a few tricks I have learned..

I have thought about your $168 fine for 40'1" and I am mad. Not at you but for you. I don't understand how they could have gotten you for 1 inch? The hole the pins were in for 40 foot setting are engineered to be 40 feet period. Otherwise it would be a manufacturing defect thereby an out for you. It's not like the holes are 1 inch apart on the rail and you just missed it by one hole.

I think the officer had slack in his tape measure or was eyeballing to the edge of the trailer where he put the dumb end of the tape to start of the measurement or both. In that situation I think I would not sign the ticket until his supervisor got there for a second opinion. I would offer to drop the trailer and hold the dumb end Directly on the kingpin and have the officer crawl under the trailer and Accurately measure to the rear axle. Something!

"The manufacturer of the trailer would not have the hole drilled at 40'1" , come on Officer...."

Failing all that I would subpoena the trailer's manufacturer to appear in court with you to testify that the officer is a jackazz oops I mean that of course we don't manufacture trailers with hole set at illegal settings. Here's our blueprints proof proof proof etc blah blah.

I mean it's your ticket but I'm mad!

 

By your reasoning every hole after the 40 foot mark would be illegal and a manufacturing defect

 

I will clarify.

...we don't manufacture trailers with holes set at illegal settings for California. Here's our blueprints proof proof proof etc blah blah.


Some states have the settings at 41 feet others up to 43 feet, 42 feet 6 inches, 45 feet 6 inches 40 feet 6 inches 37 feet and of course the big one California at 40 feet. I understand that, I was trying to convey an argument or thought process that surely a trailer manufacturer wouldn't knowingly drill the holes in the wrong place, or mount the tandem slide rails 1 inch off under the trailer; they have quality control. It would be akin of getting your legal weight scale ticket at a CAT scale and getting a ticket for overweight, CAT will send a representative to court with you to testify to the scale's accurate calibration or eat the ticket fine. Of course the trailer manufacturers don't offer a guarantee like that because it's intuitively understood that their product is specced accurately for the market.

It seems like common sense should prevail here for the officer as the manufacturer wouldn't purposely have the 40 foot hole setting (for example) set back 481 inches from the kingpin knowing that some states would fine a driver for that 1 inch violation.

Again I would argue the tape measure must have had one inch of slack in it or or or the dumb end was held off one inch when the person holding the tape to the side of the trailer was "eyeballing" approximately 90 degrees from the kingpin which is open to interpretation. I would drop the trailer, fashion a large square and using the trailer as the straightedge, draw a straight line out to the edge of the trailer from the kingpin for an accurate starting measure point. Then when the tape is pulled out 40 feet against the side of the trailer instead of "eyeballing" down through the 40 foot mark and looking at the hub of the rear axle which is open to interpretation again, I would use a 4 foot level and show the officer the now accurate measurement. If it is 40 feet 1 inch now yes I the driver would be in violation of the law. But I would put the liability back on the trailer manufacturer for their faulty product.

 

Careful now, using logic and reasoning can get you into trouble. Truck drivers aren't supposed to be thinkers.

Personally, I like that argument.

 

It's easier to measure the kingpin from the front and then just measure from the back for the axles after you do the simple math. I use the panels on the side of the trailer as a reference. Our particular trailers the panels are 4' with a 1' panel on the back, hence 53'.

 

My first driving job was in a yard truck, that experience in invaluable. It took awhile to get used to the longer tractors when I went OTR but I'd rather have that problem then learning to back at truck stops and customers!

I've also learned a few tricks by watching the old timers.