I'll tell you how it is here and probably is about to get in other places. I am the Mayor of a small Alabama town. The state is recommending that all officers (our four) go to DOT school to train. This is in all municipalities. Here I won't have it but I will not always be Mayor so the time may come. So you take a US highway and every town that you pass through will have DOT trained officers itching to check out any truck. <br><br>Haulin', re. the above:<br><br>DOT is not out to get every truck that rolls down the highway. They are out to get the unsafe trucks off the road which benefits everyone. I for one hope DOT inspects every big rig on the road and makes them comply. When I or my family is meeting them or whatever on the highways and bi ways I want them to be able to stop if needed and have their loads secured properly so it does not come off and kill someone etc. Is that too much to ask?<br><br>IMHO you would be better served to send your officers to DOT training. Might save a life in &quot;your small Alabama town&quot; you never know!<br><br>And FWIW, was in the business for 25 years and we were not out to mess with the little guy towing an RV or whatever. Sure, you load up a pickup truck with a gross overload you will get looked at, and rightfully so.<br><br>I see some of the complaining about DOT akin to years ago when people were complaining about DUII enforcement. Well, with MAAD nowadays and most people having a new attitude about drinking and driving I see the attitude is not the same and it is not acceptable to drink and drive drunk any longer.<br><br>My neighbors father was killed on his M/C by a drunk driver in Nevada yesterday, so it is hitting kinda close to home right now.<br><br>Leaving my soap box now, have a good day ya all!<br><br>Hunter<br>

 

Hunter,<br>I fully agree with your reasoning for the DOT inspections. HOWEVER when deregulation came along anybody who bought a truck considered themselves a &quot;competent&quot; driver and mechanic. I was driving then and saw some real pieces of sh*t out there. DOT started cracking down on the junk out on the roads (and rightfully so) and the situation got alot better. Unfortunately, the DOT found out that this seemed like a good way to keep their funding so they never let up. Now at least up here they roadside inspections and seem to check a lot of the same trucks over and over and over. I have seen them stop the same truck three days in a row. Is this fair or even nessecary? I don't think so. Now before you start ripping into me I will say that I am glad that there are inspections that help keep them safe. I remember one episode of &quot;60 minutes&quot; that had a story about &quot;killer trucks&quot;. They were filming at a scale in Iowa and the only truck that they showed was reported to have &quot;defective brakes&quot; on the trailer. The &quot;defect&quot; was the brakes were slightly out of adjustment according to the inspector. He did not use anything to measure the rod travel except his eyes so I think it had a lot to do with the film crew being there. They played up the &quot;defective&quot; part and made John Q. Public think they didn't work. Now the public was all up in arms because the trucks had no brakes. DOT played on that to keep up inspections and now there is no justification in my mind to keep such a schedule of truck inspections. It is just like the taxes on tires. Did you know that the federal gov't taxes tires MORE if the tire weighs more than 100lbs? Who uses them? Class 8 trucks- that's who. There seems to be a general consensus that trucks are a &quot;ready made cash cow&quot; for a lot of governments. I personally have gotten tickets that were bogus, but, I was unable to return to the area due to loads going other areas and could not fight them. Local cops know that there is little chance ANY over the road driver can fight them in court. I DO NOT think that any local cop should be trained to inspect trucks. If there is a need to there is always the state patrol officers and state inspectors available.<br>Tom

 

Tom<br><br>Well, I was on the State side of things on patrol, and we were then, and now it is even worse, so short handed that the boys probably don't find time to do much DOT work any longer.<br><br>I understand your frustration with some jurisdictions using trucks as a &quot;cash cow&quot; but that is not the case here.<br><br>I think there is much more potential for a &quot;cash cow&quot; by setting up speed traps and red light cams which I have no real opinion on.<br><br>I know our DOT inspectors are also short, they weigh and inspect and certainly never would waste time on inspecting the same truck 3 days in a row, unless he had been placed outta service. Then they woulda called us to take him/her off to the gray bar hotel.<br><br>Anyway, and I think as a former driver, you will agree to this one. I hope the NAFTA trucks are fully safe for our highways. i.e. truck and drivers<br><br>My brother on the way to Mazatlan a few weeks ago saw 4 roll over big rigs in one day of travel!<br><br>I have seen in Mexico a truck pull off, and up to 4 drivers get out!<br><br>Not saying in any way shape or form, they don't have perfectly competent drivers and great trucks, but they have the other also, and I don't want those on my highway<br><br>Nor do I want the &quot;other&quot; in US trucks either, my first 5 years of service was on a mountain pass with no runouts. I have seen every kind of cargo upside down on the highway and a lot of blood :-(<br><br>Hunter<br><br>

