OD lighting requirements?

Ive had that happen in both South Dakota and Minnesota. Both times I was not OD at the time. Both times I questioned it was told the same thing. All lights on commercial equipment must be in working order whether they are currently being used or not. I dont know if it is one of those "officers discretion" things or not. Both times, they worked when I hit the switch. Both times that satisfied the officer. And that, among other things, of course, got me 2 clean level 1's.

 

Concerning load lights, I made an admittedly dumb mistake.....yesterday morning I did my normally very thorough pre-trip inspection. I turned on my load lights to check them. They worked. I forgot to turn them back off. Drove from Wayland, Mo to Brandon, Ia. with my lights flashing up there. Cant see them from the mirrors so I didn't notice until the Ia DOT officer at the Brandon scale asked why they were on. He didnt give me a ticket. I am aware that in several states you can indeed get a ticket for having them on for no reason, but I luckily still dont know if Iowa is one of them. The simple silly screwups that have the potential to cost you money......

 

I have LED lights with 10 small LEDs per light. Do all 10 have to be working?

 

Thanks for listing the states.
I think the regulations state any extra lights, when turned on, work properly.
If they don't turn on. That is also legal.
BUT if they turn on and flash (chicken lights) that is a violation.

 

That is no longer the case. Several years ago they changed the reg. Look it up and you will see it specifically states that any extra lights not working is not a violation.

 

Tell that to the DOT officers doing the inspection. They do, in fact check. Argue with them, or just do the smart thing and keep the lights working. Doesnt do you much good to have them if they dont work anyway. And if they do work, you have nothing to worry about from an incompetant officer. Running around with a bunch of stuff broke certainly doesnt cast you in a good light, regardless of how you do or dont interpret a rule.

 

I keep mine wirking. All 80+ of them. However if one goes out I'm not going to stop everything to try to fix it asap and cost myself the ability to load that day. If a dot officer said anything about it i would open up the green book and flip to the page showing it. I taped tabs to a few pages for fast easy lookup for these kind of things. Straps outside the rub rail is another one i tabbed.

 

Pretty cut and dry.

 

Seems like there could maybe be a little room for argument there.



A few weeks ago I had a strobe light die while running a 200K load out to NV. The controller on the PCB shorted out and took the bulb too. Only way to fix it was replace the entire control board and the bulb.

Ran from SLC to NV with it out and then all the way back to WI with only one working. Not once did any of the scales even ask about it. Couldn't fix it anyways even if they did. Took 2 weeks to get the part shipped from the manufacturer when I got home.

 

Pennsylvania and Michigan have given tickets unless stated on your permit.