Truck Driving Jobs

jdg · #1 12-10-2006, 10:48 PM

If these guys want to search,...what do you do.
I heard that there has to be probable cause, and the only way to give them the right do search you otherwise is if you make a run for it (OOIDA article).
I have also heard about guys getting hassled by a bored cop (he let it slide).
I had a friend who's wife was questioned for being in the cab with the driver (they let it slide).

What do we do???
I have never been in the situation where I would have to say no to a search.
I run all my paperwork legal, have an on-board digital scale, and log it like I drive it.
I have nothing to hide, but don't want my truck tossed like others have had done (I assume they let it slide).
I know we have all heard it before, but there ARE bad cops out there. Some of these guys know less about the laws they enforce than the public.

I get tired of hearing about people who have had their rights abused, and who just write it off. The end result is a DOT/cop who gets off on the power trip, and does this nonsense on a regular basis.

If the situation came up,...would you let it slide,....or stand by your rights as an American.

Teal 95 KW · #2 12-10-2006, 10:54 PM

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I do not think that on a traffic stop, or a DOT inspection, that they have the right to go through your truck and search your belongings. When I ran a team with my cousin, I was asleep in the bunk and I was awoke to my cousin being DOT'd at a scalehouse outside of Big Sky and the officer asked to see his logs, and he asked how he made it there with gaps in duty etc., and he said he was a team and his cousin was in the bunk, and the officer asked to see my logs and my cousin said he's asleep and i'm not going to wake him up to get them. The cop couldn't do anything else and dropped the issue on the logs. I would think that if they had the right to search, that would have been enough of a reason to make me want to snoop around.

jdg · #3 12-10-2006, 11:36 PM

Teal,
It sounds like his bluff was called, and he was bored,....but not so bored that he wanted to push the issue.
You see, I don't know what rights he had, or what we have.
I should probably consult an attorney, and get to the bottom of this before I get pulled in and harassed.

I would like to say I would never allow my truck to be searched,.....but circumstances could materialize.

GMAN · #4 12-10-2006, 11:53 PM

I don't want anyone to search my truck without having a search warrant. I don't have anything to hide, but don't like the condition some of these guys can leave a truck. Having said that, I do deliver and pick up at some military bases and some will not allow you on the base without searching the truck. And they do a through search. Some try to take care others do not. I made one MP take his boots off before entering my truck. He had mud on his soles and I didn't want it all over my sleeper. It comes with the territory, if you haul certain military freight. Most DOT cops won't feel the need to search your truck unless you give them a reason. It is in your best interest to be courteous and respectful to them. For the most part, these people are only doing their job, just as you and I are doing ours. I treat people with respect and it is usually reciprocated. [/code]

Dejanh · #5 12-11-2006, 12:49 AM

Two years ago i got searched on the shoulder of I-10 just before San Antonio, TX by a regular police. He made me stand next to my trailer on the passenger side so he can see me in my mirror while his K-9 sniffed thru my trucks insides. I was there for full 45 min. There was only one other time when a DOT searched insides of my rig.

TK THE TRUCKER · #6 12-11-2006, 01:07 AM

I've heard this discussed on the trucking channel on Sirius before. It was a while ago but if I recall they can search your truck but they are only allowed to " look around". They're not allowed to open anything or lift something up or touch anything. I don't think they can fully search the truck unless they have a warrant, probable cause or you give them permission.

ChrisAZ · #7 12-11-2006, 02:56 PM

As per my lawyer When you pull into any scale house you are technically under arrest the officer has the right to use thier personal dicrestion to do anything they feel. Remember
1, you are a professional truck driver so you are at the mercy of the DOT and whichever state you are in.
2, the truck is your house but your civil rights take a back seat because you are driving a commercial vehicle reguardless of on duty or off duty
company driver or owner operator.
3, When a DOT officer wants to search your truck they can lift things and go thru your shelves and garbage if they choose.

What I have gotten to doing is when I am pulled into a swcale I use my Cell phone and tell the officer that everything they say is being recorded and I am installing a camera in my truck so if there is a search they are on candid camera because believe it or not yes there are some crooked cops out there and I will not be set up for anything

#8 12-11-2006, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisAZ

As per my lawyer When you pull into any scale house you are technically under arrest the officer has the right to use thier personal dicrestion to do anything they feel. Remember
1, you are a professional truck driver so you are at the mercy of the DOT and whichever state you are in.
2, the truck is your house but your civil rights take a back seat because you are driving a commercial vehicle reguardless of on duty or off duty
company driver or owner operator.
3, When a DOT officer wants to search your truck they can lift things and go thru your shelves and garbage if they choose.

What I have gotten to doing is when I am pulled into a swcale I use my Cell phone and tell the officer that everything they say is being recorded and I am installing a camera in my truck so if there is a search they are on candid camera because believe it or not yes there are some crooked cops out there and I will not be set up for anything

I been driving a year and a half, and the only time I was in a scale house was to tell dot they had a family broke down about 2 miles back on the side of the road. (was -14 degree's F) Are these guys REALLY this bad to deal with?

I have my house PC built into my truck, and it has a vid capture card in it and I have a wireless cam, it would take me all of 2 minutes to install a servailance cam in my truck, is it really worth it?

BanditsCousin · #9 12-11-2006, 09:50 PM

A couple of months ago they were taking a look in every cab at the Manchester, TN scales. They weren't going all the way in, but they were opening every door (I watched as I was like 15 trucks behind).

At military bases they make me pop my back doors and any open doors. Sometimes, on weekdays, you can be lucky enough to drive through the X-ray machines at some of these bases!