 

To me some of the problem belongs to the people who drive there cars with it filled full of crap blocking the windows or the ones in the U-haul. They like to pull out in front of the truck with the trailer so they dont have to behind it. It would be nice if the troopers would notice it instead everybody else. I've dealt with the DOT and haven't had to many problems they were just doing their job.

 

I don't need to add much to what MnTom replyed. I can say that I never had any problem in Origon either. I drive a safe truck, why is it that I have to go through Douglas County Georgia with a lump in my throat while several vehicles and a scale look for anything that they can possibly find and then pull you in back at the scales on random checks. If you get stopped, you will be written for something, it is better if you have a marker light out or something to write it on, they will keep looking until something is found. Each time you are stopped and written for minor defects, that report goes into the computer system linked to the USDOT number and too many and your authority is pulled.

A good example is the Maryland toll booth where six or seven officers in training, with gray uniforms, would decend on your truck looking for anything they could find. I fully agree, unsafe trucks need to get the hell off the road, but any truck on the road will have some defect that can be written at any time. How about my safety chains were four inches too long Or my license plate bracket on the trailer was factory mounted too far foreward to please the DOT. Or the last one, I got tired in the middle of the night and slept in the cab for about four hours. No sleeper so that is &quot;on duty not driving&quot; put me over hours for the day. Guess it's safer to drive and fall asleep. You seem to be coming from the &quot;hate trucks&quot; mentality that is prevelent today. The latest study showed that 82% of fatal truck accidents were caused by cars. Are you one of those that pass a truck and pull in front with less than five or six car lengths. If you are, you are trying to commit sueiside. (spelling, oh well)

The original statement in this thread was that small trucks are not being bothered by DOT, this is not true and this thread has gotten off course. Many areas harrass trucks of all sizes to pad the pockets of the local or county court system. I will not be part of that rationale. I will not put an officer, six months out of academy, through DOT school so that he can, with good intentions, hurt drivers from making a living. That is what &quot;truck enforcement&quot; officers and scales are for.

Most police are fine people that are just trying to do their job as mandated by their superiors that are told what to do by people that have not clue of what is involved in maintaining a truck or the hours per load of paperwork. They have never even been in a truck and have no idea of the difficulties of keeping legal.

I also watched a 60 minutes special on trucks where they filmed in Slidel, La. on how truckers use a sliding fifth wheel to break the weight laws. Hey, maybe, just maybe, the sliding fifth wheel and sliding tandems are there to get legal. Made a very convencing story though and helped build the &quot;hate trucks&quot; mentality.

That's my soap box, you had yours.

 

I guess I came off a little fired up. I really didn't mean to. : I have been inspected in just about every state and even in Canada. I must say that the Canadian officers treated me with the utmost respect. Even with a minor problem they were real good about it. Just outside of Calgary I was stopped and the officer asked to see my reciprocity card. I had the WRONG one!! They just said to correct the problem before coming back. I have never had that happen in the states! I would MUCH MUCH rather be around a bunch of big trucks because MOST (but not all) are profesional and take care of their rigs. I know that I used to. I just get tired of &quot;certain members of society&quot; being treated unfairly. There are more unsafe cars and pick-ups out there than there ever was big trucks. The only problem is that 80,000lbs WILL cause more damage (laws of physics here)than 8,000lbs. There is a lot more sensationalism with more damage hence the &quot;percieved&quot; problem.<br>Tom

 

**** that is a sweet truck<br>

 

Haulin<br><br>First it is Oregon, not Orygun<br><br>And, I for one hope no one in your town gets killed by a truck that coulda/shoulda been inspected by one of your boys.<br><br>Hunter

 

