Oregon DOT (Just a rant)

**catalinaflyer** · 02-01-2010, 03:57 PM

As much as I want to use all the explatives I was using while in the DOT office in Umatilla I will refrain but I'm going to vent anyway.

I will start off by saying that in the past 6 months I have been through 3 inspections in California including a full one in Banning where I got new CVSA stickers on both the truck and trailer. For those of you who haven't seen my trailer it has mirrored stainless running the entire length of the trailer from the bottom up to about 5' high. You can stand back 100' from it and check your teeth for broccoli.

Anyhow I have only had a reason to go into Oregon a couple of times in the past 5 years and have chosen to bypass it completely because we are considered "Hobby Trucks" and therefore they do not wnat to sell us permits but because we have a DOT number and apportioned plates we cannot get a hobby letter. Anyway I can get a permit but I have to do it through Ryder and it's a real pain in the rear. This past week I needed to run up to Mt. Vernon, WA from Reno. I had originally planned on going around but I get held up in Sacramento and Reno and got a couple days behind. I decided Saturday to go ahead and jump through all the hoops and get the stinking permit so I could pass through on I-5 and since I was already that far along in the process I added I-82/84 for the trip home.

This morning I rolled out of Mt Vernon early and all was going well. I rolled into Umatilla and pulled across the scales with the aformentioned 53' long mirrors staring back at the scale officer. I got the sign to come in so I grabbed my several hundred dollar permit and headed inside. This guy immediatly asked for my CDL which I handed him then he went around the corner. I stood there with my registration, permit and IFTA in hand watching all the trucks crossing the scales while no one was at the desk. A few minutes later he came around the corner and asked what year my trailer was so I told him and he disappeared again. 10 more minutes go by and this little ****-head walks up to the door, hands me my CDL back then hands me a traffic ticked for driving my truck without reflective tape on the trailer. An $82 citation and a moving violation to boot on my absolutely spotless driving record. He then had the nerve to say have a nice day. I went ballistic and within another minute I was being escorted outside by an Oregon Highway Patroll officer and told to just get in my truck and leave before I get arrested for making threats to a public official. I yelled some more, spoke real highly of the officers mother and family gene pool then left.

These people never asked for the truck registration, trailer registration, IFTA or the very expensive permit I had to buy just to get to this point and get the ticket.

Blow some more smoke up my arse and tell me how the DOT is out there just for safety. The only thing they wanted was the money for a ticket and could have given a ____ about safety. My trailer is a giant mirror, all the graphics and lettering are reflective material the same as is used to make the godd_mn tape and highway signs but I don't have the hideous red and white stripes so now I have a traffic ticket and $82 less cash in my wallet.

I can say that from this day forward I will never drive this truck into Oregon again even if I have to run 1000 miles out of the way to get somewhere.

Thanks for letting me vent. (Chris1, you can stop laughing now, this guy was probably one of your extended family members)

**headborg** · 02-01-2010, 06:06 PM

the sad news is.. you could be getting a ticket like that from every state you enter.. that special reflective tape is required per the DOT regulation handbook.. and it spells out exactly how/where it has to be on the rear of ALL trailers. You can pick up some at any truck stop, and will only take couple minutes to attach. Yes, it will make your beautiful trailer a little Ugly- but might cost you less in the long run.

**Orangetxguy** · 02-01-2010, 06:27 PM

Originally Posted by headborg

the sad news is.. you could be getting a ticket like that from every state you enter.. that special reflective tape is required per the DOT regulation handbook.. and it spells out exactly how/where it has to be on the rear of ALL trailers. You can pick up some at any truck stop, and will only take couple minutes to attach. Yes, it will make your beautiful trailer a little Ugly- but might cost you less in the long run.

Thats it right there. It is in the book....and....

Catalina....he didn't ask for your permit, because by the time he decided to give you the ticket, he had already run your tractor's plate number and knew that your permit was valid.

You have a chance to get the ticket dropped, by calling the clerk of court, speaking with her/him, and finding out whom to write a letter of explaination to. Send the letter as well as the previous DOT Inspection forms, and clear photo's of the trailer, to which ever judge you are told to write too!

It won't hurt. Just don't berate his or her family heritage!

**cdswans** · 02-01-2010, 07:28 PM

GUILTY! Next case . .

**catalinaflyer** · 02-01-2010, 07:45 PM

I know it spells it out in the rules and in fact I have a roll of the tape in the lounge in the trailer. I also know I "could" get a ticket at every scale and by every DOT officer but the fact is, in the past 12 months I have been in every state except, Oregon and North Dakota and have crossed 100+ scales AND been through 6 or 7 DOT inspections including a Level 1 at the Banning, CA scale on October 15 2009 and not a single officer has said a single word about it. I also have the annual federal inspection done every 90 days (required by our maintenance contract) at Ryder and they have not said anything about it either.

