Got pulled by the DOT today!

[nlminc]

Walked across the medium and stopped me....made me pull into the holding lot. It was a good thing I had my brakes worked on and my DOT inspection done back in August. My med card is good until December so.. he wrote me up for not wearing my seat belt. Gave me a written for not having my Walker tied down in the back of my box truck! Told me everything in the box has to be tied down. I wasn't aware of that one.... My plastic 5 gal gas cans didn't grab his attention and he was about 12 inches away eye level looking into the truck! Thought I would get nailed for those....

The landscaper next to me wasn't as lucky! His inspector used my truck as an example...they had no inspection, med card, brakes were not functioning correctly and of course nothing secured in the box! I'm sure his fine was up there.

I have to call in and find out what my fine will be for not wearing a my seat belt.

Could have been worse!

[Dirt Digger2]

yup...you could have got a $6500 ticket like we did :dizzy:

[nlminc]

Oooops..meant to post this in the Commercial forum!

$6500.00? OMG! How do you come up with that...crazy.

[jbell36]

ya i've been hearing they are cracking down lately...the other day they had a stop in kansas city pulling people over on a main highway...i should probably get a dot number...

[Dirt Digger2]

a bunch or crap...traction bar bushings were out, an air hose was chaffed, blah blah blah...they put an orange sticker on the windshield and it couldn't be moved until we fixed it on the side of the road...

boss took it to court and got it reduced to like $1500 i think

[b121774]

DOT is ? Department of Transportation?

[jbell36]

that is correct

[DuallyVette]

what's the gvw of your truck?

[nlminc]

DOT is ? Department of Transportation?

Yes...and if you are over 10k GVW you need a number and the inspection....

[nlminc]

what's the gvw of your truck?

My truck is a Nissan 1400 UD.

He had it as 7000lbs on the form. Have to look into that one..

[Lawn Freak]

Damn dude that sucks to say the least. If it in a box truck where the hell is it gonna go? Across the floor into the other wall!

[Sweet Tater]

Ya'll sure do make me glad I live in Hillbilly land. We don't do D.o.t. anything. I've asked them and they said not in this area.

[Whitey4]

Another good reason to keep tight routes and stay off the highways.... not to mention gasoline prices. Those DOT nazis are bad news. I keep my vehicle wieghts UNDER DOT regs.... they can't stop me. No DOT numbers required. Yeah, they CAN stop me, but only for overweight... none of the other stuff... cept for the tie down thing, and the gas cans, and....

[SNAPPER MAN]

Im so glad DOT doesnt give a **** about houston. No one ties down their stuff, most dont wear seatbelts and no gas cans are secured. I think they dont care because they know 90% of the crews are illegals.

[KS_Grasscutter]

How can they say anything about something inside a box truck? Can they even open it up to look inside, legally?

I'd be so screwed if I got stopped. Only got 1 break axle on my trailer, between my truck and trailer, I have about 8 bald tires. Tie nothing down. May have a lighting problem on the trailer. Oh yea, never use my seatbelt...

Thats why I wanna get an enclosed trailer, with no lettering on it. That way I can be like "uh, yea, I just pretty much got a 4 wheeler and a dirtbike in there, sorry guys, not running a business or nothing with any of it..."

[Dirt Digger2]

How can they say anything about something inside a box truck? Can they even open it up to look inside, legally?

I'd be so screwed if I got stopped. Only got 1 break axle on my trailer, between my truck and trailer, I have about 8 bald tires. Tie nothing down. May have a lighting problem on the trailer. Oh yea, never use my seatbelt...

Thats why I wanna get an enclosed trailer, with no lettering on it. That way I can be like "uh, yea, I just pretty much got a 4 wheeler and a dirtbike in there, sorry guys, not running a business or nothing with any of it..."

and its guys like you that make the DOT that much more of a pain in the ass for us real truck drivers

[davis45]

Wow! I was just about to post the same thing! I never thought it would happen to me but it finally did. I didn't mind too much, just that it took them 2 freakin hours!! Boy, i'll tell you what they don't look over a single thing. They got under our trailer, our truck, picking every little detail.

Got off with a written warning for the ZTR's and PUSH mower not being tied down, and my left blinker was out on the trailer. He was however a complete a-hole. Said if I start my vehicle and drive to the hardware store to get a lightbulb that it was a felony and I can be arrested. After b!t(hing for awhile, he did follow me to the hardware store.

