Question:
Truck driving has much more red tape than most other jobs. People hate us on the road, but the one reason I am getting out of driving is what has come about in Arizona and some other states...
It is now and has been for several months a FELONY to be overweight in Arizona, that is your truck! not your body. This is not a traffic FELONY, but a real honest to goodness FELONY that will ruin your life in many ways for good. It doesn't make any difference if it is a class D
FELONY or Class A, a FELONY is a FELONY.
Also it is a misdemeanor to have only one running light out, this will also ruin your life in many different ways.
These laws were made by State Senators and Representatives who are X-attorneys, and also hate truckers in general.
Go getum.

Answer:
Could you possibly post some kind of link to this new law or give more information about it.
Seems kind of funny to me that all of a sudden something that is a non moving, no points violation in every other state is now a felony in AZ.
Only two things I know of are infinite. The universe and human stupidity, and I am not real sure about the universe.
Answer:
I do agree somewhat with how outrageous some of the states have become. If you haul HazMat in MI, the driver is now responsible for the freight security(locking,bracing ect) I don't know how that would work when lots of trls are preloaded and sealed at the shpr before we pu the load. plus many shprs don't let drvrs on docks anymore. It is called a "High Misdemeanor" in MI. Some states have always had these laws on the books, but are just now enforcing them for the revenue.
3 yrs ago headed east on I80 the IL scalehouse stopped us after we had been shut down due to ice/snow in IA, they were gonna fine us, overgross because of ice/snow buildup we collected while parked at Walcott,IA..We had to cross scales x3 knocking snow ice off trl each time before they let us go. But,that has always been the rule. I may not like the rules, but this job is our livlihood, we drive team. So, I will complain but I will also do my best to comply. Xmple: in Jan. we were headed N on I5 in CA, when we got to the I80 split, we were talking 'bout something and ended up on US50, which becomes a restricted route, well we were up there 20 mi short of the NV border, got stopped, we had been looking for a turn around for 50 mi. CA hwy patrol prkd us, we were ovr length. Hadda get a day Cab up there next day haul trl into carson City. The bad part, we were told if we moved the trk/trl even 5' one way or the other, it was a misdemeanor. Yes, we stayed parked for 19 hours. We cook on board, had a good rest. It was just another day in trucking paradise (?)
Calamity Jane

Answer:
Originally posted by EagleIron:
Truck driving has much more red tape than most other jobs. People hate us on the road, but the one reason I am getting out of driving is what has come about in Arizona and some other states...
It is now and has been for several months a FELONY to be overweight in Arizona, that is your truck! not your body. This is not a traffic FELONY, but a real honest to goodness FELONY that will ruin your life in many ways for good. It doesn't make any difference if it is a class D
FELONY or Class A, a FELONY is a FELONY.
Also it is a misdemeanor to have only one running light out, this will also ruin your life in many different ways.
These laws were made by State Senators and Representatives who are X-attorneys, and also hate truckers in general.
Go getum.
That's not correct. According to the attached website, it is NOT a felony.null
A driver may also purchase an overweight permit at any of the points of entry if required.
Just for your information...... I ride for those who can't! POW/MIA - You are NOT forgotten!!
Lead, Follow or get out of my way!!!

Answer:
Originally posted by EagleIron:
Truck driving has much more red tape than most other jobs. People hate us on the road, but the one reason I am getting out of driving is what has come about in Arizona and some other states...
It is now and has been for several months a FELONY to be overweight in Arizona, that is your truck! not your body. This is not a traffic FELONY, but a real honest to goodness FELONY that will ruin your life in many ways for good. It doesn't make any difference if it is a class D
FELONY or Class A, a FELONY is a FELONY.
Also it is a misdemeanor to have only one running light out, this will also ruin your life in many different ways.
These laws were made by State Senators and Representatives who are X-attorneys, and also hate truckers in general.
Go getum.
That's not correct. According to the attached website, it is NOT a felony.null
A driver may also purchase an overweight permit at any of the points of entry if required.
Just for your information...... ArizonaI ride for those who can't! POW/MIA - You are NOT forgotten!!
Lead, Follow or get out of my way!!!

