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Surge in DOT inspections for farm trucks?

O

oldtanker

Well-known Member
MNDOT likes to set up in a way side rest area about a mile from my place. MN law requires one ton trucks with farm tags be DOT compliant to my understanding.


Just in the last month or so it's not uncommom to see 2-3 farm plated pickups with livestock trailers being inspected at a time. They are checking for off road diesel at the same time. I know several people who have had small issues like non working clearnace lights.

Any other states starting to see this kind of activity?

Rick
 
Happens around here, first warm day in spring. The brownshirts
around here don't like inspecting the trucks, in cold weather!
 
We run OTR trucks into 28 states. My drivers are regularily inspected for log book, weight, equipment, etc.. Not really a problem for us, but just a hassle. Violations affect our CSA score. Its all about the $$$$$.
 
Here in Nebraska, I once got ticketed by a scale officer for towing a stock car with a pickup with farm plates. The officer was a known butt head, to put it mildly.

They consider a stock car a non-farm revenue producing piece of equipment, and you need commercial plates on the tow vehicle.

After the fact, I mentioned it to a State Trooper I knew and he said, "That's the law, no getting around it, but I personally think a verbal warning is appropriate the first time".
 
It is a money making thing. More and more small towns around here in Texas are getting their police dept officers certified to do dot inspections. They can say safety all they want to but you will never convince me. It just a cash cow. That is one of the big reasons I quit driving OTR in '96.
 
Haven't seen it,but I went to the DOT website,answered the questions and it said I didn't need a DOT number.
 
Stock car revenue producing?! What am I missing? I thought they were money pits.
NY has an AGR. plate which is handy because you can basically go anywhere and do anything as long as it's your own, NOT for hire. The farm plate is very restrictive.
 
I think you are right.Last Monday Within a few miles I saw speed traps City of Charleston, City of North Charleston,Charleston County,And a DOT checkpoint.
Ron
 
Come to Tennessee, guys. You wouldn't believe the vehicles that pull junk trailers around here. You know it's a displaced flat-lander if you see a trailer with any lights on it.


Now I'll probably end up with a ticket next week for having said this.

Tom in TN
 
You maybe do not need a DOT number, but you need a
DOT inspection and a sticker on the vehicle.
Inspections need to be done annually. I get one
for my 1 ton and gooseneck trailer. Cheaper to get
an inspection and find out what is wrong, if
anything, before you get stopped for an
inspection, tickets if the DOT finds it, just a
repair cost if found at an inspection station.
Technically you are supposed to have a log book,
buy one (cheap) and have it in the truck, so if
you get pulled in for an inspection you will at
least have one. Foolish to try and run red fuel on
the road, the fine for having it in your tank is
in the thousands.
 
Rick, I have a 97 F350 Super Duty with a 12 foot
flat bed. I just bought this truck a while back and
have not driven it on heavily traveled public roads
yet. This truck is for my personal use. Do I have to
be DOT compliant. I live in MN. also.
 
My understanding, yes. When I was looking for a farm truck a couple of years ago, this very reason made me go with a 3/4 ton over a 1 ton.
 
Here in VA there checking alot more one tons and two ton trucks, one of my friends got stoped and checked hauling his farm tractor, no tickets got a lession on load securement.
 
NY used to have just the "commercial" plate for trucks.
"Farm" plate is supposed to be just for very local, restricted between farms, etc. trucks. Used to be very open to junk. Now it has to pass inspection and be insured. Still quite inexpensive- flat fee.
Ag plate is go anywhere, do most anything, as long as it's your own stuff, NOT for hire. About 2/3 the cost of commercial plate. Cost based on weight.
 
Indiana and Ohio have been inspecting pickups and trailers more and more. But to tell you I think some of it being brought on by the people themselves. Seen it already this morning a guy had a cat skidloader tied down to trailer with 2 two inch straps. Heck he might as well had nothing on . People are causing some of the problems themselves.
 
If you have the commercial plate that starts with a Y or the sticker on the door for gvw is over 10000 pounds you must be compliant.
 
Nearly every major holiday the alabama
highway patrol is given money to
burn by the federal gov. So what do they
do? Set up roadblocks out in the rural
areas so they can catch us really bad
folks. We are so bad out that it requires 4
or 5 cruisers plus the crime scene van.
Ohwell, rural people with rural ways easier
and safer to harass and wth no holler of
racial discrimination. Here"s a novel idea,
set up on the fringe of some housing
project.
 
Same in MN. They know that the average lawn care business driver does hot have a cdl and most likely will have some revenue producing violations.
 
I got stopped just once in a small town in CO. Pickup with Farm plates, Farm name on it and a trailer was over 10,000. Mr. City Lawman said I needed a DOT number, because I sold Alpacas. Checked with State patrol. He said it was the law, but they don't push it with Ag people. Took name off of pickup. Didn't get a ticket but I didn't have the fire extinguisher fasten down in the back seat of the pickup. He made me pull the brake away brake and pull forward. IT WORKED.
 
