I was driving a truck with a drop axle, and pulling a trailer with a drop axle. I had a heavy load, but was preoccupied with a situation at home and forgot to drop either drop-axles. Once I got to a scale, it dawned on me that my drop axles weren't down. I immediately dropped the tractor axle (on the ramp well before the scales). I went over the scale, and was instructed to pull around and reweigh. I parked in the parking lot momentarily and got out and dropped my trailer axle. This infuriated the officer who came out and yelled at me and told me to raise it back up. He also told me he saw me drop my tractor's drop axle while on the ramp so he instructed me to raise my tractor axle back up, as well. So I weighed with neither drop axle down. The result was a $987 dollar fine. I am a part-time driver and in dire financial shape. I would like to ask the court for a reduction in the fine. The DOT officer... once he started acting decent towards me... said I could go to court and plead not-guilty and see about getting the fine reduced. I really don't understand what this means? It seems like he's saying I have to plead not-guilty in order to plea bargain for a lower fine. I am not hiring a lawyer. I don't have the money. I'm hoping someone here had general experience with this.
Hefty overweigh citation, how to proceed in court?
Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by while parked, Jul 25, 2021.
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best thing you can do, is seek out a REAL lawyer, familiar with trucking regulations, and ask him/her......many times the first visit is free. -
Pay it and go on ur way. An overwight ticket is just the cost of doing business... thats unfortunate u ran into a ######## dot guy that see you made an honest mistake and took advantage of it ... a good guy wouldve seen your mistake reweighed you with axles down and maybe checked paperwork and seen ur good and remind you to pay attention next time.... Taking it to court is going to cost you more money... you are most likely not going to get out of an overweight ticket
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What state wrote you the ticket?
while parked and D.Tibbitt Thank this. -
Now, my concern about going to trial is, YOU have to pay for that. And money is already tight, correct? An overweight ticket is a non moving violation, it does not hurt your driving record. See if you can somehow get it reduced by calling the court clerk (free), and then see if you can somehow make payments.tscottme, brian991219, PoleCrusher and 9 others Thank this. -
What @D.Tibbitt said..I second that..
However if I was in your financial situation I’d go to court without a lawyer. I’d explain my dire financial situation with the hopes of getting a payment plan spread out.
If they’re human, they’ll probably even reduce the fine.
Good luck with it.
Maybe it’s time to reassess your current job situation since most of us out here are killing it right now.
Rates are the best they’ve been in memory and you need to get a piece of it before it’s gone.D.Tibbitt, Bean Jr. and while parked Thank this. -
What @D.Tibbitt and @TripleSix said.
D.Tibbitt, skallagrime, dunchues and 2 others Thank this. -
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tscottme, Accidental Trucker, BigBob410 and 1 other person Thank this.
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