Is a DOT # needed??? Your Opinion.

I have seen the post of how people think this whole situation is total B/S. So lets look at it. DOT clearly says commerce. Commerce means compensation. Like I have said before; Does a chance at prize money mean compensation? That is the hard answer that may not stand up in court.

My "opinion" on the subject is that everyone in a business that has a truck should have a DOT #. Does not matter to me if you cross a state line or not. A truck is a truck no matter how far you go with it. Business would be defined as IRS reportable income. IRS clearly says if you spend more than you bring in it is a hobby.

So with that said where do all the others fit in such as RV's; personal use; ect ect.
My "opinion" on this is everyone from the guy riding a Honda to the biggest truck made should have to follow DOT rules on safety. This would include everything except the paper work in The DOT rules. Having a DOT officer tell me that he can not do anything because that is a RV or that is a personal vehicle just twist my stomach so much I could scream.

Let me tell you a true story that may explain this.....
A guy owns a Toyota Tacoma and one of those lawn mower trailers that home depot sells. One Saturday morning he goes about 20 miles from home and loads the trailer down with dirt and paving blocks. He may or may not have been over weight but it was loaded wrong and the weight was not distributed right. The kid that loaded it did not know any better and would not say anything if he did because it would mean a lost sale. The guy heads the short distance home down the interstate instead of using the back roads because it is the fastest way home. About half way home the trailer starts to swerve because he has gotten above the speed his truck can safely pull this load. He looses control and side swipes the car next to him pushing the car under a tractor trailer between the pull axles and the trailer axles. I think you can figure the rest out on your own.
Now if that does not get your attention; imagine the woman and 2 kids in the car was your family.
Yes making this guy get a DOT number would not have changed a thing. You can not regulate stupidity. But changing the way the DOT enforces safety laws may have. It should not take a # on the door to allow the truck safety inspection team to inspect your unit. But that is the way the law works. No # No inspection; Have a # you will get a inspection.

• Another case of stupidity

I've seen all sorts of highway horrors. Soccer moms and dads racing down icy roads in 4 wheel drive SUVs, people driving 26'-27'rental trucks with car haulers behind them, cars and trucks swaying as the overloaded trailers they pull begin to get away from them. Young (16-18) drivers blowing the doors off of me on the interstate. And, the end result. The white sheet in the middle of a lane, on the shoulder of the road, or in the ditch as the blood seeps through.

I'd be more afraid of the blue hairs I see driving these monster RVs and freshly graduated college kids driving Ryder or U-Haul trucks with trailers behind them.

DOT registration will not stop this. You punish all with unnecessary costs, paperwork, and delays to eliminate a few idiots. Instead of doing the only thing that can and will prevent these unfortunate incidents, putting more cars and officers on the road, you put them behind desks. More administrators and less enforcement only leads to more accidents.

More than 12 million illegal immigrants. I'll bet everyone of them stopped to read the INS regulations before they snuck in.

Maybe they didn't. Would more laws have kept them out? Nope. Would more border control agents? Absolutely.

It's a simple formula. More officers means less area to cover, and fewer cracks for those trying to slip through. We can't eliminate these accidents, but we can reduce them significantly by adding more officers and patrols.

Just my 2 cents.

Matt_In_Michigan

PS When was the last time you called 911 when you saw someone swerving, overloaded, unsecured load, fill in the blank?

I do not think john Q public could keep up with all the paper work any way. Heck I got guys that have been driving for years that still turn in logs that look like a chicken walked over the page. Thank God for loose leaf!!!!! !

While it would never happen because the RV builders and U-Haul know the right pockets to pad; tell me what would be wrong with making someone that wanted to rent a truck from watching a small film; taking a short test; and paying $10 to the DMV for the service before he could take out across country with a truck. Same thing goes for the RV's.

Having anything remotely capible of pulling a trailer stop at the weigh stations would be a waste of time and would cause more traffic jams than I wish to think about.

BUT; Having anything remotely capible of pulling a trailer subject to road side checks because a officer sees he is loaded so much the rear bumper is inches off the ground is not. Its pure road safety and protecting the other driver.

Why not do just that with pickups as well? I only pull my tractor to 2-3 pulls a year and no more than an hour away, I would just say forget it before I go thru the hassle of registering my truck for commercial towing just to dink around like that.

Hey I did not leave anyone out. Why does he need a trailer. A pickup with a bed full of rocks is fair game if it is unsafe and overloaded.

See I think you guys are reading me wrong. I am not for a poor family man that goes to a tractor pull 4 times a year needing a DOT #. That is pure nonsence in every aspect of what the DOT laws should govern.

