If you go to DOT for an inspection.....

If Aunt Jane had balls she would be Uncle Tom. We ain't talking radioactive or oversize. We are talking about the average driver pulling up to a scalehouse looking to get his company in trouble and you not get in trouble for driving the broke equipment there.

http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov/

 

I have never been told anyting but yes when I have asked for an inspection son.

 

If that was the intention of his OP then i guess you are right. If he is only trying to get the company in trouble without accepting the consequences of driving that truck then my answer to him is the same YES you will be cited.

I understand the question to be more along the lines of him thinking he could take a truck that he is not sure is safe and asking them if it is, then if they say no it is not safe, would he get in trouble for driving it there? The answer is the same, YES.

Either way makes no difference to the DOT Officer.

BTW, in California you do not have to be specialized or oversized to ask for (and get) an inspection.

 

If the company repeatedly refuses to fix something, requesting a level 1 inspection might be your only recourse. Now, whether or not that'll still get you cited for defects is up to the officers really. If you did get cited, you'd have a pretty good leg to stand on to fight it in court though since the inspection was requested as a measure enforcing FMCSR compliance on the company. Of course, you could always refuse to drive the truck and simply call the FMCSA or state DOT too.

 

She came out of the scale house, got in her car and drove to where I was parked. She parked next to me and motioned to have me get in the car. Brought all of the information with me. This was on Friday and told her I just got one on Tuesday.

She said sticker means nothing, it will just make this one easier. She took the paper and did the inspection sitting in the car. Never got out.

The paper showed 50 minutes of inspection time. I was stopped for only 16 minutes.

I did not look at the paper when signed and updated the logbook. After all, you log how you do it. I had a toll ticket within 15 minutes of the departure. I delivered the unit within 10 minutes of the inspection ending time. That night in the motel, I noticed the time on the inspection report and the problem with the tolls.

I contacted dieselbear and asked him if I should prepare a false log to meet the inspection times (which were witnessed by 3 other drivers. We were all going to the same place.) Or should I prepare a log that is legal, but clearly not matching the inspection report.

Think what your response is to the same question presented to dieselbear.

As far as contacting the state police on this, please realize that this comes down to nothing more than my word against hers. Would your supervisor take my word over yours?

So, it makes it hard to even believe that safety is the issue here. I believe it to be nothing more than quotas.

So you know, I prepared a legal log book and substantiated with toll receipts and statement of false preparation by the inspector in case I was stopped during the next 14 days. I was headed to Canada.

 

I turn my receipts in for reimbursement from the company on the load. Why eat a cost the company will pay?

 

The sticker DOES mean something, maybe not to her.

Log it like you drove it. Keep your receipts for backup. Nothing holds up like the truth.

Like I said before, if nobody says anything, nothing gets fixed. OK, sure, if you are the only one saying anything, it looks like your word against hers. But if you are not the only one complaining about this officer, the agency has to look into it. One complaint can be passed off as just a pissed off driver, but multiple similar complaints carry a lot of weight, even just 2 or 3.

In the case you are talking about, I cannot argue with you. Overall though, safety is the issue. I have taken a lot of unsafe trucks off the road over the years, and unsafe drivers. When I was a driver I would never have driven the kind of junk I see out here. If it is on a truck, I have seen it fall off right here at the scale! Wheel assemblies, springs, brake drums, bumpers, tie rods, drive shafts, all kinds of freight...

I do understand that the instance you describe happens out there. I will not apologize for such behavior, but I can see that it does not happen around here. I have had similar things happen to me when I drove, and I determined when I started this to never be like that myself.

Keep doing the right thing at all times and try not to let the lazy and the incompetent in any industry get you down.

 

I already know the answer to this, but I feel compelled to "stir the pot". Since I (I being a taxpaying citizen) are being charged, using my own tax dollars to fund organizations to keep an eye on me, if I have to start keeping an eye on the DOT, at what point can I expect a refund check?

 

I wonder if we should be given some kind of one sided inspection rights to the job performance of the DOT and police.

If they fail it, they lose their job.