Deisel Cop's

Autocar · July 04, 2010, 07:06:37 PM

Anyone having to deal with these fellows ? My medical card ran out and they got me for a hundred dollars a few months back. I aways got it from my family doctor then she told me she wasn't aloud to do it anymore and a fellow had to go to a state aproved doctor . So it went from $15.00 to $160.00. In the end it cost me 160 bucks I guess the joke was on me. Then a month later I got pulled over I was empty but is was rainning so they did a walk around inspection I got the green light. A few weeks later I got it again and was loaded this time , they checked my truck over then my load. I had ten footers on the bottom and topped the load out with 20 footers on top with three chains and binders. He say's that my twenty footers should be moved ahead eight inches to reach the next bunk. They already had three bunks holding them, he said he could write me up for it but then got his book out ,it looked like a phone book from New York city and then after twenty minuites of looking turned me lose. I don't understand why they just don't make a fellow go every four or six months and then just give you a sticker and leave a guy alone. I could go on and on the over width permit for my skidder to be moved down the road went from ten dollars to one hundred dollars. O well life is still good ;D

Dave Shepard · July 04, 2010, 07:41:44 PM

DOT fines are a huge revenue generator. They have no interest in you having a thorough understanding of the law.

treefarmer87 · July 04, 2010, 08:07:42 PM

yea thats how they get their $$$, and when they try to explain it, you get the run-around

Tim/South · July 04, 2010, 08:29:39 PM

They are more active in this area. They are setting up just outside the larger sawmills now and ticketing just before the trucks enter.
As one told my uncle....We can find multiple violations on any truck if we look hard enough.
His one ticket was $240.
People are calling the mills now to see if DOT is there before hauling.

Ironwood · July 04, 2010, 10:49:48 PM

One CDL driver I spoke to said Ct. DOT fined him $35 for each of all of his 18 wheels for having plastic valve caps instead of metal :

Great stuff.

Ironwood

treefarmer87 · July 04, 2010, 11:15:01 PM

WOW :

captain_crunch · July 05, 2010, 01:09:33 AM

In the mean time how MANNY Moter homes went by >:( >:( >:( No Driveing experiance required All preyvost coaches weigh 19,000 on front axle and gross 48-50 thousand Now where is the justice >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

D Hagens · July 05, 2010, 01:14:16 AM

Quote from: captain_crunch on July 05, 2010, 01:09:33 AM
In the mean time how MANNY Moter homes went by >:( >:( >:( No Driveing experiance required All preyvost coaches weigh 19,000 on front axle and gross 48-50 thousand Now where is the justice >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Yeah and on a long weekend they wait till the last minute and rush home like Indy drivers but the diff is that they really have no control over the RV with wife nagging and kids screaming!
Seen way too many RVs flipped and down embankments between here and the Alberta boarder because they think they can, they think they can.......

Ironwood · July 05, 2010, 08:46:02 AM

Told a very angry friend of mine that had been popped for $1500 w/ his 3/4 ton and empty gooseneck to have a tarp made to look like an RV camper, he could go ANYWHERE untouched/ unharassed. He could weigh 500 lbs and have high blood pressure and no one would care either. #@$%%% NUTS >:(

Ironwood

chucker · July 05, 2010, 09:33:25 AM

?? so what cost him 1500.00 smackers ?? running red fuel down the highway!

Ironwood · July 05, 2010, 09:54:51 AM

Nope, no DOT#, no med card, no extinguiser, no triangles, no log book, no stopping at scale, and a few others no doubt. They made him drop the trailer (red tagged it) for 10 hours and he had to come back for it, as he did keep a log book and hey did not know where he came from. He was 5 hours from home, so went home and came back the next day, so also a days lost wage. I LOVE this stuff! DOT, ahhhhh our friends keeping us safe.

Ironwood

Woodhauler · July 05, 2010, 10:09:58 AM

Don't even get me started about the dot up here in maine! Hauling wood is worse then being a crack dealer! Can't go one week with out getting stopped!

jim king · July 05, 2010, 10:53:02 AM

Are you saying my cant hauling truck would have an inspection problem up there ?¿

Warren · July 05, 2010, 11:34:09 AM

Quote from: Tim/South on July 04, 2010, 08:29:39 PM
As one told my uncle....We can find multiple violations on any truck if we look hard enough.

I worked at a paper mill in N.E. PA about 20 years ago. One of the local state troopers would set up about a mile from the front gate of the plant once a month. Would have his coveralls on and a creeper. Would write a citation for every truck he pulled over. The more the driver fussed, the more the trooper would find to write up.

-w-

nas · July 05, 2010, 12:26:48 PM

Quote from: jim king on July 05, 2010, 10:53:02 AM
Are you saying my cant hauling truck would have an inspection problem up there ?¿

No way
It looks like a RV 8) :D

Gary_C · July 05, 2010, 02:21:12 PM

The only reason why those old guys with RV are left alone is because they are not afraid to complain to their Congressmen and Representatives. So guess why the rest of us get the bad treatment?

Is it because we complain to each other and that does not do a DanG'ed thing to help?

