Feet back and spread'em

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by The Gaijin

It's the "treated like a criminal" part that should bother us. Can anyone imagine a uniformed agent from the FDA, State Bar or SEC storming into a doctor, lawyer or stockbrokers office and sniffing around?? Hardly.

No, instead high priced lawyers end up sending threatening letters and bullying them that way.

Same bending over, different mechanics.

[pete3799]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

We were just discussing GPS tracking on cell phones on another thread today. They can certainly see where it is right now, but I'm not sure if the companies log historical data that could be used to track one's movements. Pretty scary if they can. Even scarier if the police can get ahold of it, particularly without a warrant.

So, if a driver chooses to "stir the pot" by refusing a search, how bad can they make it for you?

Most of the time the DOT guy's and gal's are pretty decent, however as an example...I was stopped in Iowa years ago and went through a DOT inspection.
Everything checked out fine. Then he asked to see my fire extinguisher so i opened the sleeper door and grabed it, but it was just under the charged mark so he says he'll have to write it up. I said hold on and went to the other side and got my other one which was charged. We are only required to carry one. He still wrote me up.
I've been put "out of service" in New York for what he (DOT) claimed was a defective brake shoe. He claimed the lining was loose on the shoe.I changed the shoes right there in the rest area and when i got them off they were fine.
Of course he was long gone by the time i got someone to bring me the brakes.
But i wrote the D.A (several times) and finaly got the ticket dismissed.
Trust me, these guys can make you life miserable if they want to.

[Laneco]

Originally Posted by pete3799

Again I was not over hours. I just left early to avoid the kamikaze pilots in New York City. I thought i might be short on hours getting up to Maine so i condensed
my waiting hours.

Ahh... the classic "backed up" logbook. We see alot of those in Oregon with north/south drivers. Log is false, but not yet over hours. However it is false to conceal a future hours violation. Not trying to pick on you, Pete, but it is breaking the rules by itself with the intent of beaking another, more serious rule in the future. Having you tear up the page and not citing was a gift.

Now the thing about searching. Something that people may not know, but that Pete is aware of, is that the rules for a commercial truck are different than for a private car. A truck is an "inspectable" item. It's not black and white as with passenger vehicles. The seatbelts, instrument panel, the sleeper berth (like a camper behind the cab) all may be legally inspected. Inspecting and searching are two different things that are determined by state law, officer authority, etc. But just to be clear, ANY truck inspector is allowed to INSPECT the cab. The search part moves into a more delicate area.

I still can't figure out what was going on with the dog, though Pete. In most jurisdictions, that requires a pretty good probable cause that clearly you did not present.

angela

[daepp]

The bus drivers in Europe are only allowed to drive 2 hours without a 20 minute break. And I was told it was electronically monitored.

[stealthn]

What kind of tractors?

[pete3799]

Originally Posted by stealthn

What kind of tractors?

John Deere

[john70t]

A friend moves mobile homes and deals with the same things: Permits, registrations, taxes on top of taxes, diesel prices, etc.

Not much left after everyone gets through with his paycheck.

He also deals with county hour-restrictions on accessable roads.
A few hours of extra traffic jam during an interstate haul means that he can't deliver it that day.

Then there are the customers who forget to mention the installation site is on a steep hill of sand, the standard driveway has large trees next to it, and the 1 1/2 lane dirt road has ditches 5 feet deep on either side...

I don't envy the work of truckers.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by pete3799

...he told me that if i didn't give him the toll receipts they can call my cell phone co. and track my time and locations from them. Don't know if thats BS or not. Sounds like a good CSI episode.

definitely possible - dunno if the Insp. has that authority, but if they go to ct. then the prosecutor will do it almost as a matter of course

you are lucky they don't have a GPS unit on you - many big ops. have them I'll bet they are put on every comm. truck in the future

then there is the border security "blowback" - expect tighter regs. in the future