DOT Inspections?

Walk in to open scale.... say 'hey you fat lazy piece of..... bet you can't find nothin on me! I are super trucker!'

(Really helps if your paperwork is up to date when you do this)

 

I actually got super lucky today. I work for a paving company and we are doing a job in Schulenberg, Tx I-10 and I dropped off a roller at our laydown yard, well I had to cross under the interstate to head back home. There was no traffic but our fuel truck was pulling out of a gas station and he was loaded and moving slow and I was empty and doing about 15 mph, so I decided to take the right on a red and get ahead of him.

Well just my luck, a sheriff was about to turn left to the frontage road, I was coming from and immediately turned a little sharper, put on his cherries and pulled me over.

Well I didn't want to pull over on main St, so I got in the left lane to go on the opposing ramp because we offload equipment there and I know there is room to pull off to the side and have him write me up there and we won't block traffic and I won't have to find a spot to do a u-turn.

Well I guess I should have signalled or gestured to him what I was doing or somehow acknowledged that he was pulling me over. Once the light turned green and I made the left turn, he passed me and blocked the road. I think he thought I didn't see him because after he blocked the road, he opened his door but stayed in his car (I later realized, I think he called for backup)

He came up to my truck, first thing I did was to explain that I seen him and that I was finding a safe spot for us where we are not blocking traffic. He said OK, pull over on this side road, i was like how about I pull to the left of the rank where the lane ends, and he was like OK.

So he parks behind me, trying to be courteous, I don't want to just open my window, so I open my door as he approaches so he can see I am trying to establish that I'm trying to show in an open book and we just miscommunicated. Being the fine southern gentleman he is, he says, why don't you just come down here so we can talk.

I give him my licence and medical card, he radio's in my DL then asks when my last ticket was. I said 2 years ago when I first started driving, for driving on a non truck route, then I add a few months later, I had a using a phone ticket.

He asked what was I thinking as I went through the light. I was honest and told him the truth. At this point another cop in an SUV showed up and he was like wait here, they go back to his car and chat. He reaches into his car and gets his ticket book. They keep chatting and every once in a while, he stops chatting to finish writing me my citation.

Finally they both walk back over and he hands me the ticket and says, this is just a warning, if I ever see you do anything wrong here again, I'm going to call over the DOT trooper and he can find a fault on a brand new truck.

I thank him profusely, he is like take that warning home and frame it. But there are a couple things I realized adterwards, I didn't know that officer but we hire the Sheriff's dept for traffic duty, and I think that was a contributing factor in why he gave me only a warning, we have an ongoing relationship with them and the second thing I realized was that, after he blocked the lanes, that second cop didn't show up to shoot the ####, he was called rhere. Luckily he probably explained who I worked for and the relationship we have with the local Sheriff's.

Long story short, I got lucky, had a good day and the best part was, after giving me the warning, they were trying to give me advice how to avoid the construction traffic.

 

got an inspection today and joked about being paid $100 at my last job for every clean inspection. Officer said they get people walking in and asking for level one all the time, because they get bonuses from their companies

 

In the state of Missouri if your moving a super-load they require state trooper escorts. Also required is a minimum level 2 inspection prior to moving. So the night before I'm scheduled to move one of three officers, Zach, Darren or Eddie (DOT enforcement officers for that region) will call me then either come out that night or early the next morning an so the inspection. This morning was a little different, Darren was running behind yet the officers that were escorting me the first 200 miles were there and ready. So we headed east and met Darren coming west at a wide spot and he did a quick level 2 only because Darren just did my last inspection and knows my truck and trailer. Otherwise we would have had to sit and wait for him to come all the way from Springfield. I tried to get Zach to do it yesterday when he escorted in a John Christner truck in that he was putting out of service. Unfortunately my permit wasn't in his system yet so he didn't have the number to put on the report.

On a side note, my first two escorts this morning were a little unusual, one was a major accident investigator and the other was a water patrol officer from Lake of the Ozarks. Not the normal road patrol officers I usually get.

 

i walked in and got a asked for a level one hahah
all he found was my fire extinguisher was not bolted down..
I knew what I had cause I do most my own work...
So don't do what I do unless your a mech of some sort.

 

I like DOT Inspections. However, I'd never ask for one because I simply don't see the point in it. If it get it.. I get it. We also get rewarded $250 for a Level 2 & 3, $350 for a Level 1. If there's a blitz going, the bonuses get upped to $350 for a Level 2 & 3 and $450 for a Level 1. My company is super good about paying out bonuses for people who do their job right. And no, my companies CSA score is not ####. It's actually very good.

I've heard that they stopped giving inspections if you request it.. is this true or does it really differ by each state?

 

That's true...we only got paid $20.

 

DOT are trained to find defects.
Got stopped by Keith at Worthington,Mn scale. I mentioned his first name cause I was schmoozing and we were talking about fishing. I am feeling smug cause I am driving fairly new truck and trailer. As we were nearly done I mentioned that I appreciated " no tickets " and he said he could find something wrong on any rig,,,like the partially missing compliance reflectors on my tractor mudflap hanger.
Damnnn.....gave me a warning since I brought it up...
We are no longer fishing buddies,,,,lol.

 

Try going through a PA. super load insp. They will find something to fail no matter what it seems. air line chaffing is their big thing..