infidel

Think about what you are saying. If government vehicles had to pay tax where would they get the money?
The taxpayers of course. It makes your taxes less when government rigs don't pay the tax.

12valve@heart

Mixer Man,

Be careful what you wish for. We have plenty of tolls here in Oklahoma but the roads aren't that much better and many times are worse than non-toll roads and they don't even have to deal with the road problems that come with severe winter weather. Tolls do not equal better roads.

TomW

When I lived in Ontario, it cost me 50 bucks round trip to take that stinking stretch called 90. Imagine my surprise when I saw I was being charged double because I have a duallie, and rigs that are bob tailing it are charged less. Unbelievable!

CASMOKIN

Hey what happened to the days, (not long ago) when diesel was cheaper than gas.
I filled up yesterday for $68 and change

Iron Mike

I use b20 in my Kubota and White on the farm. I used to have a tank of dyed fuel on the place but it was a pain, to then have to put in anti-gel in the winter. Now I just fill 5 gallon cans with b-20 and use it. I save the record and claim the taxes back at the end of the year. Guys with old gas tractors around here do the same thing. It's kind of a pain but not really that big a deal to get it back at the end of the year.

RacerX1170

I may be waaay out in left field on this, but don't we have a section of the constitution that prevents this? Something about illegal search? Now I know the "Govment" and especially the IRS are disposed to live in their own little worlds and act as they wish with no regard to the law but this seems like a pretty blatent trampling of rights. Without a warrant or probable cause I just don't see how they can force you to open your fuel cap, whether it is by aggressive persistance or with an absurd fine designed to scare you into waiving your rights and complying with their wishes.

Am I smoking crack or are we really letting them get away with literally highway robbery?

Jim

chaikwa

I believe that by licensing and operating a truck of the weight class our pick-ups are in, we automatically waive some of our rights. They fall under the commercial vehicle laws even tho they may not be used commercially. They're not something you hear a lot about, but they are there. For instance, the DOT requires anyone who operates a vehicle of 10,000lbs GVWR or more to have a 'medical card', even tho that vehicle doesn't fall under the CDL laws for anything else. The only real problem I have with the medical card rule is that if people aren't required to have a CDL, how are they supposed to know they need a medical card? The courts answer of course is "Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law."

There's lots of little 'rules' like the example I just gave, and I don't think any one person could live long enough to know them all!

chaikwa.

infidel

They can't legally force you to provide a sample but they can fine you if you refuse.
Sort of a Catch 22.
Same idea goes with a blood alcohol test.
Like they always say, operating a motor vehicle is a privilege, not a right.

farmer dave

chaikwa,
Are you trying to say that we have to have a medical card just because of this truck. I have never heard of this and I have a few friends that work for the Seceratury of State. They also own diesels and have never told me about this rule.
Dave

RacerX1170

Well, at least with a blood alcohol test they have probable cause... i.e., they suspect you have been drinking, and the test is simply to confirm it. Stopping private citizens in their personal pickup trucks for no reason other than to dip their tanks with no prior suspicion of wrong-doing is invasive, and a breach of personal freedoms in my opinion.

One poster mentioned that in his area if they stop you it is because someone at the station saw you pumping it and reported you. That is a bit different, and carries with it the same suspicion of wrong-doing that the blood alcohol test does.

The standard argument of if you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to fear so you shouldn't mind letting them look doesn't wash with me here. By allowing this sort of behavior we are allowing them to erode more and more of our rights and freedoms.

Jim

chaikwa

Nooo, I'm not TRYING to say it, I AM saying it!

I hold a CDL, but the only way I know about it is because of a few customers of mine back east in Massachusetts. My shop is the service center for a horse trailer dealership. A year or so ago, some of my customers told me they had been stopped by the DOT for a 'routine & random' inspection. They were told just what I stated in my previous post; if you're operating a motor vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 10,000 pounds or more, whether for commercial purposes or not, you are required to obtain and carry on your person, a valid medical card.

I have since checked with the Federal Highway Transportation Safety Administration and after much 'buck passing' from department to department, was told that, 'yes', it is part of the federal motor carrier rules.

Not very fair, in MY opinion, to require people to conform to a standard, but not be able to effectively convey that standard to the people it affects.

Typical government.

chaikwa.

induchman

Never heard of horse trailers being stopped for DOT inspections. Big one's yeah, but not 2 horse bumper pulls.

gunracer1

i had a buddie of mine that ran a aux tank in the bed, the dot cop crawled all over till he found the feed line and aux tank valve. i promise you these guys go to school to learn how to catch you at this stuff. about the only way i can see you getting away with running red fuel is to run it in something they would never think has a diesel in it, like a 67 gto.

chaikwa

PM me and I'll give you the officers name and the phone number of the barracks where he is stationed.

Another tidbit if info my customers have told me is that in Canada, they've had their tanks dipped while parked at horse shows and sales.

chaikwa.

induchman

MI is pulling DOT inspections on privately owned horse trailers? That's news to me. I was just there three weeks ago, with my six horse trailer.


As a Class A CDL holder, I could be required to stop, if I'm carrying a paid for load. But the DOT wouldn't know that unless I told them. My plates do not say commercial on them.

If you've read some of my previous posts about the red-dye experiences, it's a common occurance in MT. Practically all vehicles at rodeos, sales events, auctions are dipped, without the owners knowledge. Even outta staters have no reason for privacy. If you have a lock on the aux tank (like I do), they wait for you and follow you until they can stop you legally on the street. Otherwise, they need to have someone turn you in.

On edit: With the apparent profusion of folks using homemade bio-fry stuff, there's another reason to stop and dip tanks. No taxes (fed/state) have been paid on the fuels. It benefits the cops to find these tax avoiders.