DOT Inspections?

I got a level 1 today... just left South Dakota and hit the Iowa scale.. there is no prepass.. but usually it is just a roll through... today I got the yellow arrow telling me to pull around...

I only had 15 minutes left on my 8 hour... I was a bit nervouse about my logs... having not done paper logs.. was with werner and the qualcomm before this gig...

also.. this was my first level 1 in a HazMat tanker...

While I was inside and he was going over my logs and permits and such.. trucks were pulling in and nust rolling through.. he wasnt paying any attention to them at..

he did my level one.. more trucks rolled through..
Everything passed and we t back inside to finish up and get my clean inspection report..

so, I decided to just take my 30 there... wasnt 5 minutes before he pulled another truck around...

There were already 3 trucks pulled out of service when I was pulled in..

I do my pre trips and roll so if I get pulled in it sbould all go well...

but.. I would never pull in and ask for an inspection... that would suck if my turn signal bulb went out when I signaled to turn in and then got a ticket for it.. that would be a fun on to explain to my boss...

 

Depends on the state, i guess. Utah won't give you one. Neither will Idaho. And i won't swear but i think Wyoming also. But the people on this forum sure seem to get Wyoming inspections. Arizona MAY but probably won't be thrilled. I've heard Montana will and i've heard they won't. Guess that depends on which scale you ask.

 

I was pulled into the scale on Thursday with a 12'4" load of walls. When I walked in she said just let me see your permits, I was going to do an inspection but something came up. Got off on that one but I think the guy behind me that was hauling fence posts and was over width on a divisible load was an easier ticket.

 

Well I broke my own rule yesterday and it bit me in the ars. Northern mn heading south. Saginaw scale sits at hwy 33 & hwy 2. It's 6:30 in the morning and RAINING. Legal all around. Lets go for it. A mile before the rain quits and the road drys off. Open......... all trucks next right. [Hmmm.......]
Wait at the bottom of ramp for 5 trucks to pull in. Now I'm tail end charlie. [Got a bad feeling.........]
Roll onto scale and sit, and sit. I see the scale-master git up and head for the door.
[I know better.......]
Hes got a fuel straw in his hand. Yup the Farms on the door gets me checked every time.
Log book please? [Yes sir. Here you go.]
Ok looks good. Let me check your tanks.
Ok fuels clear. He then looks up at the sky and around in a circle. [ Here we go.........]
Pull it around back I'll be there shortly. [####.....]
He does his thing with robotic precision, I couldn't even to get him to crack a smile. My left turn signal / brake light on the tractor was out. Worked fine an hour ago. I had the bulb changed in exactly 30 seconds. Then we got to the trailer annual Inspection. It was expired. [ Oh goody........] He wraps it up and says to come inside in 15 minutes. I go on in and got a cold look and was informed it had only been 9 minutes. [ yup, it'll be a long time before you see me here again ........] Long story short got a written warning on turn signal, warning on brake light. Citation for annual inspection expired. I take full responsibility for my mistakes. I deserved to be cited for all 3. The moral of this story is " Thou shall not cross a scale loaded or empty unless absolutely necessary "

 

As I'm driving out of Idaho I see the scale flashing open on 84, Oregon coop open.

Roll slow across see 4 trucks OSS off to the side.
Just as my rear spread axles clears the pad. "RED LIGHT" comes on.

He comes out, asks wife if she's a co-driver. Then tells me. Around back doors open I'll be there shortly.

Roll in to bay.

I know I have a brake can with a fitting loose. Do all the lights, log book, DL and then he does the brake pressure test.

Writes me up for out of adjustment on back axle. And leaking hose on front axle.

Tells me about hose, I tell him I have a wrench and brand new hose. I'll be fixed in 10min.

But no reprieve, tells me. Go over there fix it, sign it and send it in.

Ugghhh

 

I just had a good laugh. I was looking up my score on the safer website. My little brain fart hasn't shown up yet. Then I started punching in the names of everyone I know who runs on his own. Pretty interesting reading. Just for the heck of it I punched in the word outlaw. I got 281 different outfits that have outlaw in their company name.

 

What's this website?

 

FMCSA SAFER. just go to company snapshot.

 

http://www.safersys.org/CompanySnapshot.aspx

 

You can do some trainer training to raise up your CSA score. I don't know if that will look good on your record since it will come out as co-driver for an inspection. Asking a dot cop for an inspection is a training activity