DOT officer.

[starmac]

Well I stopped by the scalehouse yesterday and grabbed a 515 buck fine, it seems like I had a couple too many sticks on.
I got tickled when his computer kept messing up, at one time it even claimed my license was invalid. He knew better, because he had run it last week (had one too many sticks on lol)
I kept telling him the computer was nicer than him and DIDN'T want to fine me. lol

[freebullet]

Ouch...that sux.

I'm fortunate I can license my box truck for more than I'll ever haul in it. Does hauling to many sticks maintain profit enough to render the fine irrelevant?
A friend always seems to get pinched for #2 in his tractor puller tanks. He just starts writing a 300$ check when he gets checked.
My rig runs within the city and I can usually turn off ahead of time to avoid them wasting my time while looking for their payday. I feel for ya.

[Houndog]

Starmac,
IF you are goin to keep drivin a truck you're goin to have to learn to avoid the chicken houses and the barney fifes they've got runnin around with the portables! If your boss ain't paying the fines, he got at least a day's wages off you if things are like they were when I drove a Coal truck! I finally quit playing their games and went to mega hauls. The last thing they want is for you to pull 4-500,000 pound rail trailer load across their scales, and you've got the paperwork when you move something like that.

[Epd230]

515 is cheap for an overweight fine

[odinohi]

Big radio is your friend

[starmac]

Going around scales in Alaska, you are going to be driving something besides a truck, maybe a snowmachine. lol
There is no turning off and going around.

[Tackleberry41]

I always thought the old trick was to take the state roads to avoid the weigh stations on the main highways? And does your boss pay this or you? Everybody I have talked to in trucking says its a brutal job, that the only way to make money is not go home or have a family.

[dtknowles]

Why do people have a problem following the rules. Does nobody have integrity anymore. I know there are too many rules but the solution is not deliberately breaking them and then talking about how to avoid getting caught, that sounds criminal. Are you criminals? I have a coworker who still uses a radar detector type thing, I asked him why not just drive the speed limit and he just goes baah, grumble, grumble, that's for wusses. He has a 30 minute commute that he can maybe save 5 minutes on if he drives 15 over, ignorant. Oh and he complains about people only doing 5 over in the left lane. The speed limit is 70. He wants to do 85.

Tim

[Finster101]

Having been to AK on a motorcycle I get what Starmac means. There ain't that many roads fellas.

[Geezer in NH]

Smart move would be don't overload.

[Houndog]

The thing most of you folks saying "don't overload" don't understand is there's no scales where Starmac is loading nor in the Coal pits where I used to load. You put on what you think is close to right and you maybe legal, or maybe not. Barney Fife could care less what your intentions are. If you are over you pay! Now I will admit when I hauled Coal we got paid by the ton and I loaded every pound I could get on the truck every load from the Coal pit to the tipple.(where the Coal is processed and usually loaded on rail cars) While some folks frown on that, I and everyone else in the business just called it makin a living for my family, and Yes I've paid my fair share of overweight tickets in the process.

[nvbirdman]

Was his computer tied into the scales in any way? If so, you may be able to fight the ticket by complaining that he was having a problem with his
computer.

[dtknowles]

The thing most of you folks saying "don't overload" don't understand is there's no scales where Starmac is loading nor in the Coal pits where I used to load. You put on what you think is close to right and you maybe legal, or maybe not. Barney Fife could care less what your intentions are. If you are over you pay! Now I will admit when I hauled Coal we got paid by the ton and I loaded every pound I could get on the truck every load from the Coal pit to the tipple.(where the Coal is processed and usually loaded on rail cars) While some folks frown on that, I and everyone else in the business just called it makin a living for my family, and Yes I've paid my fair share of overweight tickets in the process.

If the overload is not deliberate, not due to lack of attention, not due to negligence, etc. I don't think it is criminal but you should still pay the fine if you are truly over.

Tim

[Houndog]

Tim,
Just being overloaded isn't a criminal offense in any way, and in fact unless the laws have changed since I retired, it doesn't even go against your license. Waaay back when I hauled Coal the maximum gross weight on a tractor trailer combination was 73,280 pounds. In Kentucky you could buy a regional overload permit allowing up to 80,000 pounds GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT for mineral products, and Kentucky had a maximum fine of 537.50 for overloads no matter how much you were overloaded. EVERYONE hauling Coal took full advantage of the maximum fine and most truckers would load somewhere between 75 and 100 ton payloads every trip. We also had an "understanding" with the DOT that they would only issue 1 ticket per month to any coal hauler caught overweight. The fact of the matter is you either operated like that or the Coal companies simply wouldn't use you. Things are vastly different today as most open pit mines are long gone as is the maximum fine and most coal from deep mines now moves by conveyer belt. Sadly what was a booming area loaded with jobs now is mostly gone.

[dtknowles]

I was using criminal in a inappropriate manner. I dislike unethical behavior and consider any deliberate violation of the law unethical. That the Coal companies, the DOT, the Truckers were all in cahoots in the law breaking is deplorable. Fix the laws if they are bad. Getting into the habit of breaking the law is a slippery slope, you are on the wrong side of the line with no notion of were the limits should be. We are supposed to have the Rule of Law, you know a civilized country. We have too many laws but we need to follow and enforce the ones we have or get rid of them.

Tim

[Geezer in NH]

How about the company pays the fine? They will get the portable scales of their own ASAP.

No excuse to have to pay the fine by the driver so the company who pushes them to overload for the company's own gain.

Maybe the drivers need a loss of the CDL for a spell for repeats?

No Sympathy here.

[lightman]

The DOT and Highway Patrol watch the grain trucks around here. Its really hard to make any money if they don't fudge a little. Lots of log trucks have scales built in. The register is usually under the drivers seat and it weighs the front bunk and back bunk.

[shooter93]

Tim...I don't know how it is in other places but here the locals have a dot cop. EVERY single day they sit at an underpass and stop truck after truck. Once they have 3 or 4 backed up others get flagged through. Every truck stopped will have a violation. In fact a brand new truck...right off the factory floor with 3 miles on it they can find a violation. That is pure and simple revenue grabbing and I'm betting it happens a great deal more than people think. While there are some breaking the law I think a lot of overloads are very minimal and not intentional. A thunder shower can change the weight of a load of stone very fast. Pretty hard to insure against the weather.

[country gent]

I used to see truckes sitting before the scales and drivers busting snow and ice out from under them to make weight weather can make a big diffrence in what a truck weighs. Most sand pits around here charge by the load and no scales logging is the same a load and no scales when loaded but with experience a driver can guess pretty close by looks and other indicators. Same with farmer loading in the field. The grain haulers here hauling for elevators go over the scales before leaving.

[rancher1913]

we are forced to drive overweight by our company, drive or go find another job. we go out of our way to avoid the port, we are not criminals trying to skirt the law, we are just trying to feed our families and finding another job is not always easy to do. we got stopped for bypassing the port last week and had to play dumb when he asked our weights,our overload permit was for 160,000 and we are under that by a little but over by the bridge law on axles. our company says to move the trucks only at night when the port is closed. we have a pickup run interference for us but should that fail our plan should we encounter a portable set up is to pull over before and abandon the truck. its real easy to say "just follow the rules" but if you have a family depending on your income its not that easy. they need to hold the companies liable and not the drivers--then and only then will the rules be followed.