That is a ridiculous fine. I agree that the carrier should not be held responsible. My guess is that they come up with these high amounts and know the driver can't afford to pay. So they hit the carrier. They figure that you will find the cash. With that high of a fine it is obvious that it is a state sponsored scam. If carriers started hitting these governments and name individuals personally, they would change their ways. It needs to be more expensive for them to pursue this type of shake down that anything that they would gain. Before I would pay them a nickel, I would spend the amount of the fine hiring a good lawyer and sue them. Some people don't mind suing others but don't like it when they are on the receiving end. Good luck. Let us know what happens.

Thanks GMAN, I will keep you all posted. In all fairness though, I mean there were two signs warning the driver not to go down that road and it is based on the weight (the fine) so I don't know maybe the road isn't designed for that type of weight. The problem I have is why am I responsible? Well we know why, like you said they can't get that kind of money out of a person.

I remember once I filed criminal charges along with civil charges against a state agent before. Like I said above they rely on people not fighting back. At this point in my life I'm not out to change the world. If they drop it substantially I will just pay and move on, if not than it's appeal time and I will seek to make it a class action suit and they will pay out the rear. Right now I don't trust a lawyer, I want to speak my own peace and if not than I will hire a lawyer. I was thing of contacting the ATA, they have deep pockets and probably the big carriers would be behind a lawsuit of this order. Again I don't want to battle so I'll try the straight forward approach first. If not I'll drag this out in appeals until I'm out of business and then they get nothing :)

One reason some of these states target trucking companies and drivers is due to them thinking that you won't take the time to fight. If more people did fight them on things such as this, perhaps things would begin to change. It needs to cost them dearly for their behavior. It is one thing to fine someone, yet another to make the fines so high that it would break a driver. Of course, in this case, they are going after you, the carrier. It would certainly be worth a telephone call to the ATA to see if they might be of help. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. You can afford to fight something that costs that much. I am with you on this. I don't see how the cops and government could hold the carrier responsible for a driver's behavior when it is out of your control. In this case, it was clearly out of your control.

Congratulations, especially moving on in your career so soon after driving school. IMPRESSIVE! Working with company drivers and fleets to finance drivers into their first truck it really is interesting to see the business mentality change. what you never would have cared about before you now take special notice too - where you can save, what you can write off, what you can get back... because it's all about the bottom line. The money is there to be made, making it smart it cutting cost where you can and investing where you'll get growth.

Way to go!

Thank you wtftrucks. You're right, as GMAN has insisted very much over the years, this is a business. I do not use the company as a personal ATM machine. I take a paycheck like everyone else and live off of that. I write off what needs to be written off but even that I'm careful as I don't want any games with the IRS. I play it straight.

I'm nervous a bit now as I could go on vacation but I'm the only one with keys to the mailbox and has access to the banks but I'm having hip surgery in two weeks (been training all my life, finally caught up with me) I'll be local but not able to get around so much as I'll be on crutches and bed ridden for a bit.

I'm sure it will go fine though. So next Friday Wisconsin to fight this ticket and the following surgery. Busy couple of weeks.

So it's Friday,what happened?

Long day. Boy I miss the pre TSA days ( of course I understand 911 etc), anyway I made it up there smoothly. I think I'm getting old; I use to love to travel. I just don't want to leave South Florida.

I went up with a folder with copies of the pertinent statues and I believe he wrote the ticket for the wrong amount. My whole argument was going to be on section of statue that says for the purpose of Public Safety or something like that the company is at fault. There was another statute that says I am not permitted to allow a driver to travel down weight restricted roads. This is of course impossible just like someone gets busted for DUI and the court takes away their license and fines the heck out of them but what's to stop that person from walking out of the courthouse and sitting in his car and drinking a six pack and going on. That is it's impossible for me to stop a driver from willfully ignoring signs. I did speak with another lawyer who has been doing this for 40 years and he said that's the way it has always been. I asked why would I hire him if he agrees with the law. (he took offense at that)

Anyway, I check into court and am told they got a letter that I plead not guilty. I told them I never sent a letter. I was told to sit down for a moment while they sort this out.

