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Have you ever reported any one to the Dot?

Old Doug

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
4,483
Location
Mo
Today i was working on a truck and i heared one of the guys say the pickup he was serviceing had a hud seal leaking i looked at it and remembered that we had told the owner last time that it was leaking now both sides are leaking .Now for the dumb part its steal under warrenty he said he was going to trade it off before long and didnt want to have it fixed. I want so bad to get away from dealing with this stuffi it realy gets to me;
 

Truck Shop

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
16,535
Location
WWW.
I told a customer on Nov 1 that by Nov 30 we would no longer be doing their repairs. We have been taking care of 9 tractors and 12 sets of A trains plus two 40' footers for
them for 21 years. Their company has gotten bigger and their running the crap out of the equipment. Bringing it in covered in mud this time of year for years. Just got tired
of it. I really don't care where they take them for repair just don't call us anymore. My company has grown and our extra time has become rather thin. The manager for
that company tried not to look shocked but now his repair bills will climb. I go to work at 6:00 a.m. everyday, on days they needed a service done I would be there at 4:00
a.m. so they could have the rig by 7:30 a.m. and sometimes squeeze one of their rigs in on Saturday or Sunday because I work 7 days a week. Our yard is full of our own rigs
on the weekend so that's when those get serviced and during the week our satellite trucks come in.

And their trucks were not just a service-it was wheel seals, brakes, electrical, air problems you name it we would have it done in time for them. But no more, when I see
one of their trucks on the highway from now on I'm going to be driving on the fog line.

Truck Shop
 

td25c

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2009
Messages
5,250
Location
indiana

DMiller

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
16,421
Location
Hermann, Missouri
Occupation
Cheap "old" Geezer
I found the article eye opening. For a nation that hated the US so heavily in the 60's and 70's they now find they 'Need' the US. My how times change. The old guard in Hanoi probably are losing their totalitarian grip on their society finding there are better ways and allowing them to slowly assimilate into the society for as OLD men they have little advantage any longer should the nation's youth decide time for a change. I suspect in another forty years the Communist regime will not be so prevalent nor as popular and ever so falling by the wayside as is worldwide.
 

td25c

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2009
Messages
5,250
Location
indiana
Was thinking about this thread when we loaded some old boilers out of a factory .

Scrap yard sent up a nice broke back trailer from previous jobs :). Boilers were around 24,000 pounds each .

Put one on the front & the other on the rear of the trailer ..... She bellied down pretty good with both units on it .

Was not real hip on the way the Trucker tied them down ..... I made a few suggestions on how to tie them down but the Trucker was happy with the way it was ....

OK .....................The way td25c looks at it ...................... At this point it's the drivers job to see they get to the final destination . He passed all the tests and the State gave him a CDL license & some trucking outfit hired him .

It's the States problem if they are putting drivers on the road that lack common sense & skills that go with the job .....

Not my problem . :) I aint gonna call & complain to anyone ........... It would be pointless .
 

Birken Vogt

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
5,305
Location
Grass Valley, Ca
The old guard in Hanoi probably are losing their totalitarian grip on their society finding there are better ways and allowing them to slowly assimilate into the society for as OLD men they have little advantage any longer should the nation's youth decide time for a change. I suspect in another forty years the Communist regime will not be so prevalent nor as popular and ever so falling by the wayside as is worldwide.

I am fond of saying:

CAPITALISM is a DESCRIPTION of the WAY THINGS ACTUALLY ARE.

Communism, Socialism, Facism, Mercantilism (what we have in this country), etc. are not alternatives to capitalism.

They are overlaid on top of capitalism (reality) to try to control it, usually for the advantage of a few who would rather not work so hard or have the desire to tell others what to do.

Not sure how DOT got to this discussion but there is my opinion.
 

Old Doug

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
4,483
Location
Mo
Today a guy stoped at the shop needing a tire fixed on a car trailer he was hauling a pickup he was useing 2 ratchet straps to tie it down. The day before he had come in at noon wanting me to put on 4 trailer tires on another trailer i had more than i could get done and had skiped lunch he throw a fit because i wouldnt do it wright now. It took alot to not go off on him about not tieing the pickup down. The shop was busy so i helped out on some oil changes one was a female teacher she left her car for the morning. It had a receiver hitch with no pin. I thought it must be rusted in but it didnt take much to pull it out.I was going to have a talk with her but she didnt end up comeing back tell the end of the day and i had mellod out so i told her i had pulled it out and left it in the car.
 

f311fr1

Senior Member
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
698
Location
Middle TN
My tri axle dump truck got stoped by TN DOT for roadside inspection. It is a constant battle with a 1997 year truck to keep it up to snuff. I have only had it for a year and by this time next year I think every bolt on part will have been replaced. Truck passed with no warning or ticket. One tail light was in the cab where it got knocked out that earilier that day. Driver showed him the light and all the trooper said is to get it it fixed soon. My driver and I were both blown away.
 

YukonJeff

Active Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2017
Messages
26
Location
Yukon, Canada
Occupation
Heavy Equipment Mechanic
No real opinion on reporting to DOT.....too many variables to make that call on here. If you honestly believe that something is so unsafe it should not be on the road, call the DOT, run it by them, if they're truly concerned they'll want to know more and know who.

As for CVIP inspections. We have big orange stickers, if a truck is a blatant failure on an inspection it gets a big orange Out of Service sticker on the windshield....no driving away, no taking it somewhere else, you're done until you fix your truck, end of story. And we have to do our inspections every 6 months and every 3rd inspection is a "wheel off" inspection....real pain in the a$$ and wallet with Daytons, even worse for the few that are running planetaries...

When I moved from BC I let my inspectors ticket slide...too much of a pain in the butt and too much liability. On the flip side, in the Yukon you don't even need to be a mechanic, let alone a Red Seal Journeyman to get your inspectors ticket....kinda ridiculous really.
 

92U 3406

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2017
Messages
3,098
Location
Western Canuckistan
Occupation
Wrench Bender
Biggest thing I've noticed with trucks was if you kept the truck looking good (ie clean, good rubber, no body damage etc) the CVSE are less likely to hassle you. If you think about it, which truck is more likely to have issues: a newer truck with bald tires, bent bumper, bent cab steps and dented fuel tanks, OR an old truck that's clean, polished and looks like the owner takes pride in it?

I'm pretty picky with stuff that will be on the road. We have a lot of trailered stuff (gens, compressors, pumps etc). Every time I happen to be in the shop and working on one I always jack them up and check the wheel bearing play and the trailer brakes. Only takes 10 more minutes.
 

Raildudes dad

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
411
Location
Grand Rapids MI
When I bought my 1987 Ford LTL9000 for a hobby truck I had it plated commercial until it qualified for historical plates. since I didn't want any surprises with a privately owned Class 8 truck and traler I had a visit with the MI DOT officer domiciled at our county highway department garage. One of the things he said as long as I kept it shiny and good looking I'd get green lighted at the scales and waived thru any roadside inspection line. He said they're looking for the poorly maintained ones and they usually are not the shiny older ones.
 
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