I agree. The reg says nothing about the easiest place to repair, or the cheapest place to repair.

 

Towed in for a muffler and a light?

LOL

 

What happened is all a part of the business. Not to be blunt, but anyone who has driven awhile knows these tickets are expensive. If you have a decent DA to work with they almost always reduce the amount to be paid, and take a smaller amount of money from you just to make the judge happy. As for tires, buying a used truck with tires that have been sitting is the worst. They may look good and have good tread, but they will not hold up. As for the DOT, they are not your buddy or friend. They are there to do their job, and some take it very seriously. Most will not take, I'm gona do this, or I was gona do that, for an answer. That does not fly. I wish the officer was more understanding with you Doghouse. I am writing this post towards anyone who hasn't had the chance to meet our good friends.(Not directed at you Doghouse) Just a general note on topic. By the way, I avoid the DOT like the plauge.

 

there is truck parking behind the McDonalds that you maybe could have done your repairs at, and it is south of the scales 1/4 mile or so, not that this info helps you now.

 

Dog, if you want to save about $200 on any set of new drive tires, buy them in a no tax state.. MO IL IN maybe KS there are others, just ask the dealer before the deal, you will have to fill out a simple one page form showin your mc#. Dump the caps.

 

Heck..you guys are right! What sense would it make to go to a repair shop, when you can stop at the weigh station across the street and call a mechanic over.

Wait...why couldn't the DOT officer be reasonable, look at the logbook...look at the damage...listen to the truck owner...then look over his shoulder and see what might be blocking his view of the truck stop behind him?

US 287 south of Lamar is a 2-lane roadway. US 287 north of Lamar is a 2-lane roadway. If Dog had carried a Lamar CO phone book, he could have looked up the phone number of a repair shop, asked directions to that shop, and not even seen the weigh station, before making repairs. (The best truck repair shop in Lamar, is in the center of town, located behind the Super 8 motel.) If there were a truck stop on the south side of Lamar...Dog would not have seen the weigh station before making repairs.. he could have stopped, and called Heath Turpin & Son Trucking and Truck Repair.
The weigh station is on the north side of lamar, before the interchange that would have allowed Dog to turn right to the frontage road, and access to the truck stop.


The regulation is what it is.

Some of you would read the regulation, and would go to the weigh station to effect repairs.

Some of us would read the regulation, and drive to a repair shop, to effect repairs.

 

I think the Dot man should have cut you a break. I understand the thing about law but heck if you go over the speed limit by 1 mph you are breaking the law but how many times have seen some one get ticketed for that? Anyway people, need to be reasonable and the Dot man you described was not . Also , parking on the side of the road for an extended period of time , fixing lights and a mufler could prove to be more dangerous that limping into a truck stop to do the repairs. Just my newbie opinion!

 

Nobody said it made sense to call a repair truck.

Again, because I'm sure that the DOT officer has heard every story imaginable. There's no FMCSA rule that says he has to be reasonable.

Again, it says nothing about the best place to repair - it only says that the law allows you to drive to a safe place to repair.

I would have done the exact same thing that Doghouse did. I would have also expected an OOS order if I would have crossed a scale before I got there.

 

I didn't make any statement about what I would do in the situation. Somebody :roll: quoted a regulation as evidence that DH could have legally driven to a repair facility (presumably meaning a shop) I merely pointed out that you were misinterpreting the regulation, as that is not what it states, and that the DOT officer was well within the law in making DH do his repairs at the scale. Now, could he have exercised some discretion and let DH proceed to the TS? Of course. But he didn't and he was acting within the regulations, so there's no use in discussing it.

DOT inspectors have a lot of latitude in their judgments. When they let something slide, I'm very grateful. But when I get popped for something, no matter how minor, who am I to complain? I know the regs and I expect them to be upheld.

 

Pigs will have been flying aerobatics in formation for decades before Vassago will ever admit that he might possibly have been partially mistaken about anything.