a crash) would shift the material some. I still did my share of "hand shoveling", however.

 

Many years ago I was talking to a DOT/CVSA/MCSAP certified state officer (PSC COP) about the subject of them "picking" on drivers as individuals and a carrier as a company. The guy told me with a laugh we really don't need to pick on drivers all that much. We were sitting at the old now closed TA on I 75 south of Macon Georgia. That officer told me if he really wanted to be tough he could find something wrong even a minor fault in almost every vehicle in the parking lot. He went on and actually surprised me a bit with his openness and frankness about that subject. He said that when he leaves he was headed south and said he could within 30 minutes see at least 3 or 4 one-eyed monsters and almost every day can see a trailer with a missing tag or inspection sticker, or be behind a truck and see slick tires. In fact, he said if he stopped every truck every time he saw a flaw he would never get anything else done.

In my hometown, we have a rock quarry and there is only one road going to it. There is also a plant there that mixes pavement for road work. Many trucks go in and out of that road 5 days a week. The road is also a county maintained road that stays in bad shape. It's actually weight restricted, but that county restriction is mostly ignored. They produce several types of crushed stone along with sand at this quarry.

This is how I feel about it. With experience, a driver can get a good idea of what their average weight will be just by looking at a load. Add 10% if the load is wet. I just don't have any sympathy for a driver that gets clipped for being overweight, EVEN if the cop is being a "Richard"!

 

Sucks about your back. Seriously. Glad you're ok.

The ticket? You know the answer.