Need dot consultant? Dot advice

Discussion in 'Trucking Industry Regulations' started by iamdot, Apr 29, 2009.

  1. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    But most companies will charge the fine back to the driver if the defect should have been noticed during a pretrip and corrected . Agreement to this is usually in papers drivers sign when hired .
     
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  3. dr5169

    dr5169 Medium Load Member

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    So if i get a ticket for log book violations or a violation that i should have corrected,then i will get points on my driving record.. I am a newbie just getting started so I just wanted to be aware of the rules.
     
  4. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    Many will advise getting an attorney to represent you for every ticket . They can get over 80% of tickets reduced or dismissed . Costly but worth it in the long run .
     
  5. Kabar

    Kabar Road Train Member

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    I would advice to not get the ticket in the first place. No ticket, No lawyer, No points, no cost. except for the occasional speeding ticket (#### 55mph states:biggrin_25510:) I just avoid the whole thing by doing my job and doing it right.
     
    venne Thanks this.
  6. Kabar

    Kabar Road Train Member

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    I got a question for DOT guys. Whats with the KYU numbers. We use to have a whole bunch of numbers down the sides of the trucks. Then they dropped all of that and now you only need the USDOT. But I still see some trucks with the KYU number.:biggrin_2554:
     
  7. bullhaulerswife

    bullhaulerswife Forum Leader/Admin Staff Member Administrator

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    Ok, heres a question. My husband just recently added an APU to the truck. We then added a fridge and a microwave. This in turn added about 600lbs, 400lbs for the APU, and the rest is fridge, microwave and groceries. What states will allow the extra weight for the APU and not issue an overweight on it. We are still getting the hang of loading, and it seems the weight on the drives is the hardest to get right with the extra weight added to the frame from the APU. He hauls hopper now, so we get paid by the ton on most loads, so of course we want to haul the most allowed. He tries to run with half a tank of fuel most times, which helps, but the shippers seem to not be able to get it right when loading now.

    Also, at times, (this past week as an example) he will have to switch trailers with another driver, because of where he can run and the other driver can run. We actually got a loaded trailer this past week that the load put us 1100lbs overweight. How forgiving will the DOT be if we are in this situation, where we actually weren't hooked to the trailer when it was scaled. The other tractor "seemed" to be about 1600lbs lighter than ours, so it put us overweight, when we switched trailers.
     
  8. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    When I ran hopper bottom I had a guage in the cab to show the weight as loaded . It only worked if the trailer was level though . Trailers with air suspensions had a guage on the trailer . When I loaded 50,000 lbs. I would load 24,000 in the front hopper and 26,000 in the rear . That was tough to do with loads like feather meal and wheat midds . Couldn't usually get close to that with midds anyway . With lighter trailers I could put on 51,000 . You have to know the tolerance for each state . IL is the worst for making you have it right . Don't accept trailer swaps unles you have it in writing the carrier or shipper will pay any fines . Even with that you will be the one found negligent if involved in an accident .
     
  9. Kabar

    Kabar Road Train Member

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    I can tell you this. DOT dose not care who had the trailer 1st. Once it's hooked to your truck, Any and all problems are your's. Including the weight of the load. Sucks I know but that is the way it is.
     
  10. Brickman

    Brickman Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Exactly!! I would imagine they hear so many lies on a daily basis that they probably would not believe a story like that one.

    Best solution BHW on a deal like that is avoid the chicken houses and/or drive at night.
     
  11. bullhaulerswife

    bullhaulerswife Forum Leader/Admin Staff Member Administrator

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    Thats what we did, as we were loaded with 52,790, and he can only carry about 51,400 legally. We were not happy. LOL We actually scaled at Flying J and about crapped when we saw the weight. :biggrin_2556:

    With the old trailer. For some reason, this trailer is totally different, not sure why. But, on the up side, its a 2008 trailer, with only 61,000 miles on it, so DOT will have a hard time finding anything wrong with it. :biggrin_25525: And that's a good thing, since he's had three trailers in the past year that he had to bring back up to DOT standards because the other drivers didn't care. But a ticket for us goes on our Safe Stats, so hubby makes sure that things are kosher.
     
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