DOT Officers - Allies Or Enemies?

Many drivers look at DOT officers as the enemy, that they're always trying to hassle the drivers. Sure, taking an hour out of your day for an inspection sucks but with how many drivers don't do pre/post trip I'm very thankful they're out there protecting everybody on the roadway, including other trucks. Periodically the Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement will post pictures of defects uncovered during inspections. Here are some I found to be the most surprising with the caption they included. "Spring brake housing being pushed apart by the spring"

"Inoperable brake being held up by a strap"

And here are a couple involving pickups

"Another bobcat with no securement" that one scares me. By saying Another it leads me to believe it happens frequently!

This last one is much longer so I'll just add a screenshot

Id be willing to bet that the person driving that last one is in SERIOUS trouble.

Make sure you're doing your inspections and not moving your equipment if it is unsafe and you wont need to be worried about being DOT telling you to pull over to inspection bay. With the large carriers it only takes a phone call for somebody to come out and fix issues. If you catch it during your post trip you wont even lose out on any time, they can repair it while you're on your 10 hr break.

They are a necessary evil lol. I've never had a bad experience with them though. Just be professional and treat them with the same respect you expect to receive.

Rob, I love that you've brought this up. This topic will make for an awesome podcast.

I agree wholeheartedly with your take on the DOT. Most drivers have a "cops and robbers" or "us against them" mentality. They believe DOT officers are just money-grabbing pigs interfering with truck drivers who are just trying to do their job.

Everyone stop for a moment and think about something. If it wasn't for the DOT being so strict, what are the chances you would be driving a beautiful rig in nearly pristine condition? Do you think your company would be so eager to keep the trucks in beautiful shape?

Heck no.

Be thankful the DOT is protecting you from those who might compromise your safety in the name of profits. Even if your truck was in beautiful shape, you're sharing the highway with thousands of others every day. You could get caught up in someone else's wreck because their equipment failed.

I did a podcast on this subject and it's well worth a listen even for experienced drivers. It might give you a few tips to help you slide through the inspections without a ticket:

Episode 7: Tips For Dealing With Law Enforcement

Awesome job bringing this up Rob! You really see the big picture. Thanks for the effort you went through to share those pictures, too.

You can thank law enforcement and regulations for keeping us in such nice equipment. They're definitely on your side.

I read this title "... allies or enemies?" And thought What kind of question is that??? My answer is that all LEO are allies to the general public. Their job is really to keep everyone safe. For DOT officers that mostly leans making sure the equipment on the road is safe. Even the legal requirements are there because of safety.

Rob, you actually answered your own question. Would you want to drive any of the vehicles in your pictures? I bet you would do your pre-trip and stop everything at the "strap-on" brakes. No cop is out to "get" you. Yes, as mentioned an inspection will take time, but if you have a safe vehicle you'll be on your way quickly.

This video was posted here 4-1/2 years ago. it does explain how a weigh station works, but it shows that DOT officers can be on our side.

(about 35 minutes)

Anyone in any business is out to make money, For some business owners, one way to make more money is to defer maintenance until absolutely necessary - if then. Those are the people the DOT is looking for. As both Brett an O.S. point out, this is one reason you drive such well maintained rigs.

Personally I'm glad they are out there, I wish they would pay more attention to rental trucks and landscape companies

I can't tell you how many Uhaul/Penske/Budget rental trucks on the road that are over loaded trailers with no lights, ive even seen one with a car on the car dolly I do not think there was any way the car was secured. I've used those dollies before and of the tires are not straight they are hard to strap down and these where at a extreme angle.

On top of regulations allowing us to drive newer, well maintained equipment the Hours Of Service are also designed to help the driver. My father in law recently retired from driving after 40+ years (not including his driving in the army). I've wanted to drive truck since I was a kid and when I met him 10 years ago I really had to rethink if this is something i wanted to be in. Things were much different back when he started, multiple log books, driving sometimes 20+ hours a day, not enough rest etc. He told me about numerous times he was given loads and more or less forced to use multiple log books in order to deliver. If you weren't willing to do it you'd be punished. Get caught cheating your logs too many times and you're out of a job so the company can make it look like they don't tolerate breaking the law. He had this experience with big and small carriers. He ended up switching to a carrier that had electronic logs when they first came out in 2005(?) Because he was tired of the double standard. The current HOS rules aren't perfect but are meant to ensure drivers are well rested. They also prevent less reputable companies from putting loads before their employees well being. There are days I've worked 15 hours and feel I could go several more, then there are others I'm exhausted after 8 hours. Had the system not been abused in the past the way it was who knows if we would have more flexibility in the current rules. Atleast they got rid of that ridiculous requirement of 2 periods of 1am to 5am for a 34 reset or whatever it was.

Bobcat says

I can't tell you how many Uhaul/Penske/Budget rental trucks on the road that are over loaded trailers with no lights, ive even seen one with a car on the car dolly I do not think there was any way the car was secured.

whenever I'm near a rental truck or trailer I always proceed more cautious. Most times people operating them dont have experience operating something bigger than their Prius. I'm always amazed at the rental trucks or RVs hauling a vehicle behind them that's towing a trailer.

I'm not sure how other states operate, but there has been a legal battle going on in Iowa for the last several years over the DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement officers having the authority to conduct traffic stops. The supreme court ruled that Iowa law limits IDOT's ticketing authority to issues relating to commercial vehicle registrations; size, weight and load problems; and operating authority. IDOT is not authorized to issue other types of traffic citations at all. So atleast in IA they cant do anything about non commercial vehicles. They are in the works of passing a law giving them authority to conduct traffic stops on all vehicles because they're sworn peace officers with the same training as other LEO. They did pass a temporary resolution allowing them to conduct stops, I actually seen DOT motor vehicle enforcement searching a car a couple weeks ago on my way to work. Imagine having a DOT officer witness drunk driving or other unsafe acts and not being able to pull them over.

In the early 90s I was working for a home improvement store in Arkansas. While strapping a load for my delivery in a flatbed with a dump bed there was a Dually pickup truck with a bulldozer on a trailer turning right through the intersection in front of me, it was the long sweeping right so he had some speed, as he was almost through his turn the bulldozer came off the trailer, tumbled across the opposite lane, flipped a couple times and came to rest in the grass in front of our parking lot. Had there been a car at the light the dozer would surely have killed them. They pulled over, ran to the dozer and it started up so they rolled it back onto the trailer and took off. Still no chains to secure the load. Had DOT stopped him he wouldnt have had the chance to potentially kill someone. DOT sucks when citing you but without them it would be a total sheet show out on the road. Nobody would fix anything unless they couldn't roll anymore. Glad to have them for my and your loved ones sake.

My company runs good equipment. But I still get nervous when I get the red light to go into the weigh station. I really think a lot of it depends on how you treat the dot officer. I've been inspected twice passed both times and even though I was very nervous because I'm a relatively new driver. Both times they asked me are you nervous? And I told them yes both times because I'm a new driver. They were very understanding and told me don't sweat things. If we find something that's usually on the company. You're not going to walk out of here with a bunch of fines you have to pay. The second time I was pulled over for inspection I didn't have the trailer registration on the front of the trailer. I was at a weigh station so I was able to have them fax it to me. But still it was totally nerve-wracking because I had never dealt with this before. The officer was very cool about it. Ever since then when I pick up a trailer I open the tube just to make sure the registration is there.