Your personal experiences good bad and ugly with the DOT

I got stopped in Laredo TX at a bobtail site. There were three Laredo PD officers there, wearing coveralls, ready for level ones. They waved me in and I got paperwork ready to present. As the first one approached, I noticed the patch on his sleeve, wheel with wings...Solo Bike! Same as my baby brother, and I have a family PD sticker on my side window. He saw it, and all of a sudden it was like a level one comedy hour! They were DOT training one guy, and he had to go under with the creeper and all. Well, long story short, my truck was squared away, got the CVSA sticker and drove off with waves goodbye....Oh, dear! They had my driver's license! I went back and they were laughing their ##### off!

Overall, since my bro is a LEO, all officers are his brother (or sisters) and he's my brother, so they're my brothers and sisters, too. I think they sense this, I've been cut breaks, and just treated with kindness and respect nationwide....

 

Lol, I waved and nodded at a Washington State Trooper today, he was parked on the opposite side if the 2 lane highway. Get down the road and glanced in my mirror....sumbich was behind me! Waited for him to light me up but he turned off after following me for about 3 miles.

 

They've all been really nice and respectful except the one I encountered last month in MD.

Park and Ride Scale at the North end of the 495/95 beltway split.

I park, engine off, he opens the door, I take off my sealbelt as I thought he wanted me to get out, and he screams "Why did you just take off your seatbelt!" Inspection continues... with quite a few rude interactions on his part and me respectufully trying to figure out what he actually wants. As in he wants to see my hazmat liscense... no, not my CDL with endorsement, but for the truck... I say let me get my permit book, he says "NO, not a permit"... ok pull out the permit book and flip thru the pages and I come to what I know as the Hazmat PERMIT and thats what he wants.

To cut this a little short.

He tries to give me a warning ticket and inspection violation for not wearing a seatbelt. He says while under a hazmat load, a seatbelt must be worn at all times while parked.

I pull out my handy green book, hazmat book and anything I can think of. He flips out and says "Oh, you want an actual ticket!" yep, at least I can fight that one i court. He orders me to stay outside the scale house. Later calls me in, he's got books open all over the desk and he puts me on the phone with the "Lead instructor for the DOT inspection course in MD"

This guy grills me like a lawyer trying to figure out the situation as a whole and/or trip me up into saying that I took my belt off at any other time than parked, braked and engine off. Then says the officer didnt see me take off my belt... I said he did, and if not then why would he yell at me for having just taken it off. "Our officers dont yell." tells me to put the officer back on the phone.

Its long winded but basically the officer tore up the warning ticket but kept the violation on the inspection (told me that I dont understand CSA2010 and that a warning means nothing) He was sweet talking me into signing it, and I refused. Told him to give me a ticket so I can grab any of a number of lawyer friends and fight it court. (I waited tables in a college town with a very nice law school) I have about 6 people practicing one form of law or another.

Anyway, he throws me out of the scale with the inspect form unsigned... told me it didnt matter that I didnt sign it and to make sure I turn it in to my company.

Final word: According to the regs and my safety dept. I was right. They said they were going to call MD and challenge it. We'll see. I'll just make sure the next guy see's it before i remove it.

 

This was about 10 years ago so I don't remember exactly what scale this was at.
POE was open so wife & I pull off the hwy & into scale. Light is "Yellow" So I drive accross the scale & I'm waiting for the light to change or something, because the last time I was in WY was a LONG time ago. I knew that you had to go in & show ppw at that time. But I thought maybe the rules had changed. Anyway, it was raining as I was crossing the scale so kind of hard to read what was on the sign beside the very bright yellow light. My wife even rolled down her window to try & read the sign, she couldn't see it with all the glare either. Light never changed from yellow so I finished crossing the scale and was returning back to the hwy. When I was on the on ramp the flashing lights come on behind me, I stop. He's at my window asking why I never stopped? So I explained that where I grew up Yellow light means proceed slowly & carefully not stop, that would require a RED light, & it never came on!
He says: What you are required to do is posted on the sign!
Wife & I both explain that we Could not read the sign because the light was too bright! And too much glare.
He says: give me your licence,go up the road & return back to the POE and come inside with the rest of your PPW.
So I did fully expecting to get a ticket at the minimum. I go inside getting ready to argue my case. As soon as I step inside he has his arm outstretched to give me back my licence.Before I can say anything.
He says: Driver I owe you an apology.When I came back here, I parked my car on the scale & sat on the roof so my head would be about the same hight as yours was. And your right you can't read the sign! The sign is a NEW one and it was not put in the correct place or angle so that it could be read. And I apologize for not believing you.

 

got pulled in by dot at us customs at buffalo--right where you come out of the booths--
so he is busy doing his thing on the inspection--checking the lights--tells me hit the wipers on--so i do that and hit squirter for him as well---
oops forgot the left window wash doesnt squirt but shoots out a big stream
and as the wiper went to the outside of the window--he started walking by and got his shirt covered with spray
thank god he had a sense of humour--i almost had a heart attack
he didnt have as much sense of humour when it came to my log book tho--mentioned something about having to sleep more than 4 hrs a day and not being able to drive 20 hrs straight----

 

I was pulling off the hwy to go into Shasta scale. Turn on my blinker to get off road & the light comes on... and stays on! Oh crap, well, they'll just scale me like normal and send me on my way. Crap, sign says pull in to bay## for inspection. So everythings going good & now it's time to check all the lights. Brake lights...good. Left signal...good...Right signal...Me turning signal on and off & on & off...Good...Passed Inspection.

 

1. Colorado - Ft. Collins NB - they have two lanes to the platform and I was in the far right - supposed to alternate - rookie in a WernerWagon comes flying up the left side just as I'm taking my turn to merge - hit the binders, let Werner go by - he gets the green and I get pulled in - I'm thinking WTF? It was me that nearly got my hood taken off! Anyway I grab the books and head on in - DOT guy was laughing - said no problem driver - I didn't want you to beat the crap out of that other guy if I pulled him in here - and he was pointing down at the end of the ramp where blue lights and a CSP car had Werner cornered...

2. Ashland, OR. POE - was following a POS system that ran over the scale too fast - it was so fast that I mistook his red light to mean my truck - circled around and parked up the hill - got my books and was locking the truck when this rather large DOT cop camp puffing up the hill and said I could go - he was trying to snag that other truck, and he actually thanked me for complying - not necessary but nice anyway for a change....

 

Every one of these stories prove one thing. The DOT ( or any law enforcement agency ) is composed of officers both good and bad. And even the good ones have bad days. Just exactly like the trucking industry. We are all human,we all make mistakes, and we should all treat each other as we want to be treated.

 

Not about th DOT per se, but read this little story about US Customs I wrote some time back and see if it reminds you of someone.

http://kittyfoot.freeservers.com/Traveller2.html

 

With me, I'm so wierd..I guess...they just send me on my way...that's why I can't post photos of myself on here...maybe they feel sorry for me or something...

I actually had a law enforcement officer give me money...cause they felt so sorry for me...don't ask...it's movie material...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nleyNwzWwk