Passing a level 1 inspection

It does matter which officer is doing inspection, if he wants to give you a violation he WILL find something wrong

To give you an example, met a guy once who invested around 200k in a truck and got a ticket for not having a reflective DOT tape on back of his cab. He just simply forgot to put it after he painted the truck. Mind you that truck was in immaculate shape...

 

Yip if they are having a revenue day they will find something that will produce revenue!! IE a wheel air filler cap on the valve stem, Been there done that, Must have been stolen at the last Lot Lizard Convention I mean the Loves in SLC! I had a pac of them in my goodie bag just took one out and asked the officer, Did you find anything else?

 

haven't had any problems with inspections here. I try to stay on top of it, down to the dust covers on the brake cans, if something needs attention, get it done asap - so far so good - yet as we all know, it does take time for repairs.

At the moment, I can think of one instance where an officer came off odd though it wasn't an inspection - one winter after a few hundred miles, snow built up on the brake lines under the trailer, due to the weight, the springs couldn't hold them up off the ground so they were dragging and I didn't know it... The road got nicer for a few, then, there it was, an unexpected open weight station in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, I entered and stopped, when departing, an airline blew, a officer came round the drivers side to the window with an attitude. asked what I was was doing, told him what was up got out and we looked together, then he sternly pointed and said where to drag it to.

I dragged it on over, got out to have a closer look, he walked over somewhat angry and asked me if I had any black tape, I thought yes why? but answered yes, he said go get it,.. I'm kinda puzzled now, I get the black tape, walk over to him,, before I could say, here ya go, he said no your not, I thought what.. He made a seen and demanded I called for road service, he cut me off every time I tried to speak with a louder voice - basically sayin .. shut up.. rather then continue, I did...while sitting in the cab waiting on road service I realized he was trying to imply that I was going to use electrical tape to repair the brake line. A repair of the like never entered my mind. I thought he might put me out of service or possibly take some other actions. However once the repair was complete I was free to go..

 

Never had a problem. Like DCA said. Stay on top of stuff. That's part of your job. Watch around most truck stops each morning. 75% of the drivers don't even check their oil much less anything else. Got inspected between Victoria and Goliad few weeks ago. Guy found I had not totaled hours on log book one day although everything was perfect the rest of the month. And had flasher out on rt side rear under tractor. Was working when I left well site in Cotulla. Had several spares and pulled one out to change. He said too late and I said going to change it anyway-right? He laughed. Wrote me a warning and said truck was in very good shape. Spent a lot of time on steering box, pitman arm , etc. Lots of these criminal illegal friends of O Bama running around with dangerous old trucks. Most are hauling rock buckets. He said he put 4-10 out on a normal day. Been some serious wrecks on 59 through there. Have no problem with that at all. Lazy female dogs need to be put out of industry. Most times if you are polite and stuff looks/works right they are not too bad. Like stated above if they really want to get you they probably can. I think your attitude has as much to do as theirs.

 

What you heard is right,some DOT are the most biggest nitpickers.Depends lot on the state.States like Ohio and Calif and all of the east coast, be prepared for a violation.

 

I had a driver in a restaurant strike up a conversation. He's been driving for two years and he expressed interest in becoming an owner OP. I asked who did he drive for and he told me the name of a certain flatbed company...decent company. I ask him what kind of engine was in his truck. He did not know. I made it simpler for him...

Six: Driver, what COLOR is the motor in your truck?

Driver: I do not know.

Six: Does your company ever service the truck?

Driver: 3 times a year.

Wow, hate to see what the oil filter and fuel filter look like.

Okay, I am not trying to turn this into anther conversation about the caliber of drivers on the road today...this thread is about LevelOne DOT Inspections. How are you doing trip inspections without opening the hood? Most of the time, you can get by with turning on all the lights and flashers and kicking the tires, but at least once a week, you should crawl underneath the truck. Pop the hood open and check the leaf springs and front hangers. Check carefully around the lug areas on the front wheels for cracks (especially if you take your truck off pavement often). If a wheel is going to crack, it will be on the front steer. Go down the passenger side of the truck and crawl underneath. Look at the exhaust pipe. If there's a leak, you will see it...easy to spot. When you're checking your rear brakes, look at the airlines. If the airlines are touching another airline or any part of the suspension, I will guarantee there's a wear spot. Airlines cost $10 a piece and they're easy to replace. Check the trailer around the landing gear and around the first axle...if its going to crack, that's where it will be. Check the trailer airlines to see if they are touching and if you're not married to a trailer, be diligent to check the brake liners for cracks. Do your little air bleed down, count the triangles and you're good. Takes about 30 minutes. You should hardly ever have any issues with DOT.

 

I have had two level 1's in the last 12 months. Both in california , one at the gilroy scale and one at the Truckee scale. Both are places I've heard lots of bad things about. I had no problems with the officers or the inspection procedures. As long as you're doing your job the way it's supposed to be done there's not much to worry about.

 

Ill put it to you like this...Back in 99 I bought a Brand new 13 mile w900 kenworth. Even had kenworth put my signs on for me and left their yard in new Stanton to go get my trailer and head to work. Bob tailing up to the Heinz plant in Pittsburgh I got on the turnpike to see DOT working. They pull me over and start going over the truck and fine me for a major oil leak breaks out of adjustment. While he is going over the ticket I am on the phone with Kenworth and they told me sign it and don't say a word. The day of court I had 9 lawyers sitting with me and we beat all charges. point is if he wants to be a dick he will find something even if its not there. My dad had dot tell him he had a light out a few months back...he asked him and 2 others to go show him this light...the dot cop tore up the ticket and said leave

 

My first truck was an old POS 1978 cab over Freightliner. I tried to keep up on it but you can only do so much. One morning in Idaho I did my pre trip and noticed that one leaf had broken on a stack of about 12 on a Hendrickson Long Leaf suspension. There was about 1/2 inch gap between the broken ends. I had to deliver just up the road so I figured I'd deal with it after delivering.

On the way I got pulled in for a full inspection and the Officer went around checking everything including every last valve stem cap, reaching into every wheel to feel for them. Walked right past the broken spring. Gave me a sticker and sent me on my way.