One of my new trucks failed a Level 2 today,

When my friend had a bad accident, the attorney was able to take the number from a cash receipt and get the information from them. It was done 3 years after the accident.

 

Why would you give the DOT a receipt? ? That's asking for trouble

 

He did not give it to the DOT. We were required to give receipts to the company for proof of the fuel stop. Company rule. They had the cash receipt. Attorney got it from them.

 

If someone is leaving a paper trail that is understandable, but plenty ways to not leave a trail.

 

You can outrun the paper, but you can't outrun the millions of cameras out there now.

 

Because that receipt becomes a legal document under federal law. That's why. One does not just "hand them" a receipt. During an inspection, or an audit, they may ask for fuel receipts. Ya wanna know why? Because they are traceable. Every single one of them. And when they ask, and you refuse, you are opening up a whole new can of worms. Their red flags go up, and the next thing you know, they are tearing the inside of your truck apart looking for anything incriminating. A good friend of mine tried that route in Arkansas, and they searched his truck and found a Walmart receipt that wasn't logged. $1100 later, he finally came to the conclusion that he has no rights while operating a CMV.

This is the new millenium. Things aren't as they were in the 80s. They can find out everything that we do through surveillance, computer records, time stamps, the works. In short, they have us by the short hairs. And I promise you, there is no outsmarting them.

 

If your in a really bad accident or even worse a fatal accident all they need to do is pull your cell phone records. Even if your trying to log 100% legal they will find a discrepancy somewhere. Just the 15 min blocks on your log open you up to liability, if you pull out of a truck stop at 12:07 do you log that as 12:00 or 12:15? Either way some overpaid fancy lawyer will use it to make you at fault. He'll say that if you had actually left at 12:00 or 12:15 instead of 12:07 you would not have been at the accident location at the time of the accident. Even if the accident wasn't your fault. I read a newspaper article where this exact thing happened. I drunk driver slammed into the back of a truck sitting at a red light killing the cars driver, days earlier the driver was off on his log by 6 or 7 minutes and they could prove it. That driver ended up in jail for manslaughter. I wish I could find a link to the article. That's why I don't sweat my logs to much, no matter how perfect I try to be they will find something, it's not worth worrying about.

As a side note KnuckleBuster I love that song you have in your sig. Even though i think he wrote it about being on tour and not truckin, it makes me think of trukin every time i listen to it. Steve Earle is a great songwriter and performer.

 

I've never given a receipt up during an inspection, I tell them that all the fuel goes on one credit card and I run easy pass (true) they can tear the truck apart if they want, any records I might have a in a sealed addressed and stamped envelop. .so they couldn't open it anyway.

But I've never been hassled about it.

 

A few of our O/O's don't use our fuel card and pay cash. We spot check the times and never have had a problem from the station. They have to maintain federal and state fuel tax records for a number of years. Any station that issues a computer receipt will have that info.

 

I had a roadside inspection done last week in Arizona and the DOT asked for receipts and told him all were mailed home, gave me a idol threat about he could search the truck and I responded politely yes you could if I gave consent to do so but refuse to allow you to search my truck or trailer.

He did keep me for a hour, but did not matter since I was running legal and had a blazing 210 miles to go on a start out and 20 hours to get my load delivered.

He took his time and I wasted his time, could not find anything wrong and he was not nasty but not happy.