Nation wide 72 hour dot check!

[Woodhauler]

Coming up this week I think! They will stop and check any truck out there! one tons and up!

[deastman]

It's mostly on the interstate isn't it?

[Woodhauler]

It's mostly on the interstate isn't it?

No, I got pulled over in Benton neck a few years ago by the federal dot!! He had a yellow coat on with those words on it, made him show me his id! Never seen them before or after! They will be everywhere!

[ga jones]

Yes June 2-5

[coxy]

hope they get the guy here that's running his truck with out any thing he does not even have the title the other guy has it till he  pays for the truck  hes been turned in a few times but they never seem to get him  >:( >:(

[thenorthman]

So...

What yer sayin is that its a good thing i don't need the Dump truck for a few days...

Not that I don't keep it legal, its just old, and bound to get dinged for something (probably lights at least...) or some other nonsense...

I did manage to get overloaded for the first time on Friday... twas a lot of dirt...

[Woodhauler]

Yes June 2-5

Well I  ain't going out in the pouring rain today, so one less day to deal with them!

[LeeB]

1 ton? That's a lot of private non commercial vehicles.

[Woodhauler]

1 ton? That's a lot of private non commercial vehicles.

commercial plate equals commercial inspection

[coxy]

they even pull over 1/2-3/4 ton trucks here with commercial plates

[LeeB]

Makes more sense. I never lived anywhere that had commercial plates.

[ga jones]

Any vehicle with a business name plastered on it is a commercial vehicle. Subject to commercial laws. They can and do check them here. Car van pickup all fair game. They don't target cars but will check 1 ton vans and pickups pulling trailers.

[Woodhauler]

As the old saying goes, "whats  good for the goose is good for the gander"!

[starmac]

I have seen them pull folks with large or improper loads on even half tons, it doesn't have to be a commercial vehicle, or marked as such.

I am off today, so won't have to deal with them at least for one day. Last year I did get pulled in during the 72 hour inspection, it was a waist of an hour and a half of time, but at least they did put a sticker on my truck. The funny thing was it was a dot that I knew from whitehorse CANADA that inspected my truck, even put a Canadian sticker on it. He said they come over here and some of ours go over there once or twice a year.

[Frickman]

I am all for pulling people over. We have had some bad, fatal accidents over the years in my area that were caused by fly-by-night companies running shoddy equipment. In all the years I hauled logs I was only pulled over once, for appearing too young to drive a log truck. Turned out I was older than the cop. That made for a good laugh. If you're going to run a truck, do it right and use good equipment. Even when I was running older stuff I always had everything painted up real nice and looking good. That helped keep the law at bay.

[luvmexfood]

Never seen the Motor Vehicle Enforcement Officers pull over pick-ups in Virginia. Did have a State Trooper pull me over for the trailer behind my p/u. Had lost the Farm Tag and broke off the taillights and hadn't replaced. Almost got a ticket despite my best talking. Finally got out of it with a warning.

I have seen a few years back where they had a checkpoint set up with a sign before it directing ALL diesel powered vehicles stop for a fuel inspection. That was more a tax thing and only saw it once.

[ehp]

Around here they look for pickups and if you got a trailer on yours your going to be stopped , they just hired 10 more MTO's for my area and 2 more police that only go after truck/pickup and they donot care if its private or not

[4x4American]

What do their vehicles look like?  Are they marked?

[starmac]

It all depends on what state you are in. In Kansas they drive fancy pickups of different colors, complete with mag wheels and bed covers, no markings.  It seems they like the camoflauge effect, but the claim is resale is better for them. lol

[4x4American]

Crooked...the more tickets they give out the nicer the vehicles we pay for them!

[Tom the Sawyer]

Actually, the cost of the two-tone paint jobs are expensive... and cost them twice.  They have to repaint it in order to resell them after they reach their mileage limits.

[HiTech]

I have seen signs on the Interstate and Thruway that said,"All Diesel vehicles pull over". I think they were dipping tanks then. The DOT can be a pain at times but without them it would be bad out there. You would have Johnny Super Trucker or Melvin Badass or Jimmy Ain't Fixing That really putting innocent people in danger. As it is we have enough on the road that doesn't know what the word "Courtesy" means. Some of these throttle jockeys don't even slow down for small towns or villages...they are just too important.

[redprospector]

I know that we need DOT cops out there. But I stand by what I used to say 30 years ago when I was truckin'. A DOT cop should have to have spent at least 2 years making their living with a truck before they are allowed to put on a badge.

[BW_Williams]

Nearest interstate is 50 miles away!  My parade truck dont go past either scale house:)

[starmac]

It is well over 2000 miles to an interstate from here, but we have plenty of dots. lol

Kansas dot pickups are not two tone, by different colors I meant they might be bright yellow, green, red or whatever color the dealer sells them, they all have matching bed covers, and nice mag wheels. They do not paint them to resell, no need to as they are top of the line sharp rigs.

