PROCUT1
Active Member
Around here you cant seem to go 100 feet anymore without getting stopped. The state police are all over doing mobile DOT stops. They have their regular checkpoints that used to only be open a couple times a month, are now open just about everyday.
Theyre out at night which a couple years ago was unheard of. Also MANY local police departments sent officers to DOT school and have their own inspection units set up.
Its common to be pulled over 3 or 4 times in a day for an inspection by different agencies or troopers.
This is not about safety. Having been in emergency services for years as well as towing, an accident caused by an "unsafe truck" was a rare occurrence.
Yes, it did happen. But I can count on maybe two hands the number of times Ive seen it in 10 or more years, and Im at a major hub for trucking.
Some may say its because DOT is doing their job. But I would think if that were the case, there would have been a lot more accidents years ago when I never even heard of DOT.
Heck, the first time I was pulled over for a DOT inspection maybe 5 years ago, I didnt even know what one was. I kept asking why I was pulled over, I wasnt speeding or anything. He said "inspection" I said "Just had it done, look at the sticker" I was completely puzzled looking at a state trooper in overalls on a creeper under my little dump truck.
This has very little to do with safety. You can inspect a brand new truck and write a ticket for something if you want to. They might as well stand there with a cash register instead.
Its a direct target on small business too. Look at who they pull over and inspect.
Its all local small businesses. And its not usually junk that you see pulled in there.
I never see trucking companies in there, they get waved through. Same as any of the larger companies in the area with political power. The monster garbage company, the large developers. They get waved right by.
I am all for getting junk off the road.
Yet its frustrating for me to sit there getting my empty 2006 Ford with 20,000 miles inspected, while I watch guys with one ton dumps hauling 5 yards of topsoil towing a skidsteer drive by.
Theyre out at night which a couple years ago was unheard of. Also MANY local police departments sent officers to DOT school and have their own inspection units set up.
Its common to be pulled over 3 or 4 times in a day for an inspection by different agencies or troopers.
This is not about safety. Having been in emergency services for years as well as towing, an accident caused by an "unsafe truck" was a rare occurrence.
Yes, it did happen. But I can count on maybe two hands the number of times Ive seen it in 10 or more years, and Im at a major hub for trucking.
Some may say its because DOT is doing their job. But I would think if that were the case, there would have been a lot more accidents years ago when I never even heard of DOT.
Heck, the first time I was pulled over for a DOT inspection maybe 5 years ago, I didnt even know what one was. I kept asking why I was pulled over, I wasnt speeding or anything. He said "inspection" I said "Just had it done, look at the sticker" I was completely puzzled looking at a state trooper in overalls on a creeper under my little dump truck.
This has very little to do with safety. You can inspect a brand new truck and write a ticket for something if you want to. They might as well stand there with a cash register instead.
Its a direct target on small business too. Look at who they pull over and inspect.
Its all local small businesses. And its not usually junk that you see pulled in there.
I never see trucking companies in there, they get waved through. Same as any of the larger companies in the area with political power. The monster garbage company, the large developers. They get waved right by.
I am all for getting junk off the road.
Yet its frustrating for me to sit there getting my empty 2006 Ford with 20,000 miles inspected, while I watch guys with one ton dumps hauling 5 yards of topsoil towing a skidsteer drive by.
