Re: Attention NY truck / trailer operators

Posted by Billy NY on June 06, 2006 at 07:33:49 from (64.12.116.74):

In Reply to: Attention NY truck / trailer operators posted by djw on June 05, 2006 at 18:11:35:

I remember some of this, like the D.O.T. number and company name on the side of the truck, seems like that has been a requirement for some time, but this new weight classification and or a change to it. Trust me, it's all about revenue it always was and always will be.

As a former driver and still a class A CDL holder of almost 20 years, ( CDL only since '92, was a class 1 before ) I certainly agreed about crack down on truck inspections and their respective owners, as I remember being told either drive it or be fired ( indirectly )while knowing the truck is not 100%. That is a safety thing, getting the junk off the road and or smacking these cheap outfits in the face a few times to wake them up about equipment upkeep was a good thing for any driver. Only 15 years ago the harrassment I used to get on weight, truck inspections, and routine stops was unreal then I thought, maybe it was just me, but I got nailed so many times, even when the trucks were 100%, aside from a moving violation, which never happened anyways, still have a clean abstract, always made them write it in the companies name, told them I'd refuse to accept it otherwise.

I once had to pay a no inspection fine after the license was suspended, did not get paid by the owner, he flat out told me it was my tough luck, and it was the owners 100% responsibility. I get suspended and pay the fine for driving their junk, literally for showing up to work. Change jobs, get pulled over for a weight check and have to call the boss to come down ( was a friend, he laughed )to finish the run while I get my license back, ( had no idea ) Was like taking a 100 dollar bill and burning it. To the munincipality, the license suspension was leverage to get their money, it's primarily about money. The owner was very wealthy, business grossed $40 million/year but he'll answer someone someday about his wrongdoings and when you were making $200/week back then that $100 was a lot of money, don't like people like this, greed got to him.

The police used to issue tickets in the drivers name to get leverage against the owners, as a driver who is going to lose his license, be suspended or whatever would want to take it up with the owner, I've had this argument many times with the ticket issuing officer. Eventually I had enough, seemed like for showing up for work, you may not have license to drive home at the end of the day, again mostly about money, even with the weights and safety, it's about primarily about money. The big tri-axles we used to drive certainly could handle the weights, a lot more than was legal and we used to adjust our brakes daily, although if caught with an adjuster out of tolerance by d.o.t. you could no longer make that adjustment yourself, have to get a certifed mechanic. Now weights obviously has a lot to do with loading on bridges so, I can understand that, but when a NYS trooper says to you while on a large road job in the Adirondacks, don't worry about anything else except obeying the speed limit, keep lights working and mudflaps on, point being they were not going to bust people on overweight loads, (the cold weather was closing in on the job and the political people wanted it done so they told the boys to be lenient ). I was hauling 30 tons of material from the plant, truck was legal for about 22 and this was ok, they knew it, all they had to do was check the tickets at the batch plant.

Just like parking violations and all the rest, it's a large revenue source, this will not change.
They have cracked down on the owners who ran junk on the road, they have cracked down on the drivers with bad records, multi-licenses prior to the days of the Feds mandating the CDL program, tests, endorsements + all the federal regulations etc. which is a good thing when it comes to safety.

I remember when the NYS Police started training the local police on weight checks and d.o.t. inspections, so they could get in on the revenue, this was 16 years ago. They all started getting the portable scales and pulling truckers over.

The most low down thing I ever saw was when NYS D.O.T. would set up in a federal MFR'ng facility, an arsenal, soon as you got through security and got approved to go in to make your delivery, soon as you rounded the corner the guys in orange suits are waving you over.

I will have to update myself on the laws as I'm sure they are going to love my old 64 F-600 grain truck, which is registered agricultural, for 20,000 lbs gross which it will never see.

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