I realize the reflictivity (sp?) of the tape has a lot wider field of view than the mirrored stainless and that it is required by federal regulation. The simple fact is I don't have it on the trailer and I DON'T OWN the trailer but the ticket was issued as a traffic (moving) violation against ME! All the logo's and lettering on both units are cut from the exact same material as the reflective tape and if you take a photo in the dark with a flash all you get are bright glares from them; much, MUCH more visible than the tape.

I know that ultimately it falls on me since I sign the pre-trip inspection saying that everything is up to par. I'm just ticked off that I got a moving violation for an equipment violation.

Also, I'm not sure that he could have run the plate and known that I had a permit since the permit I have is issued to Ryder Transportation Services using my Ryder unit number as the plate number and there is no unit number visible on the truck.

Anyway, I just wanted to vent some steam since I now have a ticket on my spotless driving record.

**bikerboy** · 02-01-2010, 10:28 PM

i agree, all they care about is the money, and they would have never let you away without getting some cash from you.

safety is the biggest joke around, its all about the money!

**Malaki86** · 02-02-2010, 12:11 AM

Originally Posted by bikerboy

i agree, all they care about is the money, and they would have never let you away without getting some cash from you.

safety is the biggest joke around, its all about the money!

Really?

In 10 years of driving (well, 9 years & 9 months), I've YET to get a ticket for anything other than an overweight. I've had countless scalehouse and roadside inspections in that time. 99% of the time I get to sign a perfect inspection form. I've had a few warnings for minor issues, such as tires being a few pounds under, brakes slightly out of adjustment, etc, but *NEVER* a inspection fineable violation.

Saying it's nothing but a cash grab is a huge load of BS. If they was going for cash only, I'm sure they would've sent you down the road just so they could spend more time on the next clunker of a truck owned by a cash-strapped O/O.

**chris1** · 02-02-2010, 02:26 AM

A little reflective tape would dress it right up.

**Fredog** · 02-02-2010, 06:15 AM

how can an equipment violation be a moving violation? exactly what did the ticket say?

**Chunker** · 02-02-2010, 09:14 AM

Well BigDog, I saw you several times on friday. You passed me on 395 leaving Reno and then you stopped in Susanville at a restaurant. Then you tailed me for a long ways on 89. Then when we got to I-5, you blew around me only to cut in front of me to get off at the Weed exit. Because you seem to be in a hurry, I tried to get you on the CB to warn you of the upcoming CHP area hideouts, but got no answer on 17 or 19. Oh well. I thought to myself, this guy is running like he don't care about what anyone else has to say. Oh well. Now I see your post here and the complaint about the ticket is an understandable rant. Oh well (again). By the way, I hope you realize that the reflective mirror all around your trailer is a safety problem at night. Try to imagine what oncoming traffic sees when a vehicle is driving beside you. I'm sure it will be very glaring. Maybe as a suggestion, have the graphic guys put something over the mirror, perhaps to lessen it's glare.

**headborg** · 02-02-2010, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Fredog

how can an equipment violation be a moving violation? exactly what did the ticket say?

that's a good question.

Knowingly operating a vehicle without........... XXX.

I would guess.

Welcome to CSA2010.. and it's just getting started.
Driver's will be held responsible for Vehicle violations EVEN VEHICLES OWNED by others! i.e. company drivers better be checking their trailers for proper reflective tape.. and getting it fixed when needed... there goes more time wasted (unpaid) while you wait at TA for a grease monkey with a 10ft ladder to climb up there and afix the [ ] L shaped pieces of that crap on your trailer.

The reason why you've been so luck in the past not getting nailed is... that guy was a A-Hole. you have to really be looking hard to remember all the little crap you can nail a driver for- if you had struck up a conversation with him.. maybe he wouldn't have been so anal retentive and focused on collecting a few $$$ for Oregon.

Yes, I agree with the other poster... this whole "safety" thing is mostly just about MONEY. Not real safety.

**Fredog** · 02-02-2010, 02:42 PM

MAYBE, just MAYBE, when he pulled in the reflection blinded the scalemaster and he decided to say somethign to the driver and the driver then became beligerant and earned himself a ticket
not saying that's what happened, but it's possible
I mean using the "it may be illegal, but I have always gotten away with it so far" defense, usually doesnt work too well

**catalinaflyer** · 02-02-2010, 07:26 PM

Sorry Chunker, I wasn't trying to be an ass when I hit the Weed exit, I was on the phone being told to turn around and go right back to Reno. I was tired, out of fuel and more than a little p!ssed off at the lack of communication between our marketing department and customer service. Needless to say I wound up driving back to Reno then doing all over again on Saturday which put me even later consider I was supposed to be in Mt. Vernon, WA by 5:00pm on Friday. I was the one who had to keep calling the customer and telling him "I'll be there tomorrow I promise". I finally made it on Sunday and although he was glad that I finally got there he was a little put out that he had taken Saturday off after I missed my Friday appointment.