And many of those big rig RV drivers are pretty good careful drivers and aren't in any big hurry. It's those other guys with the overloaded snowmobile and four wheeler trailers behind some little vehicle that is not capable of pulling a trailer in the first place and they are running at over 70 MPH and fishtailing all over the road that are the biggest problem.

Then I guess we should not say anything about the home made log trailers with car tires that the springs are squashed down till the bed is sitting on the frame. :

PS: And the way to avoid these problems is to have everything working the way it's supposed to and make your vehicle look like you have everything under control. In short, don't give them any reason to stop you. None, Nada!

That's the advice I got from another trucker. Just wish I could figure out how to do that everyday.

Banjo picker · July 05, 2010, 03:04:08 PM

Quote from: Gary_C on July 05, 2010, 02:21:12 PM

PS: And the way to avoid these problems is to have everything working the way it's supposed to and make your vehicle look like you have everything under control. In short, don't give them any reason to stop you. None, Nada!

That won't always work...Tim

Bro. Noble · July 05, 2010, 03:24:37 PM

When we cut utility poles a while back, some of the poles were 67' long. The guy that hauled them liked to haul when it was raining. He said those DOT guys don't like to get wet :D :D He hauled close to 100 loads for us, most over weight or over length and never got stopped. He loaded everything so it looked good and chained the load well. He also liked to haul before daylight and on Sundays.

Woodhauler · July 05, 2010, 03:27:37 PM

Looking pretty ain't going to cut it here in maine! They ride around and randomly stop trucks on the interstate and on the back roads! Don't matter if you are loaded or empty! >:( >:(

Samuel · July 05, 2010, 03:49:12 PM

Here at our mill I coordinate our winter overweight permits etc. which includes independent mechanical inspections which we hire a heavy duty mechanic to randomly inspect 1% of all the trucks that come into our mill. Lets just say I am happy that DOT is out harassing some truck drivers...if you have nothing to hide then there shouldn't be an issue. I do hear you that some of the DOT officers have a mind of their own, and common sense is something that they have not found yet, but they have a mandate to fulfil as well as we do.

mr T · July 06, 2010, 10:47:16 AM

Now I remember why I parked my truck I got stopped 3 times in one day during june safety week Theres no end to these guys now they even have unmarked vans

Tom · July 06, 2010, 06:02:37 PM

The argument "...if you have nothing to hide then there shouldn't be an issue." may be good logic in some countries, but it has failed, miserably, in the USA, because we have a Constitution whose purpose it is to protect us from that kind of thinking. That is the kind of thinking that leads to illegal search and seizure, a crime, apparently, only in the USA where we have a Constitution and 4th amendment that protects citizens from an overbearing government and ruling class.

Individual Freedom is the mindset here, over "toeing the line", especially when it's someone elses line.

Autocar · July 06, 2010, 07:10:15 PM

Here I will round it out ! We have to many safety cops !

Gary_C · July 07, 2010, 02:16:02 AM

Quote from: Tom on July 06, 2010, 06:02:37 PM
That is the kind of thinking that leads to illegal search and seizure, a crime, apparently, only in the USA where we have a Constitution and 4th amendment that protects citizens from an overbearing government and ruling class.

Individual Freedom is the mindset here, over "toeing the line", especially when it's someone elses line.

Here is a good explanation of the 4th amendment to the Constitution:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized."

The Fourth Amendment protection against "unreasonable searches and seizures" was adopted as a protection against the widespread invasions of privacy experienced by American colonists at the hands of the British Government. So-called "writs of assistance" gave royal officers broad discretion to conduct searches of the homes of private citizens, primarily as a way of discovering violations of strict British customs laws. This practice led to a unique awareness among our Founding Fathers of the threat to individual liberty and privacy that is created by unchecked government search powers.

Today, the Fourth Amendment has lost its preferred status among our cherished Bill of Rights Protections. In recent decades, growing concerns regarding crime and public safety in America have forced our Courts to sacrifice the privacy rights contained in the Constitution with the ever-expanding demands of law-enforcement interest. The Supreme Court's rulings in Fourth Amendment cases demonstrate the challenge involved in reconciling these competing ideals.

Ultimately, the Constitution's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures has been stripped in recent years and tailored to suit the needs of modern law enforcement as we wage wars against drugs and terrorism. For this reason, it is important for conscientious citizens to be familiar with the lawful parameters of police authority to conduct searches, as well as the legal doctrines by which that authority is limited.

And from the same source, an explanation of "probable cause."

What is the definition of probable cause?

So perhaps we no longer have a 4th amendment either. Perhaps you could prevent this type of harassment by forcefully saying "I do not consent to this search" and maybe not. :

DanG · July 07, 2010, 02:44:49 AM

Quote from: Gary_C on July 07, 2010, 02:16:02 AM
Perhaps you could prevent this type of harassment by forcefully saying "I do not consent to this search" and maybe not. :

That won't work either, since they consider the refusal of a "voluntary" search as "probable cause." >:(

Jim King has presented us with the perfect solution! Make your vehicle look like it belongs to an illegal alien, and they are not allowed to stop you. ;D :D :D