[tamo]

Wow, I'm under 10k but just curious what are some of the regulations the DOT has?

What's the deal with gas cans? How should they be stored?
Does everything in the trailer have to be tied down?

anything else?

Thanks

[davis45]

Wow, I'm under 10k but just curious what are some of the regulations the DOT has?

What's the deal with gas cans? How should they be stored?
Does everything in the trailer have to be tied down?

anything else?

Thanks

All lights must work properly, truck and trailer. Fluids must be correct levels. Horn and wipers must work. Pin through the ball on the tounge of trailer. Gas cans must be secured and not sliding around(friction can cause fire). All equipment must be tied down, strapped forward and towards the rear. Tires up to code, none bald. Brakes must function on trailer. There is so much stuff these guys will pound you for.

[jbell36]

ha, sweet tater i liked the response...

ya what are the regulations, especially with gas cans and equipment tied down (on a trailer)

[jbell36]

nevermind, thanks davis45 i somehow didn't see ur post...

[Mike Fronczak]

You forgot med card, fire ext. safty triangles, log book, I'm sure theres more. How are some of you guys avoiding DOT. A Half ton truck @ 7000 lbs & single axle trailer @ 3000 lbs, you need DOT #. Are you running toyota (I ran onec when I stared, so I'm not knocking it) trucks & 4x8 trailers ?

[txgrassguy]

Yes...and if you are over 10k GVW you need a number and the inspection....

In your state this may be true - but not in all states.
DOT regulations are enforced by that particular states' commercial motor vehicle enforcement division of what ever policing agency has "accepted" federal standards and supervision.
The rule of thumb for DOT is interstate (meaning one crosses state lines routinely) traffic requires placarding. OR
Provided the vehicle is under 26001 pounds depending upon axle configuration or weight combination including a trailer, or if over is privately tagged (like in a motor home), or one operates from a heavily enforced state. New Jersey, New York, Illinois and few others immediately comes to mind.

[Whitey4]

You forgot med card, fire ext. safty triangles, log book, I'm sure theres more. How are some of you guys avoiding DOT. A Half ton truck @ 7000 lbs & single axle trailer @ 3000 lbs, you need DOT #. Are you running toyota (I ran onec when I stared, so I'm not knocking it) trucks & 4x8 trailers ?

F-150 two wheel drive and a light duty single axle 3000 lb enclosed trailer. Keeps it under the 10.000lb GVW required for a DOT number.

[topsites]

Yeah, from one state to the next it can be like living in another country.

Around here they don't bother much, that is,
anything under 26,001 gvwr is non-commercial.

They can pull us over, but it's over things that might cost a few hundred, what we call 'fix it' tickets.
Which, I did get one for expired plates last week.
What could I do, the other car's expired too :p
Yes, I was wearing my seat belt.

[jrc lawncare]

F-150 two wheel drive and a light duty single axle 3000 lb enclosed trailer. Keeps it under the 10.000lb GVW required for a DOT number.Technically, 10,001. I know, got pulled by dot last week. Had my dump & small trailer, total, 10k. No #s needed.

[nlminc]

Heard 2 of them chatting saying that this was going the help offset the price of fuel for their vehicles!

My gas can slid out to the middle of the floor when I had opened the back door for him. He just shook his head! I told him I was unaware of any regulations about how the equipment in the back of the truck had to be tied down...he said he would give me some papers. The papers he gave me say nothing about what's supposed to be done in the box part of the truck. For the most part he was a cool guy....just doing his job.

I was just looking at the DOT gas cans in Northern the other day sayign to myself....I'm not dishing that kind of cash for a gas can! Maybe we don't need them here in GA....he never mentioned a word about my plastic cans.

[larryinalabama]

Im just plain sick of all this Government we have to deal with day in and day out

[Frontier-Lawn]

All lights must work properly, truck and trailer. Fluids must be correct levels. Horn and wipers must work. Pin through the ball on the tounge of trailer. Gas cans must be secured and not sliding around(friction can cause fire). All equipment must be tied down, strapped forward and towards the rear. Tires up to code, none bald. Brakes must function on trailer. There is so much stuff these guys will pound you for.

