Trucker Refuses To Help DOT Officer

I took a social psychology course decades ago. The professor was lecturing about the fact that behaviors change according to being observed and who is doing the observing. Then he said something that really stuck with me all these years:

"If you find yourself constantly surrounded by jerks, you need to consider whether you are an #######."

 

If one accepts and possesses a CDL, one agrees to be held accountable to all laws and regulations which apply to operating under that CDL. Were I that officer, I would have placed him OOS and arrested him, the DA can sort out the details.

Jackwagon!

 

During the back and forth sequence about being detained, perhaps the officer could've told the butthead he wasn't being detained and was free to go wherever he wanted. But, the truck wasn't going anywhere until it was inspected.

 

You know how it works. A guy like him listens to a radio talk show, gets impressed, inspired or whatever. He then does some reading and posting on forums like this (no pun intended) and gets inspired some more and finely is on a mission to change the world, tries his own things, to the point of broadcasting his struggle on you tube hoping to be applauded. It is a lack of general education, even common sense that if everybody acts like him, there would be no order and no peace. He should be delegated at his own cost to a community college in his own town to be lectured on what the constitutional rights are, and how the law enforcement works so there is no chaos and anarchy.

 

I don't know how this ended up, but were i the inspecting officer or his supervisor, i would have told him, " This truck won't leave until it is inspected and you(the driver) can operate the controls for the inspection or sit".
You can call your company and have them send someone authorized by your company to come and operate the controls so it can be inspected, then you may leave, "IF" the vehicle passes the inspection.
Can you imagine the response he would get from the company on that call????
I can remember back when you would pull through a weigh station and some guy/lady would be on the CB asking if there was a team coming through the weigh station who would be willing to drive his/her truck out of the scale house because he/she was shut down for a log violation. Haven't heard that in a long time.

 

No, we don't. The rights enjoyed by citizens are the same regardless of occupation, as there is no "unless you are a truck driver" clause anywhere in the Constitution. That doesn't mean you ought to be a ####### and assert those rights at every inconvenience, especially when doing so will likely lead to further complications. For example, he does NOT have to aid in the inspection, and the officers have no legal reason to detain him if he does not comply. However, as enforcement officers with the lawful authority to inspect that equipment, they can (and should) detain the equipment until such time as it has been inspected. Driver is free to leave, but abandoned vehicles will be towed and impounded until such time as they are eligible for release (inspection has been completed, for example). When that happens, the vehicle WILL be searched and contents inventoried.

Officers inspect vehicles all of the time without the driver's assistance following crashes, arrests, etc. where the driver has left the scene in an ambulance or the back of another squad car...so it CAN happen without the driver's assistance. When you attempt to make THEIR job difficult, expect them to make YOUR life difficult. Driver is scared of being fired should the inspection turn up any violations. An officer, if so inclined, can find violations on a brand new truck 1 block away from the factory. So an older truck that has a few miles, it all boils down to discretion, and your attitude and professionalism goes a long way in determining exactly how fine-toothed the comb used by the officer is going to be during that inspection. Give them a reason to WANT to find something wrong with your truck, and they'll find it every time. But back to my point...the driver was afraid the officers might find something that will get him fired. What do you suppose the company is going to say when the load is late because the officers are detaining the truck until the driver cooperates with the inspection? The driver is free to go, and is not being detained. He just can't take the truck with him until it has been inspected.

 

There are hundreds of thousands of trucks on the road. If you're nice and respectful and friendly to the officer he will quickly move on to the next truck. That is, if your truck and paperwork is in order.
The fastest time I've ever been inspected in California was less than five minutes from stop to sticker.

 

It wouldn't matter because he just stated he had already spoke with the Trucking Co. Lawyer. Violation of Fifth Amendment..

 

He is well within his rights to refuse to help. Fifth amendment...no one has to bend over and just take a violation against their rights. Yes he could of made it easy for the officer to violate his rights, be t some people use their rights and some people lose their rights..