got air hose ticket in ca on my tractor,does that involve points on my mvr :roll:

 

No, but it goes on carrier safety record.

 

i be live you only get points for moving violations

 

Man, I am PISSED at myself.

Yesterday I left Crystal City, Texas after picking up a small load of haz-mat from a community collection event.

I got pulled over on 83 less than 10 minutes after starting. The Texas DPS Commercial Vehicle Inspector trooper's head whipped left as he passed, and I knew he was going to pull me over. I think it was the 3 placards on the truck. Sure enough, I see him u-turn in my mirror, so I just went ahead an pulled over and was waiting for him.

He got my logs, my shipping papers, my medical card, SS registration, insurance, cab card, Penske rental agreement- everything. No worries there- I am totally legal and I have all the usual stuff clipped together in one bunch so I don't have to dig.

I gave him my license as well as my Texas Concealed Handgun license (I am not carrying my handgun, and I told him this) with my bundle of papers.

I sat in the truck for 45 minutes while he went around my truck, in my truck, under my truck- top to bottom. I had 4 load locks on the load and I had replaced a suspect tire the day before. I always thoroughly pre-trip the truck and trailer and cargo. I turn in more equipment write-ups than anyone. I thought, "no problem, another DOT inspection with no violations."

He came back to the truck and I saw a yellow CVE form on his clipboard as he walked up to the truck.

I got a ticket because there was no DOT inspection sticker on the trailer.

D A M M I T ! ! !

I can't believe I didn't catch that.

-p.

 

PhuzzyGnu wrote:

If you are a company driver, does this type of fine come out of your pocket or the company? I would think it would be the company's responsibility.

 

Nah. My company is VERY good at taking care of business and never sticks it to the driver.

The company will handle it.

The funny thing is, it's a rental trailer, and there was a Penske inspection sticker dated 7/19/06, but someone had cut off the corner part of it that said "This equipment is in accordance with all vehicle inspection . . ." I think that's why I didn't catch it. I always (well, uh.. most always) check plates and registration and whatnot. All you company drivers know as well as I do that when you are hooked up to a different trailer every day you have to go over them pretty thoroughly because of lights and tires and whatnot.

-p.

 

An equipment ticket shouldn't show up on your driving record- different states talk to eachother differently. Are you sure it wasn't a "fix it" ticket?

Out of Service violations affect your SAFER rating with DOT. That's bad for your company- but not for you personally (aside from the fact that you are less likely to get the green light for PrePass and more likely to be picked for an inspection based on carrier safety ratings). A log book ticket or out of service ticket shouldn't show on your MVR. You can call the court to ask about it but if you are truly concerned you should show up and show the judge a receipt from a truck stop or service truck for repairs and I imagine the ticket will be thrown out.

I have NEVER had a safety violation show on my MVR. I've never had a log violation show on my MVR. I've never had an overweight citation show on my MVR. But I'm not promising you anything.

 

Most of the time equipment tickets are the responsibility of the carrier. For the most part, if you are doing your pre-trip inspections, you should catch any problems and should have them corrected. While the ticket will probably be made out to the carrier, they cannot fix something unless the driver tell them about it. It is is the best interest of the carrier to keep their equipment up. Once a carrier gets a safety violation, they are more likely to be pulled in for an inspection. That does nobody any good. If a carrier has a poor safety rating, their insurance premiums could rise. It wastes time for a carrier, as well as the driver, to be pulled in for inspections.

 

I got the inspection taken care of within 24 hours. the company will pay the fine, if any.

Curiously enough, I did get a summons to appear before the court on or before Oct. 16th. I can certainly call and fax documentation and have the company mail the fine, if any. Nonetheless, if I don't show up or make contact I get a failure to appear charge against me.

-p.

 

Now, that WILL go against you if you fail to make contact. You'd better check the ticket. If it says "MUST APPEAR", you had better be there in person. If it gives you the option to pay the fine instead of appearance, you're okay to just send in the money.