Sounds Like a high priced vegas hooker. :laugh:

[Frontier-Lawn]

I have a friend in MD and he had 15-5 gal blitz cans and the dot took all of them from him. They were all full just filled with about $370 of fuel and the dot would not let him have the fuel back even after proper cans, it was now there property and told him he needs these type of cans @ $177.07 per can;
http://www.omarksafety.com/Images/products/unodot001.jpg

total fine for all items wrong including the fuel can fine $10,560

[David Gretzmier]

It seems as though it might be easier to look at lighter trucks and keep under the 10,000 # rule than buying the larger rigs and being in compliance. I weighed my F-150 extended cab last week and it was 6000 pounds. That would leave me 4000 for trailer, which is plenty for me. Others with 3 ztrs plus might need to look into a regular cab short bed truck to keep truck weight down.

In arkansas it is pretty much 26k and under is not a "commercial DOT" rig. We ran the Isuzu box trucks a few years back, and called the highway weigh station about them, and said at 14k GVW we did not need to stop or get checked. that was back in '03.

[Frontier-Lawn]

It seems as though it might be easier to look at lighter trucks and keep under the 10,000 # rule than buying the larger rigs and being in compliance. I weighed my F-150 extended cab last week and it was 6000 pounds. That would leave me 4000 for trailer, which is plenty for me. Others with 3 ztrs plus might need to look into a regular cab short bed truck to keep truck weight down.

In arkansas it is pretty much 26k and under is not a "commercial DOT" rig. We ran the Isuzu box trucks a few years back, and called the highway weigh station about them, and said at 14k GVW we did not need to stop or get checked. that was back in '03.

my 03 ram 1500 quad cab is 6650lbs

[CAT powered]

What's easier is just letting them bust your b@lls about one thing and then they won't look as hard at the rest of the truck. I've heard of the DOT finding a truck that they couldn't find a problem with and then they crawled over the truck for a while and measured the axles on the trailer and said they were too close together. Big ticket.

[Charles]

I got rid of my box truck. Just too much harassment from those guys. When I drove it around the country they pulled me over a lot. Just for inspections. Easier to do than tractor trailers, I guess. Never looked inside the box

[mattfromNY]

It seems as though it might be easier to look at lighter trucks and keep under the 10,000 # rule than buying the larger rigs and being in compliance. I weighed my F-150 extended cab last week and it was 6000 pounds. That would leave me 4000 for trailer, which is plenty for me. Others with 3 ztrs plus might need to look into a regular cab short bed truck to keep truck weight down.

In arkansas it is pretty much 26k and under is not a "commercial DOT" rig. We ran the Isuzu box trucks a few years back, and called the highway weigh station about them, and said at 14k GVW we did not need to stop or get checked. that was back in '03.

WRONG- take a look at the GVWR on the sticker attached to your drivers' side door. That is the weight the DOT goes by, couple that with the GVWR on the sticker mounted on your trailer. Gross weight the truck can handle, added to the gross weight the trailer can haul. Doesn't matter what the truck actually weighs, or what the trailer full of mowers actually weighs, or what you registered the weight of the truck at. GVWR's are what the DOT will look at.

I got nabbed in January. The truck I was driving was registered at the dry weight by the dealer I purchased from. DOT got me for over weight due to not being registered at GVWR. Technically, by registering at dry weight, I was overweight just filling the gas tank and sitting in the truck:cry::hammerhead:

[DuallyVette]

.

I got nabbed in January. The truck I was driving was registered at the dry weight by the dealer I purchased from. DOT got me for over weight due to not being registered at GVWR. Technically, by registering at dry weight, I was overweight just filling the gas tank and sitting in the truck:cry::hammerhead:

I bet that won't happen again !! some dealers don't have any business selling trucks. I always make sure that they register mine so I can carry a big fat load

[razor1]

"Im just plain sick of all this Government we have to deal with day in and day out"


Aren't you glad we live in the Land of the Free. :wall

[lawnprosteveo]

Im so glad DOT doesnt give a **** about houston. No one ties down their stuff, most dont wear seatbelts and no gas cans are secured. I think they dont care because they know 90% of the crews are illegals.Ditto for Tulsa...if we had those inspections here, theyd be able to nail 95% plus for all of those violations.