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What CHP told me on transporting CUT
I get so tired of trying to comply with DOT regs. I wanted to go next door to Louisiana to do bobcat work coming from Mississippi. I called the LA DOT and got four different people and four different answers. The last guy was the local level guy at the weigh station. He said "I'll tell what we don't enforce and what the law says. From there it's up to you". When everything is up for intrepretation, and then add to it selective enforcement--it makes it very stressfull to do right without feeling like the next bad move you make may be the "expensive" one.
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What CHP told me on transporting CUT
It WAS the DOT that I called---who is higher than them?. But they all had their own take on the law---regardless of what it says--they all had their own ideas of what to enforce. THIS is the South. They only adhere to what they want. I'm tellin' ya I see every day!
I have never had a road-side inspection if that's what you are referring to. BUT I did get pulled over in Alambama a year ago. Keep inmind I was driving my '03 Dodge Ram pulling a 12,000 GVW trailer (which is how he got me for over 10,001 lb.) for no medical card, no vehicle inspection, no trailer inspection, no DOT numbers displayed, a tail light out on the trailer and running lite out on the trailer, and no log book. I still got the tickets but he let me go instead of staying on the shoulder for 8 hours after he learned that I was coming down from Mich. to provide hurricane relief (The FEDs had declared a Hurricane Exemption so some laws were not being enforced.) I still had to come into compliance in 15 days. BUT the kicker is that once you pull a DOT number that automatically enters you into a database that demands an "audit" where they want to know how you wipe your butt and when---including my income--which they told me is how fines are based. I'm a one-man-show, with only ONE pickup truck that's roadable now. My audit lasted 2 hours and fifteen minutes, and produced 17 pages of print. The spirit of the law is written for bigger trucks yet they paint EVERYONE with stickers on their vehicle as being under the ummbrella of these big-truck-laws.
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What CHP told me on transporting CUT
Billy, thanks for taking the time to type that.
Like I said, how the law IS and how it's selectively ENFORCED are two different things. Here in 'sippipi I see not one in-state dump truck with a tarp. Not only that, they allow built up dirt/sand/clay to stay on surfaces other than inside of the bed like on top of the tailgate, on top of bed rails, on the hitch, on the bumper, etc. Somedays the freeways look like dirt a road with stuff falling off. Some of the guy who have been sued for breaking another motorist's window put decals on the truck to "STAY BACK 300'" and "NOT RESPOSNBILE FOR BROKEN WINDSHIELDS" or "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ROCKS THROWN UP FROM ROADWAY". Apparently these decals carry a lot of weight, as so many have them. The Lousiana DOT told me that Miss. DOT doesn't enforce the weight rating on a trailer---I've seen (and driven with) guys using a Ford Super Duty to pull a Cat 315 excavator (I believe 40 lb. worth), D4 high track dozers (MUCH bigger than a D4). Decals for their buisness on the truck doors---unheard of. And DOT numbers---what's that? Leaking engine oil and hydrulic oil adds character. Louisiana has a diffeent approach to being oveloaded weightwise: They look at the vehicle's GWVWR placard and compare it to the actual weight. If you're over, no biggie, just pay a $50 or $100 fine! Git-R-Done!
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What CHP told me on transporting CUT
SG: Here! Here! You are 100% right. I mentioned these guys here putting bumper stickers on their trucks about flying rocks and broken windshields---today I saw a new cement truck with a sticker that someone tried to peel off--likley realizing a little sticker ain't gonna protect them from being sued. Come to think of I'm seeing less and less of those stickers---wonder iof the DOT is cracking down on them??
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What CHP told me on transporting CUT
Billy, up until just a few years ago near Detroit I can remember seeing junk crushed car haulers with no falling-object protection. Then the DOT started cracking down on them and some came up with neat ideas to make tarping quick and easy: tall posts on the ends of the trailer have a cable strung on them on which rides a sort of wire mesh curtain--like a shower curtain. Not sure if the top wire can be lowered so that the entire curtain can be dropped or not---would make sense if that happened as it would make loading and unloading easier.
Other industries I've seen being cracked down on are landscapers and spade-type tree transplanters (esp. BIG transplanters) that are required to make a "diaper" to cover the spade and tree ball during transport.
Also, concrete trucks with chutes are having to have a similar diaper or catching device.
So that said, it's not that big of leap to see flat-bottomed (screened or otherwise) logging trailers with stays/staves and curtains.
But I'm jis' sayin'
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