Personal Time "Bobtailing" I asked DOT :)

He was stopped and ticketed for running the weigh station. They didn't care about his hos, so that's all a moot point.
I don't know which state he was at, but here is a list of who must enter the weigh stations.
http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/weigh-stations/

Nebraska
All trucks over 1 ton must stop, except a pickup truck pulling a recreational trailer.

Iowa
Any peace officer having reason to believe that the weight of a vehicle and load is unlawful is authorized to require the driver to stop and submit to a weighing of the same by means of either portable or stationary scales and may require the vehicle to be driven to the nearest public scales. If the officer determines that the weight is unlawful, the officer may require the driver to stop the vehicle in a suitable place until such portion of the load is removed as may be necessary to reduce the GVW to the permitted limit.

All vehicles weighing over 10,000 lbs. must stop.

Missouri
All commercial trucks licensed with a GVWR of over 18,000 lbs. must stop.

In all cases he should have stopped. Nothing in those states allow one to bypass the scales if off duty.

 

Since it's so clear would you mind posting the regulation that it has to be bobtail only?
FMCSA in both 390 and 395 has neglected to define unladen. Since it's not defined we must go with the dictionary definition of:
adjective: unladen; adjective: un-laden

1. not carrying a load.

No carrying a load is different than not pulling a trailer...

 

And that's where it really, REALLY gets ticklish. We got into a friendly discussion with a couple of OR DOT inspectors about this last month. We haul live fish, so our trailer has "stuff" on it all the time: when we are unloaded, we aren't empty. We even carry paperwork for the border describing that this "stuff" is part of the trucking equipment, not cargo. There was no consensus among the inspectors if we can PC with our equipment without dropping the trailer.

It all comes back to what "unladen" means, and while most inspectors will interpret it as "no paid cargo on board", some don't.

I'm really surprised this hasn't been clarified in the courts by now.

 

It has but not in the context of trucking regulations.

 

It don't say it clearly in the regs. That's the problem. FMCSA says they leave it up to the companies.

 

The FMCSA says that when status is personal conveyance. You are not under the rules of the FMCSA. Therefore, why would I have to pull into the scale. I'm like a "car" with an empty trailer I'm pulling.

 

If your driving your POV hooked to a trailer. You pickup a bunch of cases of toilet paper. You take them to a ball field 200 miles away. And get paid for it. Are you a commercial vehicle? No one will question it. So why the other way around?

 

But if I'm not licensed in the state. And I'm not under the FMCSA rules at that time. Why should I stop at their weigh station??

 

Regardless of the status of the driver, the status of the truck doesn't change; it is a CMV. Therefore the truck is subject to the FMCSA/state rules even if the driver isn't.

 

Google (part380.com). Read the interpretation of personal conveyance and unladen. Also whether or not you are subject to FMCSA rules while driving PC rules.