Hunter,<br><br>Well lets see now, in a representative government, called a republic, the guy that wins the election, gets a lot of authority in these things. The trucker is your friend, sir. There are some bad ones, but most are just doing a job and a good one. There is nothing worse than a cop with an attitude. That is what makes the &quot;good guys&quot; vs the &quot;bad guys&quot; thing go on and enhances the fear the public has for trucks. We just got rid of one of them. It is hard to fire a cop these days and you have to make the selections before you give him the authority. Never the less, when you get elected here, you will have the authority to adopt that which your council will allow. Traffic here in this small town is of major concern. This administration brought one intersection from two or three major accidents a week to two or three in six months. We have never had a major truck wreck in this town. Maybe we could create some by forcing good drivers off the road with frivelous violations so that inexperienced drivers can take their jobs. You caught me in a bad mood. I will not be adding any other comments or responses on this subject. Oh yeah, sorry I misspelled your state, sometimes the swollen joints make it hard to type and I caught the I instead of the E, but then again, I never came near the Y. I will practice more.

 

And to think, I started this thread just because I wanted to know if I could haul my trucks around

 

20 bucks on dixie<br>

 

Both of you have some good points, but I’m on H.I.D.s side .No 90-day wonder needs or should have the DOT training. If the truck is speeding write a ticket if the Truck is in bad shape (in the officer’s mind) then Call the state.<br>At the same no 90-day wonder of a truck driver needs to be speeding or hauling an overload (with or without a permit) <br>Good tread even if it is a bit off the subject. <br>H.I.D Try using “Word spell check” then cut and paste.

 

I agree with Mopar he asked for some info on what he could haul and after we established weights and dimensions I think he may have an answer. Unfortunately there are a group of people who submit suggestions based on what they get away with instead of proper on spec info. What you do is your business within reason of the rest our personal safety, but when you suggest to those that are unsure unsafe and out of spec suggestions you have become a third party in negligence. I read the comments on the 90 day wonder cops but at the same time I read all about the highway heroes who have deaked the &quot;un-needed gostapo&quot; with their completely safe and legal loads. We all come from a vast amount of Knowledge, geography and incomes which gives us the unique ability to teach and inform with diversity for little or no cost, but BAD info can and has permanently marred some peoples lives. Whining about what DOT officers and the like harass you about does not make your laziness or poor attitudes justifiable. I have been on both sides of this and those that dont think they will get caught will generally push the limit with that thought in mind. My deepest regrets to those who do with diligence maticulously maintain their equipment this is not intented to target you. I have posted many ideas based on personal experience designed to help another save time, energy and expence only to be abused by stupid unsafe or unrealistic replies. I am not talking about the humerous ribbing which I do enjoy but the stupid bubba comments like &quot; daddy hauls a D8 with his Dodge on the interstate he just goes slower and at night&quot; kinda stuff. Mopar hope your combo is coming together and I wish you trouble free trips. I will to the best of my ability try and help any one any time with info or mechanical help. I hate to see anybody broke down away from home, it is costly and stressful and a helping hand is a blessing. One of the officers I work with on a volunteer basis has a saying &quot;If stupidity was a chargable offence the rest of these laws would be obsolete&quot;. PK

 

I pull a 36 ft. gooseneck that weighs 8000 lbs. Yours probably weighs more than 5000 I would think. Don't believe that the DOT only looks at the big boys either. I've been singled out of a line of 18 wheelers many times and checked for everything. I believe they are tougher on us because so many people buy a truck and think that you can haul anything for anybody without the proper license, authority, registration, and insurance. Took me 3 months to get everything legal but I did before hauling my first load. From what I've been reading lately the federal DOT is going to cut off some funds if the states don't start enforcing the laws.

 

[quote author=Kennys link=board=11;threadid=8001;start=15#83607 date=1040599055]<br>I pull a 36 ft. gooseneck that weighs 8000 lbs. Yours probably weighs more than 5000 I would think. Don't believe that the DOT only looks at the big boys either. I've been singled out of a line of 18 wheelers many times and checked for everything. I believe they are tougher on us because so many people buy a truck and think that you can haul anything for anybody without the proper license, authority, registration, and insurance. Took me 3 months to get everything legal but I did before hauling my first load. From what I've been reading lately the federal DOT is going to cut off some funds if the states don't start enforcing the laws.<br>[/quote]<br><br>Are you saying your trailer weighs 8000# empty? If so I wouldn't think you could haul much on it and stay under the GCVW if that is considered legal. That is where this is all so fuzzy as the law is concerend, do you need to stay under the manufacturer GCVW to be legal, it seems to be impossible to get a straight answer on this from anyone, law included