To make a long story short a lawyer shows up to represent me. I'm not sure why but Ryder is taking care of this for me. I didn't even have to go. And what's more this lawyer was sharp. His line of defense was exactly what I was looking for. I think what is going on, several of their customers have gotten massive tickets from the same cop. And actually he was representing one of those customers too that same day.

The court gave me some green paper and they offered to drop it to just under $10,000 and $11,000 (I don't know the original amount for this other customer who is owned by a billion dollar company), and he rejected both offers and is going to take it to trial. I'm not sure if the other company was fined for the same road but I found out that the road my driver was on use to be a truck route.

I assumed that it was for road weight bearing purposes such a steep fine, but the lawyer said a little girl got killed by a truck a while back hence the law. If they are going to restrict trucks from every road someone gets hit we won't be able to travel any road. And basically this one particular cop is writing all these massive tickets.

I heard them schedule pretrial something or other for next week, but he just said don't worry about anything; I don't have to do a thing. So I drove right back to the airport and paid $50 to change my flights and got back about 27 hours after I left.

He's I guess going to try and get it down to a reasonable amount that makes business sense to pay or else he will fight this law all the way up, which is what I wanted in the first place.

So that was that. The weird thing is I live by Ft Lauderdale and we have such a mixture of cultures and accents that people should be use to different accents yet I daily have trouble with my Boston accent and yet up there everyone understood me completely.

Met some interesting people at the airport, I can see now all this traveling you could meet a ton of people and contacts. But I was so happy to get home.

While I was sitting in court I saw some other trucking company with a massive fine but she I think was going to fight it. I am not a trusting person at all and am like a mother hen over most things until I find someone competent and then I will let them do their job. This lawyer I have was sharp, so I will just wait patiently now.

And that was that for now.

Do you have some kind of a written contract with that lawyer? Cause if not, i'd be careful... Good luck to you! Sometimes (more often that we would think) those laws making no sense at all!

Hi Solo, no contract but I immediately contacted Ryder and they checked with legal and I am indeed being represented. As mentioned one of the other companies that got a ticket is owned by a billion, many billions, dollar company. I don't know why they just didn't get their own lawyer. However they are or were Ryder's biggest customer and I am somewhat guessing maybe they were using a Rental (that is it said Ryder on the door not the company's name) and they wrote the ticket to Ryder and Ryder went to charge it back to the company. I don't know.

But I read the law and leasing companies are exempt from these violations so maybe nobody took the time to read everything. Anyway, the lawyer is saying that one cop is writing all these tickets as I mentioned above so maybe he wants to handle mine so I don't take another avenue and has control of the whole situation. The law firm has been around for a very long time (I looked it all up after). When this is all said and done, I will post more info (the law firm, the name of the trucking company that's owned by billionaires etc. I just want to keep all quiet now).

Thank you and glad to see you're still around.

It sounds like you may have caught a lucky break, Merrick. Lawyers are usually better equipped to handle this type of thing. And, with Ryder paying his fee, that is also a plus. Hopefully, he will let you know something shortly.

Hi Gman, when I tell you guys the name of the company it will make more sense. Well I don't understand why they didn't get their own lawyer but I don't care; I'll ride their coattails.

You are right Gman, lawyers are better, but the ones I spoke with I didn't like their answers. Honestly they make a living off fighting these tickets or negotiating it down so the client is happier and they look good still with the court as they still get thousands. This lawyer I got now, wants to shut down their whole operation. I really liked him a lot and again when he is done I will post the law firm for those that need a good transportation lawyer in Wisconsin.

This is one tough business though. Non stop. They just sold the Mcdonalds where I get my daily iced coffee and after everything the manager said the owner clears about 22%. Less stress (though I'm sure this is plenty) and more profit.

