Road side inspections/DOT inspections

I drove for a beer distributor, and the rig was lettered with "Dean The Beer Man", "Trucking The Suds", and the logo was a leprechaun running with a mug of beer or rolling a keg of beer. It was a real "circus wagon". There was no doubt that we were a private carrier and running light as I was taking empty kegs to Pabst in Milwaukee. I stopped my steer axle on the chicken coop scale near North Chicago. Instead of telling me to take it all the way out (without weighing the drives and trailer), a young state police officer popped out of the building, ran around the front of the truck, jumped on the running board and asked for my log book. He must have thought he really had one this time: a private carrier driver who probably did not have a log book. Well, guess what. He could see immediately that my log was up to date, neat and perfect. He did not say, "Have a nice day."

 

Yes, you get an entry point toll ticket that you present at the exit point...no EZ pass then.

 

This past two weeks has been fun for me. The most fun was in AL where they have these deerflies the size of mice...

but that's not important.

We were on the lookout for the 'crack down'. I 94, I 70, I-59, I-24... hit scales all over the place. Never stopped the truck, even in line to get weighed.

Did have to stop Thursday (2 days ago) at the WY port of entry- but they barely even cracked the book we keep the docs in. Flipped up a page, typed in about 8 digits, and said "have a great day!". I was out of there faster than most of the other drivers were getting in line.

Yesterday, I-70. Colorado port of entry, Grand Junction. Pulled in. One Pride truck in line ahead of me. She got waved over before her drivers were on the scale. She had a hell of a time finding a place to put her rig - there were about 8 other trucks all packed in higgledy-piggledy. Thought for sure they were gonna wanna pull us over, too, and I was despairing of finding a spot to park it without bending the grass. Seemed like a 100% rule. Nope. Three greens and we were gone.

Then we made the mistake of trying to get dinner at the Wendy's at Exit .. um... 39 I think it was. Stood in line for 15 minutes behind two young ladies who were ordering about $40 worth of food. From their looks,it was probably all for them (mean, but true. Obese doesn't come close). Ended up walking across the street to McDonald's. I figgered, poison is poison, and my trainer was hungry.
Never leave your trainer in a hungry state. It's BAD.

trust me

 

Not really a waste of time . If you get a violation on your second check you have a violation rate of 50% . The more checks you get without violations , the lower your percentage will be if you ever have a violation .

 

I have had several hotshotters using 1 ton power units tell me they were giving warnings in Georgia for not having IFTA tags which are required for all vehicles with 3 or more axles . The regulation refers to power units . It's interesting every case I heard of GA always wrote a warning , never a citation .

 

On the subject of wasting time...Rick got pulled in at Joplin scales the other day for being 900lbs over. He went inside and 2 had their feet up on a desk reading a newspaper and the other one was eating. Rick finally said something to them and told them he had an appointment time he had to meet and they told him they would be with him in a few minutes.(wrong thing to say to Rick) Finally they got around to talking with him and he shifted his load to make the weight right and has he was walking out he smarted off he hoped they were happy they just saved the world pulling in a truck for 900lbs.(I'm sure he had more to say than that) Just like his accident where the tree fell in front of him and he plowed thru it on the highway they done a full blown inspection on his truck. He got a ticket for a broken windshield and blinker light.(all due to the tree) plus not having his medical card which was taken out of the other truck when the tornado went thru. They had the nerve to ask him if the truck had any air leaks (duh stupid went thru a tree) and Rick told him yea probably now.

 

heh - I got stopped at the Cottonwood scale in CA the other day - some dummy forgot to shorten the tandems. They asked to see all the goodies - registration, license, medical card and - of course, my logs.

No problem. Shrunk the trailer, went back inside... they'd already gone through all the paperwork, so we spent a good 15 minutes or so swapping salsa stories.

I learned: always check a LEO's salsa for pepper spray before stealing a mouthful.

And always check your tandems when you do your pre-trip or walk-around.

Oh - AND, if the bypass box says 'bypass', take its word for it.

 

I too offered myself for an inspection once. Upstate NY the were set up in a rest area doing level 4 brake inspections. I pulled in and then into a coned off spot. After talking to the inspector he said I did not have to stop Because I was not waved over. Oh Well.

 

heh - better safe than sorry, I say