[asdfghjkl]

Does the DOT bother you on being a highmount car carrier over 65 feet? Or want to inspect your dually every time you cross scales? They rarely inspected our trucks but always wanted to check paperwork.

[arsjohn81]

Well I don't pull a highmount w/ a dully. I pull a 42ft kaufman *flat / dove, and flippers on rear*. Usually they don't bother me. Seems like everyone once in a while I'll have a bad week of them getting me, but its usually when states are doing their once a month crack downs, or what not.
Usually they just weigh me and I'm off. Some are picky about axles so they always wanna check the front, cause its hard to load 3 cars on a dully and not go over your gvaw of 5k on mine, and some have 6k.....so they nit pick that sometimes....other then that its normally weigh and go, or they just do a quick walk around look at my log/paperwork and off I go. GA seems to be the one that messes with me the most though....sometimes MD will too, just depends on how busy they are when I come through there.

Like last week was horrible for me.......loaded to houston, couldn't find anything out, and finally got something outa LA, so sunday I headed that way......blew a trailer tire in Orange, Tx righ tbefore the la line......changed that.........loaded on monday morning and left co part and as i was crossing off the scale in baton rouge i saw my center tire going flat rather quick......made it up to hammond and got 2 put on $365. Then wed coming through Ga on 85 I got pulled in to weigh, and he came out and wanted the log book and license.....so after a hour he told me a little 1inch flatspot on my tire was putting me out.

No one had one, so got a room for the night and order'd one $160. Got that tire at 11am, and was back rolling north around noon or so. Dropped in Raliegh around 6 and headed for the house here in va, made it home at midnight. Went to grease the trailer the day after I was home and another tire was flat....another $145, so In a weeks time I got DOT'd in GA going south and north, and had to spend $$ on 4 tires, total was $670 on the road.......I usually get tires here in town for $100 mounted, so needless to say I had an extra hotel expense + the difference spent on tires.....

I got home last wed. at midnight and haven't moved since. Finally booked a load today 2 jersey and a load home for next mon-wed. I got about $2.12 cpm on the way up and coming home will pay $2.02 cpm, so...not too shabby. I guess good rates are the payback for a bad week and not finding good loads this last week, lol.....but there lies the good n bad, ya know.

Thats honestly been the worst week in more then a year for me. Seems like I'll go a long spell w/o anything, then all of a sudden **** hits the fan

All n all, my only complaint is not having something w/ a sleeper. Not for logging reasons but just for the fact of having to pay for hotels on the road, and the discomfort......other then that.......I'm peachy w/ the current setup I have until I can buy my own!

[GMAN]

Originally Posted by asdfghjkl

Does the DOT bother you on being a highmount car carrier over 65 feet? Or want to inspect your dually every time you cross scales? They rarely inspected our trucks but always wanted to check paperwork.

Missouri will give you a hard time. Some years ago I was stopped at Odessa and was driving my Peterbilt. It had rack on top and I was pulling a 53' van. The scale-master told me that if I had a car on the rack that I would be over length due do some law that they have that restricts a trailer to 53'. They consider a car rack as part of the trailer when measuring trailer length.

[arsjohn81]

Gman,

Green Book ........

**(e)(1)(ii) All length provisions regarding automobile transporters are exclusive of front and rear cargo overhang. No State shall impose a front overhang limitation of less than 3 feet or a rear overhang limitation of less than 4 feet. Extendable ramps or “lippers” on automobile transporters that are used to achieve the allowable 3-foot front and 4-foot rear cargo overhangs are excluded from the measurement of vehicle length, but must be retracted when not supporting vehicles.**

e) Specialized equipment — (1) Automobile transporters. (i) Automobile transporters are considered to be specialized equipment. As provided in §658.5, automobile transporters may carry vehicles on the power unit behind the cab and on an over-cab rack. No State shall impose an overall length limitation of less than 65 feet on traditional automobile transporters (5th wheel located on tractor frame over rear axle(s)), including “low boys,” or less than 75 feet on stinger-steered automobile transporters. Paragraph (c) requires the States to allow operation of vehicles with the dimensions that were legal in the State on December 1, 1982.

The only catch is the stinger part having to have been legal in that state back in 82, so depending on who is getting you, they can mess with the larger stinger units if they wanted to bad enough.

Just an FYI

Chop

[GMAN]

This happened to me about 10 years ago, arsjohn81. I didn't have a car hauler trailer behind me at the time. It was a 53' box van. And I didn't have a car on the tractor. I did have a 53' car hauler trailer at home. The law this guy referred to seemed odd. Missouri is the only state that has ever mentioned that to me. I am not sure if he would have said anything to me if I had a 53' car hauler trailer behind me.

[arsjohn81]

Chances are that he wouldn't have said anything. Sounds like he just wanted to mess with ya or waste your time. The only reason I say that is even 10 years ago, that was the way it was wrote!

It's funny how when you get to diggin deep how differently they acount for each type of rig on the roads, eh? So much for a uniform system,lol. Cause if you think about it.....that stinger law could be taken as unless you were legal in 82 like that, then stingers are now considered over length, ya know.

Just funny how they do stuff. Welp....I'm off to the doc, have a good day yall.

Chop

[asdfghjkl]

My understanding of the length laws are that a 53' car trailer is legal but not allowed overhang off the front of the trailer or the rear of the trailer. In addition to this Maryland Connecticut Massachusetts and New York do not allow a headrack of any sort combined with a 53' trailer. (I see them all the time but I think they are hassled in NY) Connecticut will make you break it apart and have the trailer towed back out of the state. NY would only measure the overhang, and whenever I was over they told me not to fix it. They would rather we run long than overheight. Tickets weren't cheap at $550 a pop and another $150 for not having your orange flag at the rearmost point on the load, not the trailer.

[arsjohn81]

Well, over hang is legal as stated in the green book that I pasted above. 3ft in front, 4ft in rear. There are 10 car stingers running EVERY state, so either DOT is looking the other way for them, or they are running permits.

The red flag that I mention about was either at the end of the car if its on the end of my flippers, or on the trailer if the bumper is equal to the end of the flippers. I always redflag the furthest back.

Certain states have little quirks that can get you a fine for sure, I don't argue that...but obviously stingers are still running.

My guess is like Maryland, NY, Florida and all the picky states, seem to be the ones I would permit myself for....or stay out of them.

ASDF, when you got those fines.....you were permited for over length? If not....there ya go

[BanditsCousin]

Missouri can be a pain on length. A few summers back when me and Teal95KW were running off the west coast we got pulled into the Joplin scale and made him stop his tail end in front of the scalehouse because we had a North American driver running backdoor with a 5ft tailgate of patio furnitre and mattreses.

A lot of bedbuggers did away with the car rack on top as well a few years ago because they were getting hassled. They still get by with the "extra sleeper" (drom box)

[YerDaddy]

He's fishin around on here lookin for money.

Dude, if you are so good at trucking and saving money and starting trucking businesses why you need help now? Have you heard the news lately? The housing/credit/economy/job loss thing? Does this seem like the time to start a trucking business on credit? Unbelievable.

Get a job with a real company. Do a great job for them. Stay there at least two years. You have no home so you will have all the money you need to start your own business in two years with cash you saved.

If your driving record is holding you back from working for a reputable outfit, maybe trucking ain't for you right now.