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As a truck driver, owner operator and company owner, I can tell you that many states have corrupt DOT officers. If you have nothing wrong with your truck, they will find something. Prove them wrong with a statement from a mechanic and try to fight it, guess who makes the decision as to whether the charge is justified? Believe it or not, you appeal it to the officer that wrote it. They give us "CSA points" in lieu of a citation. From this the state gets paid from the feds. You can't take it to court because you didn't receive a citation, but get too many points on your record, your insurance increases. Eventually you can't get insurance so you are out of business when in fact you have done nothing wrong. I have told my drivers to demand a citation. Guess what. They won't give you one because they know you will fight it. The state DOT officers are no longer interested in public safety, they are merely tax collectors at this point. There was a time when I had the utmost respect for the DOT officers in most states. Today I have absolutely no respect for them.
I had kinda the same thing happen in the bizarre and communistic state of Oregon.
I was driving, yeah, a little over the speed limit......right next to a Oregon State Trooper. Well, I am driving for a few minutes alongside/close to the trooper........suddenly the troopers does some odd swerve toward me, then a lane change.......then he pulls behind me and pulls me over. Wow, he was a real crankypants....seemed truly butthurt that I was driving the same speed as him. So I got a ticket and now I do my best to avoid New-Jersey-West.
When I was in college with a "hot rod" car, we would always pull into a parking lot and shut the engine off when we saw a cop driving behind us. I know black people like to think they are the only ones harassed by cops (black while driving), but I can assure you that they also harass college kids too and look for any excuse to pull them over.
As a truck driver, owner operator and company owner, I can tell you that many states have corrupt DOT officers. If you have nothing wrong with your truck, they will find something. Prove them wrong with a statement from a mechanic and try to fight it, guess who makes the decision as to whether the charge is justified? Believe it or not, you appeal it to the officer that wrote it. They give us "CSA points" in lieu of a citation. From this the state gets paid from the feds. You can't take it to court because you didn't receive a citation, but get too many points on your record, your insurance increases. Eventually you can't get insurance so you are out of business when in fact you have done nothing wrong. I have told my drivers to demand a citation. Guess what. They won't give you one because they know you will fight it. The state DOT officers are no longer interested in public safety, they are merely tax collectors at this point. There was a time when I had the utmost respect for the DOT officers in most states. Today I have absolutely no respect for them.
I've heard the same thing from some truck drivers. Gotta be frustrating.
Driving a old Brockway through S. Carolina ca. 1982. I heard there were scales set up on I-95 and I knew I was overweight so I took the side road. Passed a large billboard going about 62 when a county car comes out from behind the sign. Lights me up and I slowed and pulled over, got my license and manifest and registration. The car door opens a overly fat deputy heaves himself out, grabs the front and back of his gunbelt and hikes it up. Puts on a pair of mirrored sunglasses and waddles over. Buford T. Justice had pulled me over was my first thought. Put one foot on a ladder rung of the cab and drawls "License, registration and manifest, boy." I handed the documents over and he wanted to know why no cargo was listed on the manifest. I said call the number on the manifest which was to the Treasury department. I didn't know it but it was old money to be destroyed in the trailer. He called the number in on his radio and after 5 minutes the radio squawked "Bubba, git that boy outta here!!!" He still wrote me for speeding. Jerk.
Driving a old Brockway through S. Carolina ca. 1982. I heard there were scales set up on I-95 and I knew I was overweight so I took the side road. Passed a large billboard going about 62 when a county car comes out from behind the sign. Lights me up and I slowed and pulled over, got my license and manifest and registration. The car door opens a overly fat deputy heaves himself out, grabs the front and back of his gunbelt and hikes it up. Puts on a pair of mirrored sunglasses and waddles over. Buford T. Justice had pulled me over was my first thought. Put one foot on a ladder rung of the cab and drawls "License, registration and manifest, boy." I handed the documents over and he wanted to know why no cargo was listed on the manifest. I said call the number on the manifest which was to the Treasury department. I didn't know it but it was old money to be destroyed in the trailer. He called the number in on his radio and after 5 minutes the radio squawked "Bubba, git that boy outta here!!!" He still wrote me for speeding. Jerk.
Why you gonna be speeding when you know you are illegal and going out your way not to get caught on that?
i have traveled across this country, and to some of the places people are complaining about including louisiana, and while i have been stopped by LEOs, i have never had the trouble some of you have had. for instance in ohio i got stopped for doing ten over the limit, and got a warning. in virginia i got stopped for doing 9 over the limit and got a warning, along with a scolding. never got stopped in louisiana, did get stopped in tennessee though for going 55 in a 65 zone and crossing into middle lane, again verbal warning along with the suggestion of stopping at the next motel to get some rest. i had been driving for 14 hours by that point.
i have even gotten stopped by a park ranger for doing 37 in a 25 zone, and gotten a warning. glad he wasnt around a few minutes earlier as i was doing 85 . all in all since 1976 i have gotten very few tickets, though i deserved several.
Why you gonna be speeding when you know you are illegal and going out your way not to get caught on that?
It was Treasury's trailer and they wouldn't pay for the over weight citation. A speeding ticket is eminently cheaper.
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. all in all since 1976 i have gotten very few tickets, though i deserved several.
