DOT scales giving anyone problems ?

[Lavoy]

I have had numerous guys tell me "That state has discovered "truck revenue". South Dakota is terrible for this. When I worked for a Deere dealer here, we had a rep that sold grain carts (big cart filled with grain pulled by a tractor). He said the SD Dot was pulling over tractors pulling grain carts and scaling them for overweight. The would only allow 24,000 lbs per axle, so they were always overweight. My brother has a 1,000 bushel cart, it must weight 10,000lbs + all by itself. Add in 1,000 bushels of corn and you have 66,000lbs. This is what it is designed to do, it has 10 times the rubber area on the ground as a truck axle, not inlucuding the weight carried by the tractor, and the guys in SD are scaling them. Gee I wonder, do they need a DOT sticker on all of their tractors?
Lavoy

[digitup2]

We are finding that as the rule book gets read and and rules deciphered things are getting worse .I have been loading small crawlers on my 30 ton floats and keeping the 9 and 10 ton tagalong trailers around for no reason at all our old 9 ton deck between wheels isn't legal in Ontario if you go by the book the axles are too close together but every one except me use these darned things .As a business owner I can't afford to be wrong let alone to even do something illegal when wrote in black and white .And as you are saying more and more I am finding that politically correct is not and should not be considered morally intelligent. When it comes to rules of the road .Read your local rules carefully and you will find you can't pull much behind a one ton truck and even less on a 3/4 ton in most States .Try to head south with a 60 ton trailer and 47 tons of machine on it that is when the political BS begins in some States that is an over load if you got Ontario plates on anyway Digitup.

[Pat]

Seems like one of the biggest problems is differences in States regs. Whats OK in one is not in the other. And we all cross state lines to go to shows ands sales. Also think DOT could be clearer on personal use and "for hire". Even locally it is a crap shoot. When I was setting up my rig and licensing requirements, I call NC DOT with the same question 3 different times, spoke to 3 different officers and guess what. Got 3 different answers!! And Jim, I'm with you. A person with rlatively no driving experiance can go to Hertz or Penske, rent the largest vehicle available, hook up a car hauler with a Hummer on it and hit the road. No special licensing, or training, and they don't get weighed. Something wrong with that picture!!!!!! Pat

[BKahler]

Wow! I'm glad this thread didn't start until after I got done with our move from Arkansas to Kentucky, I would have been nervous on every trip! Its sounds like I could have had to deal with a lot more issues than I did from what I've read here today.

I made the final trip this past weekend. Overall I made a total of 21 trips pulling a variety of different trailers behind our 92 F350 diesel quad cab pickup. I pulled a 24' gooseneck flatbed 6 times, an 18' flatbed bumper pull 8 times, 16' bumper pull horse trailer 3 times, 14' bumper pull trailer 3 times and a 24' enclosed box trailer once. Each trip the trailer and pickup were fully loaded with various vehicles, fencing, car lift, heavy power tools, small 20' motorhome, 440 crawler, etc.

The only time I got pulled over was when I was pulling the 24' box trailer form Kentucky to Arkansas empty to pick up a load. The drug task force in Tennessee near Memphis decided to pull me over because I had no plate on the F350 and the trailer had Florida plates (borrowed trailer and we just got the truck).

They asked if they could search the trailer and I said sure no problem. There were a total of 4 patrol cars and 8 troopers that I dealt with during this stop. They didn't seem to happy when I told them the trailer was empty but they wanted to search anyway. So they tapped on all the walls inside the trailer, checked out the floor and ceiling, rummaged through everything I had in the cab (clothes, blankets, etc) and 5 different officers individually grilled me to see if my story changed from telling to telling. I guess I passed the test because after 45 minutes they finally let me go.

I find it very frustrating that our great country has sunken so low that there seems to be a need to pull people over for "random" searches. Its a real shame.

Brad

[JimAnderson]

Brad,
Sounds like a hell of a lot of driving.When my dad passed away in 07
I took a brand new truck and spent 28 days in the cab hauling his stuff from Maine to Virginia.Endless days of driving, load and unload, rerig
and back on the road.No fun and the knowledge that the DOT was
targeting one tons towing trailers.I got through it but felt harassed
all the time.I personally am sick of this Shi#.We pay the taxes and these
Bozo's work for us presumably.I'm not trying to avoid taxes or be
a hazard to anyone but I feel that if it's mine that I should be able
move it without Uncle's permission.I don't live in a police state or
so I thought.At least we still have the freedom to exchange our
horror stories for now.Thanks again to Lavoy for giving us the
forum to vent.There is some comfort in not being alone with this
headache.JimAnderson

[Lavoy]

I have heard as well that if you are running a dual wheel pickup, they are more likely to look at you than single wheel. I suppose the presumption is that people in the business of hauling are more likely to run a dually.
Lavoy

[ewilhelm2000]

From what I have read I am ready to move out of Calif.

In Calif. ALL trucks including 1/2 ton and up are registered commercial (no farm or special use) and you pay a fee based on GCVW of truck. If your truck does not have a PU bed (i.e. flat bed, service body, box, etc.) you MUST stop at scales, this includes the U-haul type rental trucks.

I just got my CDL so that I would not have to worry about some over zealous Highway Patrol officer issuing a ticket when that I pull my 5th wheel travel trailer because I use a non PU truck.

By the way what fees are you guys paying? I am registered to 26000 lbs GCVW and my truck registration fees are about $586 per year.

[Lavoy]

Don't quote me, but for the same weight, I think I pay $160 or something like that.
Lavoy

[ewilhelm2000]

I really have to convince the wife we need to get out of California!

[Lavoy]

Come on up, bring the crawler, and the wife.
Lavoy

[pop pop]

just went thru 8 states with a load and had no DOT problems, some days are diamond, some days are coal, blew every scale i saw... ya,maybe i was pushing my luck, but i saw alot of others that looked over the limit and they seemed to be running,,, so , i don't know what to think now....

[Ray III]

Should I just get a motorhome with a garage to haul my crawler in?

[pop pop]

hey now ray, are you thinkin like one of those 800,000 dollar units that have a big slide out porch,,, that would be perfect to haul the crawler in,
next time i'm at BoudriesRV i'll make sure to check the weight rating on the slideout,,,,you might have to spring for the deluxe version,,, a mere 1,300,000 da, da dallars,, ??/ sorry , i can't help it, :shock:

[shinnery]

No, Just buy an old school bus, open up the back end, put the crawler in there, and then go put RV license plates on it and you are all set. LOL
I have seen school busses with the back half of the sheet metal removed hauling "Pullin' Tractors" though.
Bryce

[pop pop]

man o man , the DOT boys are working overtime now in this (AZ)state,, i see so many trucks getting wrote up,, the state funds are low so DOT thinks they can single- handedly bail us out,,,, the govenor was wanting to make cuts but the DOT/paytrol boys are showing her they can be a cash cow.