But saying a # now opens me to inspection so I am against it for this reason; is wrong from my point of view.

Where I think the DOT law is wrong is the fact that a officer looks the other way because the truck does not need a # on the door.

THANK YOU!!!!! You sure said a mouth full with that sentence.

Most that truck for a living say they are continually being hasseled by DOT over the smallest little things.NO one seems to be able to give a straight answer what all comes along with putting a DOT # on a pickup that pulls a trailer.DOT is sure going to have to add alot of employeees if they are going to inspect every pickup and trailer.

By having a DOT # then they could set up outside a tractor pull,tractor show,race track,drag strip,farm sale,etc as we come or leave and I'll bet that most everyone could be written up for some little thing.DOT doesnt seem to give warning tickets so most things would have to be fixed right on the spot before we could even leave there.You might end up spending an extra day or more there.

Probably the worst offenders around here are the wood and scrap iron haulers.Most are way overloaded but the strange thing is that you never hear of them getting in a wreck.In fact in recent times around here I cant recall of a single bad wreck caused by a pickup pulling a trailer.We are in pretty flat country which really helps.Lots that lose incorrectly loaded trailers lose them coming down steep grades.

I've seen that video before with the little car pulling the trailer and I think that its been staged.

For many years in the 1970's and early 80's I pulled a 3 axle 18 ft bumper hitch trailer with 3/4 or 1 ton Chev 4x4's.The trailer didnt have working brakes.I pulled it at least 50,000 miles with absoluetly no problems as I drove at least 1/2 mile ahead.I stayed out of big towns and drove lesser traveled roads.I knew my limitations.I often stopped and moved a load a few inches to have it balanced right.In 1984 I replaced it with a 24' gooseneck with brakes on both axles but I cant say that it stopped much quicker.

I think that we are having a real good discussion here.

I am not pro DOT. Heck I deal with them on a daily basis and it would not hurt my feelings to never see one again. But I am pro safety. I do not think it is right for ANYONE that is not in a business to be forced to get a DOT # or commercial insurance. But on the other hand; when a officer; DOT; local cop; any officer looks the other way when a clear violation is seen just because it is average Joe that does not need a # making the violation; just eats at me.

You can comment all day about how 99% of pickups are not over weight and how you have everything right. The point I was trying to make is "Would you be offended if you were allowed to run your 1 ton truck to tractor pulls with out a DOT #; but the DOT did spot check your rigs?????

From the 3rd paragraph of your post I feel you are against the # just because the DOT would have the right to inspect you then. And that is exactly my point. People that use trucks for personal use should not need a DOT #; but they should be open to DOT spot checks.

For over 40 years I've hauled antique tractors,show tractors,pulling tractors,combines,and have never had a close call.Safety is foremost on my mind.

Semi drivers required to carry a CDL are also required to carry different endorcements on that license. This, at the very least means they took a motor vehicle written test to display some knowledge of that endorcement. Your average Joe with a one ton dually and a tri axle just driving and barking about newer regulations has typically received no information on weights, brakes, loads or anything. He's just driving this setup because he's the little guy.

The second issue (and maybe his biggest reason to become compliant) is that we live in a time where everyone sues anyone for everything. Being a DOT compliant person, the driver of the semi can easily prove that he has insurance to cover your family if he causes an accident that injury is in excess of 500 thousand (actual amount minimums vary by state.) It does happen, a family crushed under a semi where any paralisis occurs is always more than the policy amounts of regular passenger car coverage.

The DOT rule requires a minimum of a million, most are alot more than that.

Then you have the rest of the safety requirements that only make common sense. These can vary from state to state being flares, reflectors, ect. So if the little guy in the one ton breaks down, he's at least able to mark his load before someone slams into the back of him.

I will not say getting the number is cheap, but it will save you a boatload if something does happen.

Why does it take a # on the door to enforce common sense laws????? ?
Would it not be easier to say all 1 tons trucks need flares, reflectors, ect; and are subject to DOT inspection for safety items such as brakes; with out having to have a # on the door.

I think the point I am trying to make is..... .
If a 1 ton owned by a business and under strict DOT rule because he is a for hire carrier hits me; Am I going to be more dead than if a 1 ton with a RV on the back hits me.

DOT is the Dept of transportation. Not the Dept of truck safety. Shouldn't all traffic on our roads have to play by the same safety rules; and be subject to checking????

While I agree with you, I doubt that the traffic court will take into concideration that the IRS classified your activity as hobby. After all, since when does the left hand of government know or care what the right hand is doing?