Overweight tickets don't go to the owner, but equipment tickets do!!!

 

I guess KS, OK, and CO don't know the rules since I got tickets in all three states. All were for equipment problems.

kc0iv

 

If you get a equipment ticket your supposed to give it to your company, they fix it, sign off on it then send it back to the court. If you don't follow up on it, it may come back to you, then maybe court and show you don't own the equip. Its not the drivers fault for a equip. problem and the courts know it!! Now overweight ticket is the fault of a driver in all cases.

You know I was just looking at your profile and your a O/O so a equip. ticket would be your fault as the driver and owner!!!

 

Any ticket issued to the truck, whether it be overweight, equiptment or ??? after the truck leaves the yard is the responsibility of the driver. You shouldn't take it if it won't pass inspection ! Why ? Because it is unsafe and as you did you assume liability. One exception is coming up, that is container haulers from the docks. FMCSA says the owner of the trailer is responsible for all discrepancies.

 

If you know the container is unsafe you still should not take it. Not all equip. violations are for unsafe vehicle, and some things happen in route, don't you think? I would like to know why you think a container from the docks is exempt?? I guess they have special permission from GOD!! Law says if its unsafe, no mater what, you don't drive IT!!! If the law lets you go with a ticket, then there not convinced its a right now unsafe violation!!

 

Oppps sorry about that hit send one to many times :?

 

Not the container the container carrier. FMCSA has finaly come up with something to help the driver/OO and is saying the owner of the trailer/carrier is responsible for the maintainance not the driver having to pay tickets or put tires on it when he is only going to pull it for 30 minutes and never ever see it again. Did you ever do a pre trip and everything looked fine then get 100 miles down the road and get a class A inspection and get a whole arm full of tickets ? Hmmm, have you ever done a pre trip ?? Try reading the FMCSA web site some time.
Maybe, with luck, it will filter down to includ the J.B. Hunts and Swift's one day.

 

In 30 yrs of driving I have never been responsible for my employers equip. violations. I guess I'm missing your point. Owners have always been responsible for their equip. I already agreed that some violations will show up after you leave with the new equip. so I don't know why you said don't take it if you know its unsafe. This is not what we were talking about, we were just talking about a equip violations! But a company driver is not responsible for someones equip!! Now a brake adjustment is a drivers baby tho. Even a O/O pulling a container is only responsible to forward the ticket to the owner, and if they don't take care of it, then the O/O would need to show up in court to prove the equip doesn't belong to him, but the ticket would have the name of the Carrier that owns it anyway, so I really don't know why we are going around in circles here!

 

I was cited for an equipment violation in California. Cracked weld up underneath the trailer (very small!). At least in CA, I was informed (by CHP) that my "owners responsibility" card was expired by a month or so, and that since it wasn't valid I would recieve the citation for the equipment. Had that owners responsibility card been valid, the company would've recieved the ticket. Apparently its a document that states that the company will incur all cites and fines for equipment violations (it was news to me at the time). Of course the company paid the ticket and updated the documentation rather quickly. Not sure how it works other places, but I guess that's how California plays the game.

West_Coaster

 

The tickets I got was before I became an O/O.

The problem with your theory is you are leaving out one important point. You as the driver are required to certify BEFORE you drive the tractor and trailer that it meets ALL safety standards. You are required to check the previous day's inspection report that it passed and/or all repairs were done and signed off. Failure to do this requirement set yourself up for a ticket for driving a tractor and/or trailer not meeting safety standards.

One important point to remember is any ticket written to you should make sure it is taken care of. Do not simply send it the company and forget about it. Make sure it has in fact been taken care of.

One problem that happens is for those that pull different trailers. You have no way of knowing if a trailer has a outstanding ticket that has not been taken care of. You get taken around back and when they run the background check they find it hasn't been taken of and they can put you out-of-service.

As an example of what can happen. I got a ticket for broken spring on the trailer. I was placed out-of-service. Had the spring replaced and MO DOT verify it was repaired and I was released. Sent the ticket to the company and verify they received it. About 30 days later a warrant was issued for my arrest for failure to appear and/or to pay the ticket. I was lucky I happen to be home at the time and was able to handle the ticket by wiring the court for the amount of the ticket and then get the money back from the company. Had I been on the road and got pulled behind the DOT office or stopped by law enforcement I not only have been put out-of-service I could have been taken to jail to resolve this ticket.

Again let me repeat -- It is the driver's responsibility to know the equipment meets all safety standards.

kc0iv