500$ ticket, it is NOT reasonable

$500? Chump change. You're a truck driver and everybody knows they have so much money they can't spend it quick enough! Heck, truck stops price their merchandise 3x what it can be bought elsewhere...and even their fuel can have different prices on the auto and truck sides (Grayville, IL and Lincoln, IL both sell their truck diesel for 20-30 cents per gallon more than their auto diesel). So it really doesn't surprise me that the state is getting in on the action too, with extra fines for CMV's.

 

Cmvs SHOULD carry stiffer fines for screwups than passenger vehicles. The license to haul 50 some odd thousand pounds of explosive and otherwise dangerous chemicals comes with responsibility.

Truck drivers love the term professional being applied to them until they are held accountable for failing to meet professional standards. So which is it? Are we professional drivers that deserve respect and are going to be held to professional standards with stiff penalties for falling short of said standards. Our are we low skilled labor that should get nothing but slaps on wrists when we screw up?

 

In Louisiana, if the sign is not flashing that means scale is open. They do things different for some reason.

 

The guy missed a scale, it happens. It's not like he tried to dodge a train and lost.

 

Oh i wasn't blasting the op. We have all missed a scale or other exit, no truck sign, etc. However i do think he should learn from this and needs to start paying more attention, and do a better job at trip planning so he knows where the scales are at on his route. But the comment you quoted was in direct reply to the ones above complaining about how much higher fines are for trucks than cars. Actually i guess that does include the op.

 

Drivewyze is an app for your phone that notifies you of upcoming scales. It does this for free, or you can subscrive to their bypass service.

 

I haven't read all the comments, but in case nobody mentioned it, Louisiana is a little different than other states. And Most states a flashing light means the station is open, and Louisiana it means it's closed. If it's not flashing you have to enter in Louisiana.

 

Fines are intended to hurt. Otherwise it would be ballpetting.
As soon as you have placards on, you're asking for trouble and the fines are automatically mutiplied. That's why I don't touch Hazmat anymore.

I don't understand the regulations on the other hand. Why is a rookie, fresh out of school and training allowed to haul that stuff? Shouldn't there be a certain amount of experience before touching it?

"PROFESSIONAL DRIVER" - I can't find it on my drivers license. It says "CLASS ONE" and "AIR BRAKE".
That means to me, I'm allowed to legally operate a comercial vehicle on public roads.
On my wife's license lt says "CLASS 5", means to me: she is allowed to legally operate a passenger vehicle legally on public roads.
I'm not more "professional" than anybody else on the road. It's just a brandmark put up to have somebody to blame if something happens.
If somebody approaches me with that professional BS, I'm fighting it right away, no matter good or bad.

 

When an athlete goes from college amateur sports to getting paid for his services he/she has then become a Professional... When we start to drive any vehicle, large class 8 or small taxi, we then be come professionals.

Choose your own title if you wish.

 

It was mentioned but worth reading again... Seems odd, if not outright planned, to be opposite of every other State in the Union.