Should I get an Attorney?

If they didn't give you a citation, then no DMV points. However, that inspection will be headed to the new "data bank"....points on your company CPS and your personal PSP numbers. (are those the correct letters?)

 

The audible air leak is what got him put OOS. That's all pinching the line off would have accomplished. However, depending upon if it was a supply line or service line that was leaking, pinching it off MAY have rendered that 1 brake inoperable...which is not OOS, so he could have pulled the trailer with him to get the hose en route rather than dropping the trailer and bobtailing. However, since he wasn't written up for a defective brake, only the audible air leak, I suppose the officer could have inspected again and issued a new (non-OOS) violation for the defective brake if it was the service line which needed pinching off. If it was the supply line and he manually released the spring brake, he woul've been fine. Service brake still works with the chamber caged, and there would still be enough spring brakes left to hold the trailer, so there wouldn't have been any new violations to write up even if the officer wanted to.

 

The "Ticket" box indicates "yes"...meaning he received citations for those violations, and can appear in court over them. He may also be able to pay by mail if he so chooses. They will NOT show up on his MVR either way, because they are equipment violations, NOT moving violations. MVRs don't show equipment violations which is why often times you try to get that speeding ticket (moving violation) "reduced" to a malfunctioning speedometer or broken tail light (equipment violation) even if the fine is the same or slightly higher...it keeps your MVR a little cleaner.

 

The company CSA score. It depends on what the "accumulated" total is. It isn't just 8, first year it is 24, second year reduces to 16, and third year 8.....stupid system!

 

That is what I'm saying. Your MVR is just as clean now as it was before this inspection. Points to your company's CSA are the only ones you got. What that means for the company depends upon how many points were already there, as well as how many points the other companies in your peer group have. The less points they have, the worse it looks since the score is relative to where you are inside that peer group. 8 extra points might not affect your score at all IF nobody else was within 8 points of your score. If 25% of your peer group was within those 8 points, your score will take a pretty big hit. That's one reason this system is crap...you could keep your nose clean and your score could be improving as stuff falls off...but because others in your peer group are dropping more points each month, your score keeps going up so that it appears as though you've been having problems even though you're doing everything right.

 

There is a time factor as well...3, 2, or 1. For the company, it is 3x the violation points for 6 months...then 2x the violation points for 6 months, then 1x the violation points for a year...so in 2 years, the company has no points. On your personal PSP which can be checked by prospective employers, it's 3x for a year, 2x for a year, then 1x for a year...so in 3 years they're gone.

 

Read pedigreed bulldogs above posts...he covered it perfectly. I will defer to PB on this one, he is much more adept with these technicalities on the current CSA and PSP scoring.