dot inspection
 

just wondering ive seen this a few times why is it that at the scale house somtimes when a driver is getting inspected there is sometimes a cop behind the truck with his blue lights flashing in the parking lot of the scale i seen one today at the east bound scale house on i-26 in sc

what i meant was why is the cop doing this????

Scalemaster's can't write tickets, so they will call the Highway patrol or the necessary law enforcement to issue the violation. If the DOT pulls a truck around back to do an inspection they can issue a ticket.

My only experience is with Ohio. I've had a overweight and unsafe vehicle (broken trailer spring) violation. Both times I had to wait for Highway Patrol to issue me a ticket. I don't know if Scalemaster's can write tickets in other states but I know in Ohio they can't.

Why their lights are flashing flashing I don't? Could just be their procedure?

ok ive been driving for 2 years and knock on wood have never been checked thanks

It depends on the state. In some states they can write tickets for non moving violations.....ie. over weight, equipment issues, log violations, etc.

Are those really considered non-moving violations? For example, if you were having an equipment issue, would it be a violation if you did not move the equipment in question?

Just wondering?

Creek

Yes, in most states they are written as a non moving violation.

Generally speaking a moving violation is one that can only happen if you are moving.

DOT isn't supposed to be doing a scale and inspection at the same time on a truck. To get around that they will scale you, tell you to move on down the road and as you pull away, another DOT man will stop you not 10 feet from the scales and do an inspection. Happens here all the time. The local yokel DOT man will do the inspections while the big boys do the portable scale less than a half mile later.

Says who?

It is very common for trucks to be weighed and then pulled around back to the inspection area for a level 1,2 or 3 inspection.


Folks the number one reason why you will often see a "cop" giving a DOT inspection behind the scale house in some states is simply that those states do not employ stationary inspectors. Instead they rotate through their rolling/roadside inspectors at a station and all their epuipment is kept in the car. Also if you take a real good look at the scale houses you see this happen at they are the ones that do not have a separate inspection lane or barn. The car is there with lights on to keep the inspector from being run over by some inattentive moron.

yep, I know for a fact that Idaho can as I got a ticket for being overweight on my drives. Then to top it off, had to buy a permit to move to a "safe haven" to adjust weight :roll:

in some states such as Tennessee and Georgia, the scales are run by Dot officers

UTurn, it is a courtesy amongst the trucking companies and DOT that they don't do both at the same time. Also, try Comprehension 101, you blew right past what I said and stated exactly what I had already said again. They scale you, then ask you to pull around back, which is the loophole for not doing them together, aka:

Mr. Ford:
You wrote:
This is saying that they will do a weigh and an inspection in entirely two different locations, and that they are not suppose to do them "together" as if there is some law, written or unwritten, saying this.

I merely pointed out, your statement as written, is not accurate.

More often than not an inspection is going to be done on the scale house premises, not down the road, even 10 feet.

Of course the DOT is not going to have you sit on a permanent scale for 30 plus minutes while they perform a vehicle and/or driver inspection. They will have you move to a designated location for that if this is their desire.

As far as portables and "roadside" inspections go I have seen plenty done at the same time in various locations from the actual side of the road to rest areas to industrial parks, and in some of these instances the truck was left sitting on the portable scales once the last set of axles were weighed.

You may have meant one thing, but you wrote another.