On to the DOT and Oregon, cdswans was quick with a guilty verdict but I got a call back from the judge in Umatilla and after discussing the ticket with her she had me e-mail her a picture of the truck then she called back about 30 minutes later and dismissed the ticket completely.

As for the mirrored stainless being a hazard at night, we discussed this with our local DOT people as well as the folks at Featherlite when we bought the trailer and no where is there any regulation saying that we can't run this way. Besides having the mirror running all the way to the ground on the back saves my eyes when some moron decides to drive along with his high beams behind me.

Fredog, I didn't get p!ssed off till after the jerk handed me a "TRAFFIC" ticket written against me for a "MINOR" equipment violation. As for the "we have always got away with it" defense, Featherlite built this trailer and put the graphics on it. Because they used "DOT" reflective material for the graphics they felt it was legal. Ryder runs thousands of trucks and they say it's legal as well.

After discussing the whole fiasco with Fetherlite, Ryder and some other industry experts today I'm going to go ahead and put the bare minimum required under the federal regulations just to avoid the hassle but I will still never go into Oregon again.

And one last thing Chunker, the CB in here has never worked since the day I got the truck 3 years ago. In fact looking at the antennas, they aren't even hooked to the coax and there's no fuse in the power cable.

**Dejanh** · 02-03-2010, 02:25 PM

I absolutely have no idea why are you so mad when obviously you're at fault. If everyone else can have a reflective tape on their trailer why shouldn't you, are you special or something?

I've seen trailers much better than yours have the tape, even those NASCAR ones, hell, i drive a tanker and i have it. Why would you even risk it, why not just put the damn tape on or are you more worried that it will impact that shiny look of yours.

**freebirdrfd** · 02-03-2010, 05:35 PM

He said he was gonna put the tape on.... He and featherlite and the local D.O.T. thought they were legal. Why are you busting his balls???

**Dejanh** · 02-05-2010, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by freebirdrfd

He said he was gonna put the tape on.... He and featherlite and the local D.O.T. thought they were legal. Why are you busting his balls???

Am not busting anything let alone some balls.

When you were taking a written test for your CDL, wasn't there a procedure that explained how to do a proper PTI, one of those things was making sure your reflective tape is clear before starting each trip, and if damaged to get it replaced.

Local DOT should be out of the job for not knowing simple FMCSA rules, as for the driver i dont know, but you shouuld not even have to ask anyone is it ok to put the damn thing on..

**catalinaflyer** · 02-08-2010, 03:08 AM

Originally Posted by Dejanh

When you were taking a written test for your CDL, wasn't there a procedure that explained how to do a proper PTI, one of those things was making sure your reflective tape is clear before starting each trip, and if damaged to get it replaced.

First off when I took my written test it was for a Class A chauffeurs license, the CDL hadn't even been thought of and there was no such thing as reflective tape. I've probably been driving longer than you've been alive.

Originally Posted by Dejanh

Local DOT should be out of the job for not knowing simple FMCSA rules, as for the driver I don’t know, but you should not even have to ask anyone is it ok to put the damn thing on..

I should have to ask because the manufacturer said that the trailer complies with all FMCSA - DOT rules. They build them and they know what is required. The "local" DOT officer here is one of the trainers for CVSA and I would be willing to bet he as forgot more about trucking regulations than you will ever know. In the past 5 days I have had 6 different officials in my shop looking at the trailer and ALL of them have said that with the reflective materials used for the graphics being red and white and covering more than 50% of the length of the trailer that it technically is legal. The only thing that isn’t the rear door because the graphics are centered and don't cover from side to side and don't have the right angles at the top.

But just to make you, the internet truck regulation expert happy I have spent $493.78 and had the red/white tape with the appropriate DOT number on it applied to the sides and back of the trailer just exactly as the FMCSA rule requires.

And one last thing, the trailer I pull is EXACTLY the same trailer as every NASCAR team out there except I ordered mine with a closed tandem because I regularly go into Canada and a flat floor with belly boxes for storage. I'm sure you have seen lots of trailers nicer than mine and I have seen many tankers nicer than yours but I'm not jealous of your job so I guess this thread is finished.

Have a nice day!

**chris1** · 02-08-2010, 03:58 AM

Geez,have a cup of coffe and calm down.

**Fredog** · 02-08-2010, 04:56 AM