Things on a truck a cop would look at for a random inspection?

As I said earlier, I have spoken to a lot of DOT officers. One thing they all tell me they ding drivers on is 393.85. Not all Fire extinguishers are created equal. I would highly recommend checking yours IF you sometimes haul hazmat! I have been told a DOT officer can place you OOS for NOT having a UL 10 BC when hauling Haz-Mat. Another one they ding on is the charge. If that indicator is not pointing to full you can get dinged. This was why I always carried two with me.

 

The whole keeping ur truck clean and they look away is a complete myth. I have litteraly got my truck and trailer washed, sparkling clean . drove down the road 30 miles and was pulled in for a level 1....the officer even said my truck was looking really nice. I dont ever have #### on my dash board. Im a yes sir no sir type of person towards the officer, but i have documented my harrassment on here from idaho dot and montana dot.

It really just depends on the state and the officers.... Some states focus on local guys like dump trucks. Other states focus on canada drivers. Other states focus on company safety scores. Other states it is completely random.... I keep my truck in the best shape possible and my paperwork in order. It doesnt help you avoid harrassment at all in the northwest. So dont think that by washing ur truck and making it shiny is gonna avoid u getting inspected. If your company has a #### safety score like mine, u will find urself getting inspected alot.

 

My uncle used to get inspected a lot. He kept his truck up, and noticed the piece of junk would be let go without an inspection. He asked a guy one time why that was. The CHiP told him that they knew that inspecting his truck would be easy, nothing to find, but if they started inspecting those others, once they started, there'd be no stopping, and they'd get dirty. So it was easier to get their quota on a clean truck than have to do work on a dirty truck.

 

I won't call the dirty cluttered-up truck thing a myth. I can't get an accurate figure, but I have been told there are 15,000+ CVSA/DOT certified Cops working in the lower 48. With this many working, you are bound to have different "triggers". One thing I started taking notice of was how the young DOT cops were. I used to be able to talk to the old guys, but these young cops seem to be in a world of their own.

As to "getting under" with so many of the larger carriers going to drop&hook the average driver might stay under a trailer maybe 3 days max. I used to keep my tractor clean. I never had much on my dash or hanging on my windshield. Just not much you can do about a POS trailer you inherit after a repower etc. What I did was turn off my tractor and supply air to the trailer brakes, turn on all the lights and listen while I inspected the trailer. In all honesty, this is pretty much all you can do in these situations.

 

Might have been the same guy.

 

There's lazy in all professions..

 

Red fuel during harvest, or so I've heard.