D.O.T

[coxy]

why do they wave people with ag plates on log trucks by  ??? this is an on going thing don't need a cdl to drive them think that's the rout I'm going load it for all shes worth and go on by

[Grizzly]

Don't need a cdl to drive it? How much weight are we talking about? I thought we were way behind but we finally have farmers up to some commercial standards. At one time our farmers were driving rigs up to 140,000lbs on a regular license. Some years ago now and it took some doing to change. At least now they get pulled over for roadside inspections. Keeps some of the junk off the road but my friends unit would never pass a safety and he chuckles about what he gets away with on farm plates. Can you tell I've been and am a commercial trucker?   ;D

[coxy]

in ny farm and ag are 2 different plates not shur about farm but ag plates you don't need a cdl there are 4 different  tri axle log trucks  running the roads here with ag plates on them I do know your not supposed to haul for hire but 2 of them are   they are telling the people there hauling for that there my logs till they get to the mill then there yours    and from what I'm seeing the DOT wants nothing to do with them  and from what I'm told there is no weight restriction don't know how true that is but when you ask  all they say is there is so much gray area they don't want to be bothered 

[Grizzly]

I've hauled off road where the only limit was stake level. They wouldn't allow us to crown the load beyond the stakes. Weight was no issue as it was a private haul road, but we still had to be fully qualified drivers. Oh well, I guess we live with what we can't control.

[Crusarius]

I have a standard class D but I drive an 80,000 pound ladder truck with air brakes. The extents of my training is "Get in, lets go"

Really scary when you think about it.

Now turn on the lights and sirens... Lookout!!

If it wasn't for the fact I have been around big stuff all my life I would have never got in the drivers seat without more everything.

Just to top off the fun they put a 1000 gallon water tank on the truck....

[mike_belben]

I spent a month living in my truck just trying to get my trailer back from NY DOT.  Got a plea bargain,  $3,175 in tow and impound fees and about 70 phone calls under my belt for credentials.   

Albany writes the commercial manual and passes it down to the commercial motor vehicle division of each state police barracks to enforce within their jurisdiction.   But albany has no oversight or feedback mechanism over the state police..  So claimed a senior investigator at highland division to me.   So a statie can enforce whatever he wants and only the court can reverse it. 

Local farmers are gonna show up in court with their sacred farm status and fight it, probably win, and make the state police look like local predators.  Its bad for election campaigns.

  Out of staters and especially commercial truckers are just gonna pay so thats who they feed on.  Furthermore, the towing racket ($750/hr) and impound racket ($125/day) dont take credit.. Only cash or that trucker money transfer system.   Neither of which a farmer is gonna have.  They go after easy targets.  Dont think the whole system isnt full of little relationships and kickbacks.  It totally is.   NYDOT is notorious for this and youll see that in the pricing on load boards. New englanders are paying more for their consumer goods because of NYs gateway state shakedown on truckers.  NO one wants to haul up there if they dont have to.  And if they have to, its at a premium to cover the chances of getting put on the hook.

[kiko]

I agree D.O.T.  enforcement can get at of hand and often the excesses are driven by ego.

Where is the unlike button?

Tow racket?   So, you're that guy that thinks 3 million worth of equipment and a business that runs 24/7 should be done as charity .  They should also store your truck/trailer behind locked gates on expensive insured real-estate for free while you sort out your issues of getting your equipment back that was obliviously flawless and should have never been impounded in the first place.  Yep,  I know that guy.

[mike_belben]

Any time i tell the story i get a guy just like you.   Im not gonna explain it all, i got caught in a racket and proved it.  Thats how i got my trailer back.  It was siezed and on its way to auction.

[kiko]

Thanks for not going into the reasons why it is always somebody else's fault.   Glad you were able to prove the racket and still have to pay your way out, way to show 'em!  Yep, I know that guy.

[mike_belben]

Nother internet mind reader.  Its like i already know you too.

So how many years did you run your truck up in new england there friend?  Since you seem to know i assume its quite a lot.

[kiko]

Never worked New England.  Just the wreckers in the south.  I have dealt with that guy over and over. I am the one that is putting the screws to that guy because apparently it is my fault he did not think he had to follow the rules.  I have dealt with that guy who thought I was attempting to take his property so I could sell the engine and get rich.   I have enjoyed this forum over the years, but it is getting low rent.  I quit, because that guy has showed up here. You win. 

[coxy]

come on guys no need to get in a pissing match

[Jeff]

come on guys no need to get in a pissing match

Good advice. I'll leave it at that unless given futher reason not to.

[Wudman]

In Virginia you can pull forest products off of your own property under "farm use" or farm plates.  Farm operators are not required to have a CDL for farm activities.  However, we are required to abide by weight and axle limits. 