A friend called me early this morning, warning me that they were set up on the road to my place, but I was nearly 300 miles away by that time. They were set up on the Rich when I came in, but only stopping southbound trucks.

[4x4American]

I know that we need DOT cops out there. But I stand by what I used to say 30 years ago when I was truckin'. A DOT cop should have to have spent at least 2 years making their living with a truck before they are allowed to put on a badge.

I think that's a great idea.

[Tom the Sawyer]

The paint information I gave was one of the reasons for going away from two-tone vehicles (and often used an explanation to the public when complaints came in about 'less noticeable vehicles').  Although in some suburban areas black and whites are still common. Going with normal factory colors reduced costs significantly, along with other changes.  During over 30 years of operating LE vehicles (including bidding, purchasing, & equipping), I have seen many changes.

It is cheaper to take whatever colors are available and use decals to mark them, some are quite distinctive, some are more stealthy (law enforcement units in general), along with electronic spotlights instead of door post mounted lights, and LEDs making interior emergency lighting more practical (fewer roof penetrations and lower profile).  Performance package differences have declined too.  CMV enforcement units here (Kansas) are mostly white SUVs or extended cab pickups with a single gold shield on the door, although there are some 'surprises'.

[starmac]

They may have changed, but when we were baling and hauling hay out of the Liberal,Dodge city area, most cmv vehicle were nice pickups, with no markings. Lights were in the grill. More than once I have seen trucks keep driving, even though the dot officer was telling them on the cb to pull over, several times drivers would not stop, untill other drivers assured them over the cb, that it in fact was a dot. lol

[4x4American]

Police aren't allowed to use citizens band i thought?  Isn't that considered entrapment?

[Tom the Sawyer]

Police departments used to routinely monitor several CB channels, primarily to answer emergency calls.  Not used much anymore with the advent of 911 and cell phones.  If you are operating on a public roadway, or on the public airwaves, you are in the public view.  If you commit an illegal act you may be prosecuted by law enforcement, or by any citizen who steps forward to hold you accountable (civilly or criminally).

Entrapment is the practice of using a law enforcement agent to entice you to commit an illegal act that you were not likely to have committed otherwise.   

[timberlinetree]

I miss the 70's and all the cb talk.my handle was the bulldozer( used to plow things around like I was one when young).

What got me nervous is the dot cop near us. SHE wears knee pads and isn't afraid to get on the ground and look under the truck. Not that I have anything to hide just that she is a real (don't want to   say it) buster.

I got weight in a one ton.

[starmac]

I don't know if the dot here has cb's in their vehicles or not, I assume they do. I know for sure they do have them in the scale houses, as we talk to them all the time. I have even had them chew me out for haveing mine off or on the wrong channel.
I do know both Texas and Kansas had them in their vehicles. I was even stopped by a county deputy once in Kansas, that told me to continue on to a safe place to pull over on the cb.

[sawguy21]

We returned from Vancouver on June 2, there were enough CVSE types at the highway 1 scales east of Chilliwack to start a small war and they were giving all the commercial drivers the third degree. Probably a joint operation with the U.S.  counterparts. It is very frustrating and time consuming for the legitimate operators but keeps the honest guys that way and hopefully weeds out the less scrupulous operators. Our mountain highways are no place for overtired drivers and poorly maintained trucks.

[Woodhauler]

Well I got pulled over today by my most favorite dot cop, told him I was all legal,nothing has changed on my truck since you stopped me 3 weeks ago! Showed him several weight slips from the lot I am hauling off, all legal loads and he still went about weighing and inspecting my truck again! Dang I could see looking me over every time if I have a old beater but she only has a 100,000 miles on her! Oh I was legal on weight like I told him! He said he wouldn't stop me for a while now! Not a believer in that!

[gww]

I would hold the belief that the dot works for all of us and in my view it should be easy to tell who the emplyee is.  They should have to stand out.  If it cost a little more to see them easily then we might have to hire a few less of them. 
Cheers
gww

[deastman]

He just wanted to check out your new loader

[Dave Shepard]

 :D

[Firewoodjoe]

The major road checks here were only on the e ways as far as I know. Our wood isn't weighing anything with the leaves growing and bark slip. I got a over heigth ticket. Didn't even care about weight 😄

[starmac]

Well I got pulled into a road side check, wich really makes no sense. 60 more miles and no way around it was an open scales.
The officer ran across the pullout and lined me up straight, just the way he wanted me, then waved me on, so I didn't even have to stop, not sure what that was all about.
I had doubles on, and they generally don't like inspecting them at the roadside inspections, but with my tractor, I'm 119 ft, 9 inches, just 3 inches shy of the maximum, so they usually get the tape out at the very least.
Just my lucky day I guess.

[Peter Drouin]

It's all about the $$$$$$ not safety :

[Bruno of NH]

You are right Pete it's all about money !!
They made my BIL jump through money hoops just to get his truck on the road . Sent him place to place a runaround !!!
Jim/Bruno