Man, i tell you what it's like us sod haulers are always getting picked on by the DOT. I know sod is heavy, and not the prettiest thing going down the road, but can someone tell "the man" to give me a break sometimes. Today was the second time in the last few months that i got popped, between the two tickets my company has paid out over 1,100 dollars. Now i know they're out there for safety, but i just wish they'd quit picking on us agriculture haulers, whether it be sod, rock, oranges, what have you, we all have a job to do, i understand that, but i just wish i could catch a break sometimes :roll:

 

So what was the ticket for? It's a VERY simple system to understand.

 

It was an overweight ticket, and i know how the system works, and i know i was heavy, but it's so hard to tell when you're legal, and not legal. It's not like the fields have scales, and i always seem to come across DOT before i can get to one, South Florida is pretty desolate, and there are a ton of us agriculture guys down here. The officer bluntly told me that this is the season when they single out orange haulers and sod haulers. No hard feelings towards the officer, he was a nice guy, and i understand he's just doing his job, I just wish my boss would get it through his head that he needs to stop hauling so many pallets, then we might not be getting in trouble so much.

 

got a air suspension Gauge in your Truck?

 

No i don't, the company i work for doesn't really do things too eficiently, there are a lot of ways to ensure that we the drivers can do our job safely and efficiently. Sometimes when I talk though, it seems like no one listens, but i hadn't even though about that, I have driven a truck with that kind of scale on it, and i like that you can get an idea of when you are getting close to being heavy. Thanks for the heads up.

 

That's it ? :P New York must have stiffer fines for being overweight. :cry: I run to the landfill 2 -3 times a day and the DOT likes to set up in the driveway because it's technically a county road. There's no telling they are there until you make the turn. Anyways, I'm always at the limit with the walking floor. My truck only has 40,000 lbs rear axles on it when it should have 46,000 lbs so we have to screw around when we load it but sometimes we don't get it right. We have a scale but sometimes when it's over my boss says to just take it instead of messing around taking some off.

Well one day I took it like he said and ran into the DOT. I was 3,000 over on my drives. Once your over axle they yank your overweight permit for that inspection and take you back to 80,000 so now I'm waaayyyy over gross. So you get an over axle ticket and then a over gross ticket. This not only happened once but twice it happened within 2 weeks. My boss told me to take it so it was the companies problem. To get to the point, I still had to go to court with my boss. The fines started at $7800 but we managed to get them down to $2300. I'm glad the fines weren't my problem. Needless to say we make sure it's legal before we leave the yard now

 

Seems they are out all over the place more in force then usual. I have been pulled in twice in two weeks, no violations. But we are permitted for 107,00 pounds. And the company keeps the tractors and trailers up to snuff. So it is more to check our paperwork and logs.

 

They're all over our area lately BAYDOG. They are constantly at 43,42,41. They love the hundreds of walking floors getting off at those exits to go to the landfills. I knoo they are just doing their job but when I have received tickets for being overweight they could care less about anything else. They don't check lights or nothing.

 

Yeah the DOT should give those companies that they know are frequently overweight a break and not give them tickets.

Instead they need to double liscencing fees for everyone and increase fuel taxes by 50% in order to pay for the extra wear and tear caused by the overweight trucks.

Instead of whinning about the DOT how about getting on the owner's azz about installing onboard scales on the trucks and trailers. That way you would know how much you weigh. If that does not work cause the owner is too cheap or just does not care then either put up with it or go find another job.

 

cheaper for some drilling companies I haul for to pay an overweight ticket then to make another trip.