Citation for overweight drive axle

I am a company driver at a mega. I pull dry van trailers. A few days ago, I was hauling rolls of paper on the interstate. I was going about 60 mph in the right lane. Then a retarded truck driver driving in the hammer lane at approximately 30 mph ahead of me abruptly changed lanes into my lane without warning me ahead of time with his turn signal. I had to slam on the brakes to avoid crashing into his rear bumper. The freight in my trailer slid to the front of the trailer.

Then I went into a weigh station in Virginia. I had both the trailer tandems and the 5th wheel all the way forward, and the drives weighed 39,768 pounds. The DOT officers issued my company a citation with a fine of $752. The DOT Officers told me that they were fining my employer, not me. So I emailed the citation to the Safety Dept at the company I work for. A Safety officer at my company emailed me back and said that drivers are responsible for all citations, and she asked me how I will handle this.

As I said before, the DOT Officer said he was fining my company, not me. But the Safety officer said I have to pay the fine. How should I handle this?

If DOT issues a citation for an overweight drive axle, who has to pay the fine, the driver or the trucking company?

 

I am a member of US Legal Services. But they only help drivers for moving violations if I recall correctly. I wonder if US Legal Services will help me with this.

 

When this driver was killed by a roll of paper crashing into his cab, was he driving a day cab or a truck with a sleeper berth?