Florida AG inspection

I think you steered him in the right direction. It just about doesn't get anymore "agriculture" than hay. I'd stop. Agricultural Inspection Stations / Business Services / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services here's a link saying who needs to stop, what for, and what they are looking for. Hope this helps.

 

just logic hay is an ag product so that means stopping at the ag station, side note I used to haul hay in a reefer to FL.

 

Even if he has Prepass and is given a green light, he has to stop. ALL trucks are required to stop unless the bypass lights are flashing OR the truck is given the green light on Prepass and isn't hauling certain products (there is a sign with a list before the entrance that says what the what-ever-culture products are...agriculture, aquaculture etc.) But hay is most definitely agriculture, and will have to pull in. If he doesn't, and gets caught, it's a fine. I live down there, and occasionally have had them open my doors and inspect the load..and I don't haul anything agriculture related.

 

Like @supersnackbar said above. When I worked locally down there hauling OS/OW heavy equipment on an rgn, still had to stop. And trust me, they are just bored enough where they enjoy the occasional "high speed " chase after any trucks spotted trying to sneak by. ....

 

I've seen them go full afterburner after Ma and Pa Kettle driving a U-haul...of course, some of the smaller farms will sometimes use U-hauls to move products like mellons, so maybe they thought they were sneaking some product out without permission.

Most times, empty flatbeds can bypass without issue.

 

You actually have to add the Cabbage Cop stations to your Prepass...I'm not sure if they charge, or just have to approve you before bypassing, but every dry van company I've worked for that had Prepass had added them.

 

They usually have several marked units right outside, say something like "State Law Enforcement/Officer " or something similar, and I have seen them several times in the past within a mile or two of the station with vehicles pulled over.

As for the window officers, they tend to vary wildly, but seem to be more serious about the job during the day shifts, in my experience. On time hauling a permitted load sb thru the I-75 one near the Ga. border, I got a "kid" who looked fresh out of the academy. I pulled up in my daycab Pete and 3-axle rgn with a JD excavator iirc, all sporting prominent signage of my former employer. The kid asked me for my BOL...I was like? ? ?
"Um, the equipment is ours and just going to a new jobsite....*cough*...sir"
The other officer with him waved me thru....There has been times where I rolled through late at night, even with a tarped load of lumber once, and they barely looked up from their phone long enough to glance at the trailer and wave me on.....
And just by coincidence just after noon today I pulled up sb at the I-95 one in a sleeper Pete with a conestoga. There was an escorted OS/OW in front of me hauling some sort of metal framed contraption and I saw the driver climb out and hand over his paperwork. I just figured he was just making sure since he had to stay several feet out from the window due to load width. But then I pulled up and the officer was super serious looking (had 2 stripes like a corporal, not sure if they have same rankings ) and when I told him I had metal signs in crates he took my BOL and typed into the computer for a few moments, then handed it back without a word.
I don't ever know what to expect from them anymore. I'm just glad they are keeping the roads safer. ....lol