Hauling wrecked/salvaged autos

My novella begins...

You will never get a solid, direct, substantial, meaningful, plain-English explanation that will apply across that next state line. Not for stinger-steered equipment or high-mount...with headrack or no headrack. Enforcement will "explain" it the way they want to explain it and the folks down at the printing presses making up those carbonless ticket books keep on printing.

One jurisdiction sees it their way and another takes it another way...all from the exact same language printed in a federal handbook. It is never meant to be understood and applicable to a standard across these United States. It absolutely makes zero difference what you present them with...they will see their cause and your case of confusion while attempting compliance means nothing. Pay up, be subjected to mostly condescending, pants-tucked-into-patent-leather boots SWAT team attitudes and plead for your life's livelihood to the present enforcer in hopes of your voice being heard by pompous regulators. Then...pay your taxes daily, monthly, quarterly and annually for the privilege of being able to enjoy this treatment at the hands of the current elected administration...local & Federal. Makes no difference whether a "D" in front of name or "R" so this is not political and I ain't going there. It is strictly about $$$ and has nothing...NOTHING...to do with $afety. Then serve your time on jury duty and vote when voting day comes, contribute to your choice of charitable organizations that really try to do some good after these kind of people have their way with your wallet. Then when the truth is realized & exposed and there can be no honest justification for this regulatory vagueness other than the ability to fleece you and an entire segment of the trucking industry at their individual smug, self-serving earnestness...a billboard ad or a little emoticon can fix all that with a feigned statement that expresses their concern for your individual safety and protection.

BANNING, CALIFORNIA..."I don't give a da%$ what the federal regs say! This is MY locale and what I say supersedes anything otherwise!" This in regards to federal overhang allowances for automobile transport stinger-steered equipment moving on an INTERSTATE highway. "And furthermore, driver...when you cross that county line in there (pointing towards Los Angeles), the maximum length limit on ANY carhauler is 65 feet....65 feet and NO overhang!" At this point, you shut your mouth and swallow the rising convulsions inside you to teach this individual some manners and people skills that his Mommy & Daddy failed to do and the newly-issued badge on his chest encourages him/her to express. ALL of this in complete disagreement with the CALTRANS own regulations acknowledging the federal exemption. So what do they do??? They make their own exemptions that contradict and disallow one or more of the previous regulations. Nothing but confusion and it was meant to be that way. All for the blessed mighty

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CONNECTICUT...Do I even need to mention Cottrell Trailers (major automobile transport trailer/equipment manufacturer & supplier) ongoing battles with the great State of Connecticut over automobile transporter lengths, etc? There remains today a motto on the seal of the state of CT that states "“Sustinet Qui Transtulit” which is translates to "He Who Transplanted Still Sustains". While I believe this was meant by the forefathers to have loftier aspirations, it apparently today is directly focused on the carhaulers that cross the New York state line headed north on I-95 with a load of cars as the "Transplanters of cars" and the "Sustainers of the state's budget woes". If you look at the overwhelming ticket amounts & hardship placed upon the Transplanters in the past tense as it was worded...it makes even more sense. Your carhaul $$$ will sustain the coffers of Connecticut for quite some time after you have been turned around and directed out of the state.

There are a hundred more examples taken from direct, face-to-face "conversations" with enforcement across these great United States over a 40 year trucking career exclusively dedicated to the carhaul world but I digress.

What can you do? A large portion of the enforcement guys and gals don't have enough common sense to look beyond that extra 6" of air space your overhang is occupying along your route. Here is what I do whenever possible...

I used to run from the east coast to southern Cal regularly. Loved it and still would if I didn't have the deal I have now. I would sometimes drop down 20 to 10 and out after stopping at home and sometimes I would run out 40 to Barstow and down. Sometimes I'd drop down from Santa Rosa, NM and down just to change it up. If Flag was bad, I'd go another way. One fine sunny Sunday afternoon many moons past, I rolled up onto the westbound Fort Smith, Arkansas scales. Scalemaster inside red lights me on the platform, comes out and picks up his trusty little bent up, mangled, makeshift looking apparatus of a measuring device and sticks it up alongside my loaded trailer. "Pull it over there, driver and bring in yer stuff."

