Anybody have DOT officer save them from a ticket?

I was heading west on I-70 and shut down in just west of Dayton at the TA. I was sick as a dog so I just crawled into the sleeper and went to bed, didn't even bother to get undressed. Next morning I caught up my log book, did my pre-trip and sent in my qualcomm messages. Then off I go happily down the highway. Sure enough I get pulled into the Indiana scale and the DOT officer jumps up on the running board and asks "Log book up to date?" Yup, and I hand it to him. He tells me let's do a driver only, park and come in with trailer registration, cab card, insurance, license and med card. I went in, they looked at everything and found no violations. I signed the paperwork and headed back to my truck. That is when I found it- I had failed to start the grid for the day. They overlooked the fact that I was not current to the day, leave alone last duty status change. Sometimes maybe they aren't all about the money.

 

No but you must work for one strict company if they get rid of you for just one ticket like that!

 

I seem to have had more GOOD luck with LEO's...

Random inspection...leaky nail in tire at scale in the same city as my home terminal. Officer says that it would normally be a shut down and require a tire guy to come out, but I can just run back to town, get it patched up and stop back by to get the inspection report signed off on by the end of his shift...no ticket.

When just starting out, another officer noticed that my logs were all jacked up, he let me know all of the potential violations and how much it would cost for not filling out correctly, then spent 10-15 minutes with me showing me how they like to see them to avoid and future scrutiny by LEO's

Once they found a crack in my rotor, not enough to put out of service, not event a written notice or noted on inspection report, he just said we should have it looked at. Good thing he found that, my mechanic pulled the hub and found a whole lotta more serious problems.

Before i had my CDL, ran class C box trucks...hit a scale 200 miles from home with out even a log book. I asked him for help on what I needed to be dong to be in compliance rather than coming up with some lame excuse, he gave me some documents and info and sent me on my way.

Had a California CHP tell me once that they are there to make sure everyone and equipment is safe..which most are there to do that, not there to raise revenues.

I tell ya, I hear about all of your horror stories about DOT and LEO's, but I seriously believe how you are treated soley depends on your attitude and how you respond and treat them. I always try and be at least one step above them on the "cheery" meter. Of course there are LEO's with a chip on their shoulder, but two crabby apples wont make your experience any better, that's for sure!

 

I remember the first time I got pulled over on my very first run by a trooper on OK TPK. He saw my logs and said that there are plenty of violations on there. He saw that I had just received my license and sat there with me and taught me few things. I filled out the log book correctly and he let me go.

I got pulled into New Mexico scale on I-40 and my tractor had a pinhole leak on one of the air bags. That right there is OOS but she was nice enough to let me go and told me to pull out on the very next exit and get it fixed. I did just that and thanks to her, I saved about 150-200 by not having it done at the scale.

Knock on wood, I have good luck with DOT and I hope it continues.....

 

NM has some good officers. I had a few inspections at both I40 coming in then 1 at one of the pull offs around White Sands Missile Range and both overlooked minor mistakes.

 

Got pulled around back in Ohio for a full blown. Officer and i hit it off with some general bs'ing. He gets done, slaps some CVSA stickers on the tractor and trailer then says "promise me you will drop that trailer off at the shop when you get home". Now im confused but he says, "the brakes on that back axle need some attention but i didnt write it up, you didnt give me a hard time so get out of here and get it fixed.

 

Last instance was at the scales in Anderson NB. Was past 14 on drive time and he let me slide.

 

Here in Marcelous shale country, I have been tagged by 5 DOT Stops in 4 months. Cash cow for the state. I have talked my way out of 3 of the 5. Got a detainer break for a leaking trailer brake cylinder. Actually got a rookie driver out of a 10 hr break on I-68 scale in MD coming back from WV. Actually had a dot tell me I was the 3rd tanker out of 10 they were pulling over... Needless to say got out of that business and now drive my own truck with a van.

 

I have had many encounters over the years and found that honesty & politeness go a very long way. I used to train and do orientation. At this company we had a retired State Trooper who told me to pass along this simple phrase to the new hires..." What can I do to make your day better officer?" He said that when he heard this statement, no matter what the driver had done, he changed his attitude to a more positive one and usually let the driver off with a warning.

My save by a DOT officer was when I had been runnin' real hard from Idaho to N.C. I had been going for 18hrs & had another 10 to go to make my appointment. I pulled into a Ky. scale, parked my truck, walked into the scale house and asked the officer to shut me down. I told the officer that I had been running hard and had more to go but, I was exhausted & needed a break before something bad happened. His boss told him that I needed to be wrote up for log book violation and shut down! He pleaded with him to no avail. We walked out side and the younger officer told me to pull my truck into the inspection bay so he could find something on the truck that he could shut me down for. He did and I got off with the truck needing a repair the gave me some much needed rest!

Over the years I have made friends with several L.O.E & DOT officers in my local area. They all have said that it is what the drivers attitude is that determines their fate.