My first time rejecting a shipper load

I had MD DOT stick it to me over on I68 during an inspection.

Pulled me in to the bay. We do the usual,.. hi beam, low beam, turn signals, brakes. Then we check brake adjustment.

This is where I look back and I am appalled and pissed off by what I experienced. I go over and re-adjust all of my brakes every 2 weeks,.. and before I pulled in there I had re-adjusted all of my brakes maybe 5 - 6 days before this inspection. Just so happens,.. this inspector found 2 brakes out of adjustment. One on the trailer and one on the tractor. He says he is putting me OOS until I call a mechanic out to correct the problem. I tell him that I will be correcting it myself. As I go under and look I can see where it looks like a socket had been freshly placed over the adjustment nut. The other 3 on the rear are dirty with no marks. I cant really prove anything,.. but in my opinion this inspector sabotaged my truck. I know my truck and you dont have brakes go out of adjustment like that unless you have a serious problem,.. particularly when 2 axles go out of adjustment like that. It was total BS.

I was fined $150 and have the OOS for mechanical on my CSA now. So I can relate to how she treated you. I was treated very similarly at the scale up on i68.

I am meticulous when it comes to routine maintenance on my trucks. I know every inch,.. every nut and bolt. I know when something is wrong or something that will need attention to prevent it from causing a problem while out on the road. I run only virgin tires and replace them before they get near their end of life cycle.

If someone had told me that a DOT officer had purposely done something to make them fail an inspection I normally would never believe it. After that experience I will forever be mindful of what they are capable of.

Hurst

 

Seems a shame you have to "Tamper-proof" your own rig,
from the very people who are looking out for you??

You know your rig - and no one else works on it, correct?
If it comes down to it - put some clear nail polish on thread and nut.
You will know immediately if it was mucked about with.
Possibly even show how many threads it was moved, and where it was.

 

I had one loose my medical card once.