Me: "Yes, sir...what did I do today?"
Scale: "You're 6" over height".
Me: "Hmmm...I measured it before I left the shipper. Which one's high?"
Scale: "That one I measured. Think it was the middle."
Politeness displayed, for the most part, on both ends of this conversation but I am apparently not a "Sir" as much as he is.

$100.00 even amount on the ticket and a "Have a good day, driver." (Sir & driver are apparently not usually compatible, interchangeable nouns in the DOT training handbooks). I'm off to the L.A. basin...AFTER I whip out my handy-dandy $150.00 telescoping fiberglass height measuring stick stored in it's own velvety "Crown Royal-like" storage bag and taking a look at the load height again. 13' 7" on a mini-van was the tallest I could find. I didn't bother going inside because I knew it would be embarrassing to him to show him my specifically-purposed height stick versus his homemade half broomstick, aluminum pole handled, Sharpie-marked measuring apparatus. And from there, it probably would not go well...kinda like unzipping & comparing ##### sizes...in which case, I am sure he would have lost.

Back home days later, I prepare the check and copies of the ticket but I also include a statement on my company letterhead advising the nice people at the receiving end of the county's wallet that I had a dispute about the stated height measurement by the good officer that day. I noted the homemade device he used and I also noted the place where they could buy a nice, accurate, affordable measuring device just like the one I own and operate that stated the difference between his measurement and mine was a good 5". Now I believe at that time the height limit in the area was 13' 6" on the big road. I was admittedly 1" over. And I acknowledged this in my letter. But I also acknowledged that if that 1" of air space in Arkansas cost me $100.00 (when I know for a fact that 14' will clear all the way across the state) that I was going to notify the fuel stops along my route, truck washes, truckstops, the restaurants that I utilize as well as the tire shops and garage facilities when needed as well as any other incidental shippers/receivers that may come into play...that I will from this date forward begin dropping down I-20 and out I-10 to my destination in California. (These waitresses, fuel stop owners, restaurant managers, tire shops and employees, etc...they are all voters supposedly and that might not sit well with them when their nitpicking locals are driving business away from their doorsteps). I finished with a solid "You will get this $100.00 but be assured, you will get no more from me or any of my trucks that move westbound again. I'm changing my routing to disallow the great State of Arkansas."

Several weeks later, to my surprise, I received a handwritten addressed envelope with my check inside and not another word or explanation. Point taken.

This cannot apply in all cases, obviously. But the almighty $ can be applied both ways in many cases...especially when documented and applied to the proper sources. Politicians don't want anyone messing with their constituents in a way that could alter their handle-pulling choices on voting day. It's a shame that it has to be this way and an honest man or woman trying to work and provide for their families and others along life's journey is viewed as a revenue source.

It is only about the money. Only. Nothing else. Nothing at all. Period. Money. Dollars. Filthy lucre. Moola. Cabbage. Boodle. Clams. Deniro. Dough. Bread. Lettuce. Scratch. Simoleons or Wampum.

My novella ends.


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Good read Carl, as you can imagine I have several of my own. The one that kills me is Wash. state.

They allow a maximum trailer length of 53' and ALL of your load better be on that 53' or it's permit time, for a sum you can "buy" an extra two feet.

So needless to say I was heading across I-90 and pull into the scale with one of my conventionals, KW T2000 75" Aerocab with a 53' trailer.

Had three large vans on the load and try as I might the front bumper of the front van was about 4" over my trailer. Yep, you need a permit for that the man says.

So while he is filing out the permit I notice several trucks with 53' reefers pulling thru. So I ask how come he is not writting tickets for all of these 53' reefers that are going across the scale.

He looks at me with a sincere look of blank and says, what are you talking about. I explain that those 53' reefers should be made to get a permit he says why.