I heard from the lawyer today. I guess in in a week or so they are going to have a pre-trial conference and if they can't settle it, they are going to set a trial date for in a few months. I will have to go back I guess.

Other than that, things seem to be going well. I put in to get some more trucks today. Also I might get my broker's MC. I never wanted to broker but I hired someone from one of the big brokerages and the customer called our office the other day and they want us to take over the account.

Funny how all this is turning out. All I wanted to do was see the country. Funny how life is.

The lawyer sent me an email today. They made another offer to take a few more thousand off the fine and cut it in half. We declined. Now it's set for pre trial in a few months and trial sometime next year in the beginning.

I feel like this is my first vacation from trucking (due to surgery) but nonetheless I have no idea what's going on. Of course I still control the money and deposit all checks or had my wife do it. Our CSA score which is high has come down and I just beat a violation a driver got for using white out on his paper log. (it is legal). It feels good to win one small battle with these people.

Anymore info on ticket and I'll keep it posted.

Hey Merrick, Way to stick by your guns on this ticket! Take it to trial. I hope youre feeling better and spray a little PB Blaster on that ole hip (LOL). Your success makes me proud and I'm always telling guys your story. Good luck with your endeavors. How is your old buddy that you started with?

HI Load IT, thanks for your kind words. I still keep in touch with my friend, but he's basically out of it. He was always more into the trucking side and not the money side and honestly I don't ask too much questions, but he sold a two trucks to a couple of the drivers and has one left and all are leased onto another company. The rest are gone. He has no employees now, no shop, it's all gone. Actually also his mentor who was in this for like 40 years is gone too.

I'm thinking of adding more trucks now, I know in this business something could happen over night but everything thankfully seems to be clicking along. I have great staff in the office that really care. I have basically been doing 5 hours of physical therapy now daily and it's slow going getting in and out of the car with the crutches and I have been basically removed from the business now, again I keep a tight watch on the money and bills, and things are being taken care of. I'm only 42, so I shouldn't have hips as bad as they are or were now on one side but that's life. As you can tell I'm somewhat of an extremist and I've trained hard in my life. Even now in the gym (I have to ride the bike 20 minutes twice daily) he said I could do some dips at least. So there I am with crutches and a hip brace and white compression socks up to my thigh(I look like a stupid tourist) doing dips and a few pull ups today.

Anyway we just don't have the capacity to service our customers now. I have all the driver's I want; never seem to have that problem so we'll see in a week or two.

Again thanks for your kind words and hope you are doing well.

Getting old is tough, Merrick. ;) It just takes time to heal. At least things are moving along while you are getting better. I hope you get better soon.

Thank you very much GMAN. You are right about getting old and the worst part is I ALWAYS appreciated my health. Well the only alternative to aging is you know what so I'll stick to aging for now.

Thanks again and hope you are well.

You know you're old when you notice you can't live without your ointments, and cranky if you don't get your nap.
Seems like your toenails are always too long. :roll3:

Just to update this, my lawyer offered to settle for a few thousand. Also we determined that the cop wrote the amount for the wrong amount; so that alone drops the fine to just under $11,000 now and shows an incompetent cop. The lawyer has requested documents and like I said made an offer but he has been ignored. He said this is typical of the overworked DA's.

This guy is the most communicative lawyer I've ever seen and I'm not even the one paying him.

Also on the business side, I brought in the top driver I had into the office. He managed his own business and I have always had a lot of respect for him. He is in charge of safety and driver management. It was good because everyone knew him and respected him so it's not like some shirt and tie guy coming in that knows nothing about trucking. He actually trained a lot of the people I have now anyway.

Our HOS score is still high but at least for this month it came down to the lowest it's ever been for us.

