Truckers beware if you are driving through Indiana

1 time last year I had a tail light out on trailer. next day another 1. I just bought all 6 new & took out all working but not new & put new in. along with all new 3 2" marker & tag light. the only thing I might start doing is dating when I replace a light & it's location, then after a period of time, just replace with new before it goes out. though this may bee a waste of time & money. I live in the south & you sure can tell the huge difference in the attitude of the d.o.t. they are not friendly, they are very robotic with their questions & answers. courtesy is not like it used to be with them. when I first started my truck driving. the d.o.t. were friendly & courteous & if you had only a tag light out & you were prepared to replace it on the spot, they would not write you up. I remember the first time being pulled over as a professional driver. the d.o.t. noted how well all my equip was in good shape, tires, load securement, he mention how he see's I have new blue/red air lines, how everything shows that I care about my equip & told me that he can see if a drivers gives a rats but or not & when he sees several violations he knows a driver just does not care & will write up as many violations as he can find, but in my situation he could see that I was trying & doing my best & if, if I had a minor violation he would let me fix it or give me just a warning based on my record of violations & what he found at the time. that just does not happen anymore in my area. the only exception was a pratville d.o.t. that was the most polite officer I EVER MET. all good except, he told me I had a 2" marker light on back of trailer that flickered when I put lights on.( it was day time) I started to get out to replaced. he held me back & laughed, no you don't have to do it right now. do it when you stop. on fuel or unload. your good to go, have a great day. I wrote a letter to his superiors about his conduct. never met anyone like him before or since.

 

Something's have to break before they get replaced, lights for one. I run all new tires, no recaps and I make sure the tires are wore out before replacing the. Somethings are a waste of money to replace before they fail.

 

I NEVER run caps ever in any position. tires get changed before they are at the limit. reason is, depending on what part of tire is showing upward. the last d.o.t. checked my tires in 5 different locations trying to find the lowest tread depth. as far as replacing lights when they go out & not before, well as you read some think if one does go out & you have d.o.t. write you up before you notice it. it is your own fault. even if it was good just 30 min prior during your pretrip.

 

my point is , lights do burn out. but its not an everyday occurrence as some seem to want us to believe. as someone said wiring and corrosion are a main culprit as are bad grounds. when lights have a bad ground they burn out sooner and burn dimmer.

 

You answered your own question of why it takes three Troopers. You said it was a Monday or Friday, One Trooper to pull over the truck, One trooper to bring the coffee, One Trooper to bring the doughnuts, what's the problem?

 

Some of these #### rough roads don't help anything.

 

Watched a can hauler bump down I75 last night... another one with the CB turned off. Couldn't tell him that all of his trailer lights were Bumpin' On, then Bumpin' Off. Sounds like an infomertial, eh?

Hope the scale flatfoot in FL had a good sense of humor. They all "Bumped Off" as he was pullin' into the scale line.

BTW... what happened to Prime can happen to any of you on US30. There are a bunch of speedlimit changes as you go through those little towns. If you're not paying attention, pretty soon you're doing 60 in a 45 zone... if not 65 tryin' to pack the miles in. That is speedtrap central through there.

 

Sadly & unintentionally, you probably got him in more trouble than a pat on the back from his superiors.

 

I-69 SB......MM 280 at Warren. DOT Officer nick named appropriately the "Chicken Hawk"

Use to work with guys like these and been around several through the course of my life time thinking they have something to prove based on being "Vertically Challenged"

Level 3'd. Went over everything with a fine tooth comb (No problem, we all get them) Finally, after 40 minutes, he has me start up, roll the rig forward a few feet, stop. Then back the same way and stop. Has me do this several times, as I look in the rear views, he checking the tandem treads. He's on the last tire. Gets out his depth gauge, bingo. Found a spot out of spec. Wrote me up. I'm polite (Keep in mind - biting my tongue polite) I then ask him "Do you realistically think a solo driver, doing a pre trip could have found what you just did with my assistance?" He looked at me for a second while typing everything up and I said, "Nope, didn't think so."

In the end, was he right? Of course he was. But in the end, guys like him have no business with a weapon and a shield.

Yeah, he's "That guy."

 

The turnpike is leased out. So technically it's not sold, but in reality it is. The Indiana Finance Authority "leased" it for set number of dollars, for a set number of years. I believe it was a lump sum payment & the state has already collected it.