I said that IF you are considering that reefer up front part of the trailer, then the trailer is 55' long, and it is isn't part of the trailer then it is still hanging off the front of the trailer. He could not, or was unwilling to understand what I was talking about.

I just have a hard time figuring out how 4" of front bumper between the cab is worst than 2' of reefer between the cab?

 

Stan,

Nothing surprises me but that doesn't mean I am complacent about it either. Every jurisdiction is different and they use the words however they see fit. While I don't wish to start turning an informational thread southward, I could list countless examples of hands-on experiences that provide solid proof that these enforcement types care not about your expectations of a free but compliant lifestyle in your chosen profession. It has become a snicker and a winky emoticon as they punch and gouge their way through your wallet, your equipment and your families lives. I guess some folks have this deep-seated desire to lift themselves by attempting to destroy other humans. More understandable in today's society...not justified but more understandable in light of how today's protecting and serving communities actually protect and serve. And I do have direct blood family involved in law enforcement in large departments in this country so I know the inside somewhat.

MARYLAND...I-68...shemale officer writing ticket to a friend cause he's overlength by 7". He: "Is there a limit to how long I can be for this ticket amount? I mean can I expect to get the same amount of fine for 12" as I do with, say, 3 feet?" Her: "What are you getting at, driver?" He: "Welll...I'll stretch it out and add another car or 2 and let you have your fine and I'll stick more in my pocket." Her: "You can't do that, driver. I will catch you." He: "You won't ever see me again on this scale on this highway. I have options. How are you gonna catch me?".

You know it sounds ridiculous but is it even possible that these type people are so dadgum lazy that they really wouldn't mind if they could antagonize every truck away from their location so they can sit on their deadweight and draw a check with benefits?

To keep this on track however, I would like to insert this little tidbit. Checking with local acquaintance in the field about the "wrecked" or salvage freight issue...his interpretation, and that's what counts when you get checked...is that it is obvious in 99.9% of the cases if you are an automobile transporter or not. He says he would never even begin with such an issue unless the vehicle was not secured or had suspect pieces/parts that could fall off onto the highway. (Apparently he is concerned about keeping his jurisdiction's highways safe for travel rather than just looking to pop somebody in the hip pocket with a set of quoted codes with a handbook and a ha-ha for a couple cubic centimeters of air space). In addition, he said, in any instance, even if he did go there...the questionable vehicle would have to be occupying one of the tables that present overhang possibilities (rear top or bottom) or out front #1 in the case of a stinger or headrack. He also turned it around on me and thought of something immediately that I had not thought about. "What about those states that do not have an automobile inspection program? In in those jurisdictions, can you be required to go by another state's vehicle inspection requirements? What constitutes non-drivable? Have you seen some of the vehicles on our highways around here?" I will not include the other adjectives and nouns he declared about the subject but I well understood his view and interpretation of this vague reg and that's the way it should be. Everybody should be afforded the same rules and laws and an opportunity to comply...how nice would that be in today's trucking life? I believe there are those that do not agree because it might present the possibility that an industry would eventually comply and the revenue would be gone.

Oh yeah...did I say it is only about the money?

 

What about a flatbed double curtain-side trailer? We use those all the time in CT to transport cars/crushed cars/car bodies to the shredder plant. basically they are just modified flatbeds with curtains on either side.
this is a single curtainside like i use, but we have ones that are basically flatbeds with no drop.

 

I'm not trying to start an arguement here, but if you are going to haul "truck campers" you better #### well have a "flat" "solid" "floor". Also it would be designed just for vehicles with punchouts in the deck, we never haul "freight".

I'll will also admit that my definition may be misleading, as the trailer would have a beavertail, not truly a "flatbed" as you are envisioning.

I ALWAYS was lead to believe that the REASON an AUTO HAULER was allowed those lengths was because of the stingersteer setup and the reduced lack of OFF TRACKING , giving it more manueverability vs a highmount.

To be honest I NEVER considered the floor being solid as criteria. I maybe wrong but I do believe that some enclosed 75' auto haulers, such as Bavarian do run solid floors and full pans?