Use to be here in IN where I live they never messed with trucks plated farm. I guess the state figured they were loosin out on some funds because in the last 4 or so years DOT pulls over mostly farm trucks.There even requiring us to have health cards too. Which doesnt really matter since Ive got my class A cdl but alot of farmers dont and dont know they have to have it. We are allowed 10% over our plated weight except when we get on the interstate for some reason we loose that 10 for it being a federal road is what the DOT nazi told me when she had me pulled over. Then after they pull you over you can expect to get pulled over again because there watchin for you. The dot was sittin in a ball park lot which is rite by the elevetor just waitin for the farm trucks haulin in our fall harvest. She wasnt pulling over any of the rock quarry trucks just farm trucks.
 
its starting here, its kind of a stretch, to me, but the "truck cops" do have the authority to stop any vehicle on the road, not just commercial trucks, i had a discussion, a while back with the one who i see several times a week in the random roadside inspections,when im driving my peterbilt, he's a likable professional guy,does his job without being a a--hole about it, he told me they have started stopping anything because the gov is broke, and they need the money,in the past the local dot have only bothered commercial rigs with at least 3 axles on the power unit, but now its game on for any truck, better give the ol girl a once over and fix all the little stuff, because they'll find it and write it up if you dont
 
Revenue enhancement, most laws are only for the law abiding, a working person has a small violation or overlooks something or makes a mistake, give him or her a ticket, they have to pay in order to keep their driving license and keep working. Stop some meth heads or zero voters and they go enjoy 3 hots and a cot courtesy of the tax payers. The majority of police organizations are only interested in job preservation and growing their bureaucratic fiefdoms.
 

Yep, I know several that don't even have a DL. They say "so what if I get caught driving a car without it, just pay the very small fine and keep going." They get Liability Ins. but no DL.
 
(quoted from post at 07:07:47 01/20/13) Rick, I have a 97 F350 Super Duty with a 12 foot
flat bed. I just bought this truck a while back and
have not driven it on heavily traveled public roads
yet. This truck is for my personal use. Do I have to
be DOT compliant. I live in MN. also.
Click to expand...

I was told that if it has farm tags it has to have the DOT inspection sticker.

Used commercially I believe it is supposed to have a MNDOT # if not used across state lines and US DOT crossing state lines.

RIck
 
We have a local county DOT cop that was hired in from a federal grant. He WAS a REAL A!@HOLE. He would run you thru the gamit for anything. He would show up in court and claim he was under FEDERAL jurisdiction and HE got to set the fines and penalty's for said offensive. It was latter found out he was making additional salary for being in court along with his regular pay. This is also the same officer that TOTALED out 3 cruiser suv's in a 2 month period for making high speed u turns in front of civilian cars giving them no chance to avoid the crash. After about a year of this the local trucks banded together [SHOCK!!!!!!!] to a total boycott of any work in and for the county. After a week of that the head sheriff had a town hall meeting for all the local commercial and farms to resolve the issue. It was a 45min azz chewing on how they did there inspections and issued fines. At the end it was made perfectly clear that if it continued the sheriff would not be reelected and if his foot soldier was caught on a lonely county road it would not be pretty. AS we were walking out the cop had the nerve to say I DIDN'T KNOW THEY HATED ME SO MUCH. Now they have changed there way's and he deals everybody with respect.
 
Rick, Haven't seen any deliberate attempts here in Texas to target Farm plate trucks. But the big wave of checking for Red Dsl in the tanks we lived through that about 10 yrs ago or so. But when they get a bee-in-their-bonnet to check for Red Dsl they usually target the local Sale-barns, sometimes Cafes! The usual DPS trooper doesn't usually check, I believe it is another division of TxDot that does that though I'm not sure.... I think Weights & Measures!
Later,
John A.
 
A bunch of years ago, the local yocals were on a kick catching the firewood haulers. In Oregon a passenger car license ( also used on non commercial pickups ) is good for 8,000 lbs. If you had a load in your pickup and the back end was lower than the front, they would stop you and take you to the truck scales down the road. if you were over 8,000 lbs, it was a ticket. I would load so the whole pickup went down evenly and never got stopped. Even in excess of 8,000 lbs.
Tim in OR
 
(quoted from post at 12:40:21 01/20/13) Should add that's DOT inspection sticker for 1 ton trucks.

Rick
Click to expand...

Here is the requirement for vehicles that must display the inspection sticker:

Minnesota Statute 169.781 requires commercial motor vehicles to be inspected annually and display an annual inspection decal. For purposes of the annual inspection, a commercial motor vehicle is:

a vehicle or combination of vehicles having a gross vehicle weight greater than 26,000 pounds;
a bus; or
a vehicle, regardless of size, that transports a quantity of hazardous materials requiring the vehicle to display placards;
a spotter truck; or
a self-propelled special mobile equipment mounted on a commercial motor vehicle chassis with a gross vehicle weight more than 26,000 pounds

Most likely what is happening is that the truck is pulling a trailer that puts the combined Gross Vehicle Weight Rating over 26,000 lbs.

They did take out the language about trailers over 10,000 lbs because it was quite confusing about whether or not they need to be inspected. It used to state the trailers needed to be inspected if they were over 10,000 lbs AND the combined vehicle GVWR was over 26,000 lbs.

The result is that a trailer would be a commercial vehicle when pulled by a truck where the combination GVW was over 26,000 lbs but would not be a commercial vehicle when pulled by a different truck where the combined GVW was 26,000 lbs or less.
 
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