Tips to avoid trouble with DOT officers?

Darwin was a brilliant man.

 

He gave purpose to the village idiot.

 

From what I've heard, all but the most adventurous DOT officers just look the other way when a truck with discs rolls in. They apparently need to be disassembled to check the adjustment.

 

Another thing I do if I get pulled over...which is rare...but this helps. When an Officer is walking up to the truck don't be fiddling around looking for papers wallet and such. You should already know where they are and don't reach for them until asked. I always leave my seatbelt on keep both hands on the wheel and look forward until asked. I also open the door about six inches and hold it open with my foot so the Officer can see in and see I'm not hiding anything and I'm not moving. When he asks for my logbook or license I tell him where they are and that I'm reaching for them. May seem like Overkill to some people but I have had Troopers thank me for doing this things and has gotten me out of trouble a few times. Also like everyone else said... don't be a slob!!! They hate that! Keep yourself and your equipment sharp!! It goes a long way with those guys.

 

Beyond having a clean truck, have all your paperwork organized and ready. My registration, insurance, IFTA, etc is all in a three ring binder in the door pocket. It has plastic sleeves with tabs identifying what's where so the officer can quickly flip to what they want to see.

Every now and then when I walk into a scale house I am amazed to see drivers clutching a wad of assorted papers and having to run back to the truck to find whatever they forgot. Usually they either end up making a donation.

My BOL and all other shipment paperwork is in a clipboard box. Paper logs are in another clipboard box.

Beyond that carry yourself professionally, with a positive attitude and a sense of humor. I like to meet people. DOT officers are people. Saying something like, "Good morning! Who gets me?" as you walk into the empty scale house and three officers are there breaks the ice. Remember to thank them for what they do and "Keep everyone safe out here".

I cross the scales into Wyoming frequently. I know some of the officers by name and they know me. Brighten their day, heck brighten the day of everyone you meet, and life is a whole lot better.

 

There is always something that can be found. The effort DOT puts in to find it depends on your attitude

When I picked up my last truck, it was already leased to the motor carrier where I already leased to. I had to bring in the book to POE in OK, so I had it turned to the lease page, knowing that's something they look for. They had a guy in who didn't have his stuff together. They showed my book to him and asked him why his didn't look like mine.

 

That's not going to happen. You will have something to be found. Trust me on that.

My very first encounter with DOT was near Clarksburg WVa as the crow flies with a trainer. My logs were essentially chicken scratch and worthless to anyone and worth big money fines OOS etc.

Lawman draws a cig from his pack, lights up and says if this thing is finished with us still here he aims to start writ....

Bye. We hit highway speed by the time half the ramp was out of there. What happened after was two weeks of log school, right seat style. First one book, then two books then three. That came in handy years later.

 

@Moneyhungrytrucker I am going to give you the benefit of almost 30 years experience plus the wisdom of my fathers words to me from his trucking days going back to just after he got back from Korea in the early 50s. As a young man a close family friend of the family was a Georgia Public Service Commission enforcement Officer. The Georgia PSC at one time was the last thing a truck driver wanted behind them with their lights flashing.

There is absolutely NOTHING you can do to insulate yourself from an encounter with a DOT/MCSAP/CVSA Enforcement officer, NOTHING! The advice you have got in these comments is sage advice but still you need to understand that a lot of the states have cut their DOT enforcement budgets over the last 20 or so years and no longer operate their scales 24/7 like they once did. This means these enforcement officers are no longer sitting in scales doing inspections like they once did. Yes some states like Virginia still does, but even Virginia uses portable scales much more today then they once did. These enforcement officers are in their vehicles patrolling the highways. Even local police dept's now employ DOT enforcement officers.

Yes, keep your truck clean. Make sure your truck is not a cop magnet by fixing light lens as well as lights themselves. Make sure all your decals are on and current. But the biggest thing you can do is be anal about your legals and staying within legal weights AND most importantly listen to you truck and NEVER allow a truck on the highway with hissing sound. Watch for flats and damaged tires. The biggest thing you want after an encounter is the be putting your CDL back in your pocket and a clean inspection report in your records. When I got one I always bought myself a steak dinner. It does you no good to keep a clean dash and have a mess everywhere else. As I think back to my last few inspections I remember my last 4 very well. All 4 were basically paperwork and legals inspections on the side of the road. My last (scalehouse) inspection was in Maryland on the DC beltway. What this means is the cop will be approaching from the rear and won't necessarily be looking inside your tractor until after the stop.

Some scales can actually set the prepass system to stop ALL trucks from a single company that crosses by in that time period. USA Truck went through a period back in 2010 and 2011 where their inspections were so bad they came close to losing prepass. Sometimes you get stopped because of your company and no matter how clean you or the tractor is your going to get inspected. The best advice I know is to tell you and all the other green drivers is to STAY ready at ALL times while driving to be stopped and inspected. This is what you should be worrying about, not trying to do what really is almost impossible these days to do.

 

i make eye contact all the time, I just give them the nod or the wave.

If you want to minimize your dealings with dot, drive at night. If you're running illegal, which happens, there are ways to get where you're going that don't involve crossing a coop... Most of the time. The "unpaid" hour or two of driving is cheaper than the ticket.

When you find yourself in a situation dealing with a lawman, pretend it is a job interview. Be polite, honest (within reason), and otherwise act like a normal upstanding American (which we know and they know you are most likely not, you trucker trash).

Edit: I also pretend like every set of headlights behind me is either a cop or a shill from my company that wants to rat me out for some mundane real or imagined offense.