I hope you can get the ticket kicked or at least reduced. I am still amazed at the high cost. At least you don't have the expense of paying your lawyer in addition to the fine. I am glad to see you bring in a driver to handle safety and driver management. This is one profession where hands on experience is invaluable. I think that some of the friction between dispatch and drivers come from neither understanding the scope or responsibilities of the job. Dispatchers should be able to do a much better job if they have some seat time. It still amazes me at how many carriers who hire dispatchers or driver managers who are fresh out of college with absolutely NO driving experience. I believe in getting a good education, but in this business I will take a driver with excellent communication skills over a rookie fresh out of college.

They made another offer (the State) and it's now at about 1/3 of the original fine. I don't think my lawyer is going for it. He finally got some stuff he has been requesting and said he will get back to me next week.

You're right GMAN, I believe in hiring people with an education (street smarts are sometimes just as good if not better I admit) but to have to study and get a degree does take discipline. I could never do it. My wife has a masters degree and I never finished high school but in the end, although she's highly intelligent, I believe I have a better education as I read a lot on my own. However she has a fancy job which requires a degree.

The main dispatcher is great at booking freight and analyzes lanes and daily movement but I took him on a delivery to a Publix DC which is only a couple of miles up the road. We had to wait in the staging area and when I backed in, he said "now what"? I said now we wait. He had a computer with him and all yet he was going stir crazy within 5 minutes. Then when we backed into a door, (he tried to assist as a spotter and I had to get out of the truck and show him he was about to have me crash on the blind side) we went in and handed in the paperwork. I went back to the truck and waited and he ran around like a tourist driving people up the wall.

At the end of the load we called in empty and he asked what I was doing. I said calling in empty to the customer as we tell the drivers to do everyday and he turned a bit red as he realized how stupid of a question that was. It was a good experience for him that's for sure.

That is great news about the fine being reduced. It sounds like your lawyer is on the ball. Perhaps he can get the entire fine eliminated.

I am firm believer in getting a good education, but you don't necessarily need to go to college to get a good education. I have known a few very successful people who never completed high school. Some people just like to learn, even if it is on their own. My wife and I are both avid readers. It has only been about 100 years ago that most graduated after only 8 years of education. A degree is more important when you work for someone else and want to work your way up the corporate ladder. I learned a lot in college, but I think that I gained more practical knowledge away from the classroom. Still, I don't think that my time was wasted. We should never stop learning. I think your dispatcher learned some things on your trip. Hopefully, he can utilize the experience as he deals with drivers.

How did they come up with the fine being $14,000? That seems like a huge amount of money for no damage being done.

It was calculated per the statute in place. But the guy calculated wrong and it should have been about $11,000. It was so many cents per pound over 6,000 lbs. They took him to a weigh station and thus that number.

Well it seems this ticket is not going to get resolved anytime soon. The lawyer filed a motion to dismiss (still waiting on that) and also a motion to delay the trial until all requested documents are given. From what I gather, these DA's are so overworked that they aren't going to be trying to push a case forward that involved no threat to the public. So no instead of me possibly having to come up there in January for trial it might get pushed to May. Hopefully the motion to dismiss will just be granted.

Congrats Merrick, im glad everything is working out for you. Keep us posted.

Sorry Merrick, I find your tale of such rapid growth a bit difficult to believe.

So don't believe it.

Anyway while I'm here, the broker bond got approved. They want $4,000 or so and I need to find out if that's a year. Unfortunately my wife has to sign on it too. I set up another company and she's off everything but something to do with Florida law.

Trailer has not been found yet. Doubt it will. We have the company name in huge letters on the side of the trailer so you can't miss it. They even pulled over a driver in Miami to check if it was him. I have 5 more trailers coming in about 2 weeks. Having a lot of problems with these auto-inflation systems. That's why I'm not buying any more equipment. All leased. If they break let the company fix them.

Keep digging yourself deeper into your tale.... It's an entertaining read. BTW post up your company name so we can be on the lookout for your trailer and help to get it found!!

You go first....Name your company!

Been leased to Reliable Carriers for 12 years.