Wudman

[Autocar]

Here in Ohio farmers don't need a C.D.L. or health cards and run farm plates on the semi's. County employees don't need them eather not sure about highway workers for the state. It use to upset me but with all the other crazy things happening in our country I just shake my head and try to do my own thing.But I understand your feelings I wrote the state one time asking them why I couldn't run farm tags on my tri axle. I felt I was hauling a raw product just like corn or beans , they sent me back a number of sheets of paper with yellow marker where it tells you it don't work that way for the state of Ohio  ;D . Ive been told by other loggers in the eastern side of the state that they run farm tags on there semis. When I wrote the state license was $27.00 for farm tags and commercial was $1200.00 don.t seem fair but what is ?  I believe not far down the road there be required also to have everything we have, just because of all the short falls by budget cuts ect.

[mike_belben]

Im not out to ruffle any feathers, im a marine corps vet, was stoplossed by the war, and support the rule of law and law enforcement, several cops in the family.  I moved the wife and kids 990 miles south of all the corruption and crime of new england and am only relaying my experience moving my own personal goods in a juice brake medium duty truck.  Page 1-1 of NYCDL manual says im exempt.  I was sleeping at a rest area, empty and under 19k combined, fully registered and insured, headed north for another load when impounded and they didnt just take my trailer, they took my truck too.  Told me a string of lies on the scene, gave no receipts for it and wouldnt answer my calls.  When they did i got nothing but more lies.  Instead of the standard procedure of being towed to the police impound where investigation would be conducted without fees, i was towed to a private yard that charged $125 every day.  They were smashing snowplows into impound cars, dumping snow and gravel ontop the sunroofs.  Hardly an honest place.  @$3,875 a month i expect a 4 bay heated shop with 3 phase power and a nice bathroom. If not bigger.

Im a homesteader, every day is a work day and most are unpaid.  We live in a 26' camper and i take my kids on logging jobs all summer while school is out and wife is at work.  Ive worked in manufacturing, truck wrecking, heavy hauling and now logging.  Im splitting firewood in the rain today to get $50 from the local BBQ joint to put diesel in the truck and get another load of logs hauled.  Hardly a belly acher here and im feeling pretty unfairly accused by some stranger.  Just telling guys to watch out up there. Bad things happen to good people because of a few rotten apples with badges.  And if youll all look the other way and let them get away with it, some day itll be your turn to get ruined.  It derailed my life pretty bad.

[coxy]

  its 26000 on a reg license but still have to have DOT number and pay road tax  did they ever say anything about apportion plates  a pick up truck with trailer over 10000 lbs has to have DOT numbers but if you have a camping  trailer your towing your fine go figure same thing with a big motor  home you don't need a cdl

[mike_belben]

Every state is different and i cant please em all.  I get pulled over in one for plate on front, in the other for plate on back.  Troopers lunge out at my old harvester like its got drugs falling out the window.

They didnt inspect the truck or discuss weights with me.   Just said homemade trailers are illegal in NY and are to be seized and auctioned.  They refused to unhook the trailer and took my truck too.  Then i had to find a CDL- B driver to get it out of the yard.  Yeah, a CDL-B for a 23k juice brake straight truck.  They really know the book up there.

[mike_belben]

I was in that impound office the entire day trying to raise the money by calling everyone i knew.  The next two guys towed in were both company drivers ..same trooper on all 3 of our tickets out of 8 or 10 at this "blitz" .. The name for a 3 day all hands DOT operation.   One of the guys was towed in, truck and trailer, for a dryrotted airbag on the trailer.  Not  blown, dryrotted.  Couldnt unhook, had to take his home and impound it.  The impound yard is also a repair garage and you arent allowed beyond the office.  Your stuff is not released until they fix it at their rates.  This guy slept somewhere outside because they claimed they couldnt get the bag that day.  Cmon.. Its a standard 11" bag. 


Nother trip on a different route in NY that i thought would be less DOT... I had to check straps.. The roads are horrendous and bounce your load to death.  Pull in at rest area.. Theres a roadside guy grinding away under a truck and the drivelines are on the ground.  I ask the driver what he broke, im friends with a great trans shop and might be able to find what he needs.  He told me DOT crawled through the lot at 5AM blaring a siren, threw out 70% of the trucks (think of what that does to the guys on electronic loggers who must take their mandatory break) and inspected the rest.   This guy claimed he was one of three trucks who all failed for carrier bearings, but his was only a few months old.  The service truck shows up and just so happens to have them on hand.  The driver i talked to was going on 12hrs with no food and lost his return load.   

I stopped on a shoulder once to close my eyes for a second, and DOT had that spotlight on me from the other lane in an instant.  I take off, he spins around, pulls me over for not being able to read my not for hire.   I never felt so hunted like driving an old junky truck through NY.  Its the only state i need a pee jug for.

[wolf nemeth]

Abuse of power...... They can make you, they can break you, they can take you.  And if they catch you with the pee jug you'll  maybe get busted  for indecent exposure....

[ohiowoodchuck]

In Ohio the state highway workers have to have a class a cdl. I know a few loggers who run farm tags on there straight trucks. If they get pulled over they say hauling wood off my farm.