Fw: [AT] DOT Question

charlie hill chill8 at suddenlink.net
Sun Dec 31 19:45:14 PST 2006




>I agree James.  A State Trooper would have busted my rear end.  That 
>particular city cop was an idiot and wasn't particularly interested in 
>doing his job to begin with.  The topic just reminded me of it and I 
>decided to share the story.
>
> Also today it would be much different that when that happened.  It was 
> about 25 years ago.  Medical cards, bills of lading, etc were not even an 
> issue.
>
> Happy New Year
>
> Charlie
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "James Bray" <brayherbs at msn.com>
> To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Sunday, December 31, 2006 8:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [AT] DOT Question
>
>
>> Hey, Charlie,
>>
>> I drive a semi to allow me to keep farming, and I have noticed that there 
>> is quite a difference in enforcement between the officers involved.  If 
>> the arresting officer is a town or county cop, chances are you can reason 
>> with the man or woman wearing the badge.  If it is a state trooper, you 
>> will probably get ticketed, and you will likely have to show all 
>> registration, your personal license, your medical card, your bills of 
>> lading, updates of vehicle inspection if they are in an inquisitive mood, 
>> and you might be invited to take your truck to the nearest scale for a 
>> weigh-in.
>>
>> I got stopped by a state trooper one night because the rear van in a 
>> doubles combo had lost its lights as I passed the guy.  The night was 
>> very cold and the pigtail had pulled out of the socket.  An hour later we 
>> had completed several of the inspections mentioned above.  He hadn't 
>> asked me to scale it, but the rookie cop who was with him was set to 
>> right me up for a log violation because I hadn't entered my last two 
>> hours.
>>
>> The senior cop was all set to watch him do that when I informed the 
>> youngster that the DOT regs  allowed me ten minutes to bring my log up to 
>> date without violation if the book was within twelve hours of being 
>> current. Rookie looked at his partner who grudgingly nodded that I was 
>> right.
>>
>> Don't mess with troopers in any state.  They tend to be knowledgeable and 
>> tough.
>>
>>
>>>From: "charlie hill" <chill8 at suddenlink.net>
>>>Reply-To: Antique tractor email discussion group 
>>><at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>>>To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" 
>>><at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>>>Subject: Re: [AT] DOT Question
>>>Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 07:34:48 -0500
>>>
>>>About 30 years ago I bought a GMC cab over tractor.  One of those 
>>>aluminum cabs that was commonly called a "cracker box".  I had been 
>>>driving for someone else and this was my first try at "owner operator".
>>>
>>>I wrote the guy a check for it, called my insurance agent and told him to 
>>>cover it for me and headed for home with no plates.  I got to the local 
>>>truck stop where all of us parked our  trucks.  When I walked in the 
>>>store a friend of mine said "come on, you've got a load to haul.".  I 
>>>told him I couldn't go that I didn't have any license.
>>>He said "you aren't going to turn down your first job are you?"
>>>It was about 6 in the afternoon.  I thought for a second and decided he 
>>>was right.  I shouldn't turn down my first job and off I went.
>>>
>>>The tractor had belonged to a contractor and he just hadn't been using 
>>>it. The plate on the front had been expired for about 3 years.
>>>We went down the road about 20 miles and I hooked to a van loaded with 
>>>veneer that belonged to Georgia Pacific.   About 4 hours later I was 
>>>following the other guy through the small town of Ahoskie NC.  He cut a 
>>>yellow light.  I didn't know where we were going.  The guy was a good guy 
>>>but a bit of a practical joker and I knew he wouldn't wait for me so I 
>>>ran the red.  The streets were rolled up in that little town and there 
>>>wasn't a car in sight except that cop that was hiding behind a bush.
>>>
>>>The cop was a young guy.  He ran the plate on the trailer an he kept 
>>>asking me who owned the truck.  I kept telling him I did.  He kept 
>>>telling me the plate came back to Georgia Pacific Corp.  I kept telling 
>>>him that was the trailer plate.  He kept asking me where the tractor 
>>>plate was.  I told him on the tractor.  I never told him it was supposed 
>>>to be on the front of the tractor.  I never told him the title hadn't 
>>>been transfered yet.  I just kept telling him the tractor plate was on 
>>>the tractor.  He never got out to look.  He was scratching his head.  I 
>>>was standing in the street.  He was sitting in his cruiser with the FM 
>>>radio turned up so he could hear his music.  Finally I said.  "Look,  I 
>>>was following that truck in front of me. I don't know where to unload 
>>>without following him and now he's gone and I'm lost.  That's why I ran 
>>>the light to begin with.  If you're going to write me a ticket figure out 
>>>what you're going to write it for and get it done. Otherwise let me go so 
>>>I can get back to work." Danged if he didn't tell me to go ahead!
>>>
>>>About 20 miles up the road where I needed to turn the other guy was 
>>>sitting by the road waiting for me.
>>>
>>>Charlie
>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve W." <falcon at telenet.net>
>>>To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" 
>>><at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>>>Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 1:45 AM
>>>Subject: Re: [AT] DOT Question
>>>
>>>
>>>>You were lucky, AS USUAL.... I usually got the guy who's wife was 
>>>>screwing around behind his back, his favorite dog just got hit by a 
>>>>truck and he had cold coffee to drink...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Francis Robinson wrote:
>>>>>So far I have found most cops to be pretty reasonable including DOT. Of
>>>>>course there are always a few that are a 4-wheeled ego trip but not 
>>>>>that
>>>>>many.
>>>>>Some years ago I was pulled over by a lady DOT officer while on US-41 
>>>>>over
>>>>>on Indiana's south west coast that was so pretty that she was almost 
>>>>>hard to
>>>>>talk to.   ;-)   She was just wanting to know why the ton dually PU 
>>>>>didn't
>>>>>have a plate. I explained that it was plated as a semi apportioned out 
>>>>>of
>>>>>Iowa and that I had left the trailer at the test plot site. I showed 
>>>>>her the
>>>>>paper work and said the truck plate was on the front as we were 
>>>>>instructed
>>>>>to mount it. She went up front to look and oops... I did not know that 
>>>>>the
>>>>>guy I was working with had mounted the "oversized load" sign right over 
>>>>>the
>>>>>top of it.   ;-)   She was quite good-natured about it and after she
>>>>>determined that it was in fact there she let me go on without even 
>>>>>asking me
>>>>>to move the sign.
>>>>>Another time on Indiana's south east coast a lady DOT officer noticed 
>>>>>that
>>>>>the company had allowed our plate to expire. She wrote me a ticket that 
>>>>>I
>>>>>paid out of pocket to keep the rig out of impound. She then told me 
>>>>>that she
>>>>>was required to tell me that I must proceed to the next exit and park 
>>>>>the
>>>>>rig and call for someone to come and get me. She then spoke very 
>>>>>quietly and
>>>>>said that she had to tell me that but that she definitely would not 
>>>>>radio
>>>>>ahead and let anyone know I was going that way. She said that if I got
>>>>>stopped on down the road that I would get another ticket but whether I
>>>>>parked or drove on home was really up to me...   I made tracks for 
>>>>>home...
>>>>>;-)   The Iowa office paid me back for the ticket.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>--
>>>>>"farmer"  -  ***** H A P P Y   H O L I D A Y S *****
>>>>>
>>>>>If you cut a tree plant at least two to replace it...
>>>>>
>>>>>Francis Robinson
>>>>>Central Indiana, USA
>>>>>robinson at svs.net
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>
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