Now Merrick4 claims to have 34 trucks that are leased from Ryder or Penske and has 40 reefer trailers leased from PLM... Lets do some math... The average full service monthly lease cost is roughly $2000 a month for the tractors and roughly $900 a month for the trailers. So he is stroking a check from his "3" person "office" for over a $100k a month for the equipment???? Right.................... :roll3:

Three people for 34 trucks is pretty easy.

You're talking $.25-.30/mile for all the items included in the lease. ANY carrier should have margins that can support that cost structure. I guess that's the nice thing about being leased though; you don't have to worry about any of that.

That's the great thing about the internet though, you can choose to believe whatever you like. Merrick's been around for quite some time and actually built up credibility with folks here.

Agreed! I'm not so easily BSed myself, some how i believe him. And he didn't started with that many trucks, as of to how many folks he's got in his office that's laughable, it doesn't take that many to wright a check....

I forget that you and Chris1 the trucking wonder of WI and you the one truck wonder who claims to make 5 bucks a mile know everything about trucking.., :D

how is it difficult? its clear the man went out.. took a chance and it worked.

maybe if you took a chance you could have the same thing?

Now BigD, it's nice to see some things never change. Apparently your memory's better than mine because I don't remember ever making $5/mile and I thought you were running a few trucks in Oregon.

I know enough to keep growing the parts that make me money.

I think you have mistaken me for someone else sporto. Anywho back to the subject at hand. Still waiting for merrick4 to respond.

I have been busy and in all the years here I do not debate or argue with people over the internet. I've seen too many squabbles on here; I have better things to do with my time. Remember all the time wasted with that Steve guy and all the fighting?

Just to clarify I have 5 people in the office not 3 and you have some of your other facts wrong too but like I said, I'm not here to argue and if you choose not to believe me then please don't.

I do want to say thank you to all those that defended me, one I've even met in person who was a real pleasure to meet ( we have to speak again soon btw). I've learned a lot here and I really appreciate it but really arguing with this guy is a waste.

As for the staff (and this is ignoring BigBank), I wouldn't mind discussing the amount of staff. I have one girl who does the invoicing and payroll and has quickbooks done to the penny daily. I just brought in one of the drivers as a driver manager ( I can't deal with them) and that was the greatest thing I did. He goes to the yard every morning and checks on the trucks and is creating a bonus structure and cracking down on the logs. Our score, while still high, has NEVER been as it is now. It is dropping every month, knock on wood.

Then I have a girl who does all the check calls with the brokers and customers. She also checks reefer temps and calls shippers and receivers to verify info if it's a brokered load (that took me a lot to get them to listen to me on that, but they see how many problems it has avoided.

Then I have two dispatchers, one is moving more into sales. I am constantly combing the internet and researching things and I pass it on to him and let him at it.

But even with all of that and let's face it 34 (actually I have 36 now as I signed for two more) is still a relatively small company. We did come close to 8 million in revenue this year but the phones never ever stop. Everyone is busting their backs and even with 5 it seems like we are understaffed. I don't know sometimes on that issue I think I am doing something wrong.

As for my duties, I don't do as much as I use to, but for instance today, I am getting set up with a mentor who specializes in transportation through that SCORE program. I was trying to reach the head of the logistics and supply chain program at the local college. They have internships with partners according to their website and we are right around the corner from them and I would like to get more involved with that. I also was fighting with our general liability insurance company as we need a certain form (Accord 22) for intermodal and they will only keep it on the (Accord 25). I am going to register for the Air Cargo trade show in March but for some reason my company's name wasn't on the drop down box as a member to register for the show so I called up and they fixed that and I will be able to do that tomorrow. All these things are never a simple phone call as I get to talking with these people etc.

It was very busy in the office today as we had several trucks down due to the weather. Ryder's breakdown line (RCRC) was swamped as you can imagine. We have good technology, hard working staff but it never seems to be enough. Sometimes, again, I think I'm missing something.

Everyone be warm and safe. Tomorrow is supposed to be like 60 here and they are all complaining. As I've posted before I am from the Boston area so I'll deal with the 60 degrees :)