Answer:
Dry van and reefer, there is no such thing as ovrwgt permit, here in IA we allow over gross for grain haulers, but if they max out the overgross limitation, the fine is based on 80,000. Flatbed can apply for ovrgross, and of course OD and those that require special routing. If you ask your safety dept. I am sure they will tell you not avail for dry van and reefer loads. You might wanna **** that out b4 you cross a scale ovr-grossed or ove-axled. Yeah, lotsa rules in this industry. BUT, before 1996 I was a corporate officer for a large mortgage company, I was a loan underwriter. I had stacks of regs as tall as me (5'2") just for government loans, another stack for conventional loans, others for other loan types. When hubby trained me in the Big Truck, and I look at the size of the DOT regs book, I just laughed...It was way,way smaller than the gov't regs I had been following, Oh yeah include with those regs, securities and exchange laws, for 17 years. This was a piece of cake compared to that. I was also a Notary for my company, that had several laws attached to the position too. AND, I was just as subject to prosecution, fines and loss of livlihood as we are on the hwy. Why I tell y'all this? Several industries are far more regulated than trucking.
AND I spent $35,000 for my college degree to be that regulated in mortgage lending. Very big bill compared to (what is it now?) mabey $3000. for trk driving school???
Could be worse, you know....
Calamity Jane/Joni

Answer:
A few years ago I was told by a member of Law Enforcment that a number of states where trying to pass it where any driver that was ticketed for over weight loads that they would start adding points to the drivers licenses.
Reguardless of who paid the ticket..

Answer:
am merely a wannabe trucker, but wouldn't a trip to a scale house help to eliminate that problem?

Answer:
Originally posted by Cessna_172_pilot:
am merely a wannabe trucker, but wouldn't a trip to a scale house help to eliminate that problem?
then yes it could definately help the problem of being overweight, and most drivers do scale their loads religiously.
Only two things I know of are infinite. The universe and human stupidity, and I am not real sure about the universe.
Answer:
I'm sure for $8.00 to $12.00 an hour,your properly compensated for the job.
Many enjoy taking all sorts of risk for that much per hour and are Happy with trucking,so if your not Happy yes you should let somebody who will be Happy have your job.
Thats trucking,it's what you make of it.
Wyle E. Coyote
Supergenius!


Answer:
Congrats....on your decision to get out of trucking. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
I left the industry a few years ago & contrary to what I was told never went back. My stress level went way down & my income went up.

Answer:
I've been in the trash industry for 1 year now and am quiting and going OTR. If there are so many rules in AZ on being overweight then there are alot of trashman that are loosing jobs especaily if DOT audits their logbooks if they did everything legally. I know sometimes when trash is heavy or someone breaks down all dispatch is worried about is getting the trash. We are only allowed to work 57.5 hours a week because the job is so physical but I have worked almost 80 hours a few weeks and 12-14 hours of each of those days are all driving. Also I believe that it is against the law to make up your hours on a log book, arnt you supposed to log as you go? Anyways back to being OW These trash trucks fully packed out hold about 10-12 tons which I believe is OW for that type of truck its got two drive axles and is about 26foot long. Its been a while since I had to actually worry about that stuff but trash trucks do get weighed and do get fined the only good part about it is the company will pay for it but if it has such a penalty like AZ has then its gonna put the trash haulers out of bizz. I may not me totally acurate but one things for sure at least 50% of them trucks especially for Waste Management wouldn't pass an inspection no matter what. Thats why I'm getting out of it and the pain of severe physical labor when you have pins in bones and you put that bone and joint through alot of abuse it hurts!

Answer:
If you havent read the story about the family that started CAT scales, they are the ONLY one who will back you up (their certified wgts) in court. No one not your dispatcher,dispatch or God himself will defend you or pay a fine if you are over grossed, overaxled anywhere in the US or CAN.
They gonna tell you, "Just Go Around" Well, that;s not always so cool, because lotsa states set up the portable scales, and if you get stopped out on the road by DOT, they only have to call for the portable scales. We use TVC (a paid legal service, pappa seems to attract problems every year or so) and they wont defend overlength either. Also, many times when you weigh at certain toll booths, it pretty easy for them send out a car after your butt.. The fines are steep, and now log-book fines appear on your MVR and DAQ.
That why we went back to Werner, no log book, no problem. Yeah, I am probably raining on your parade here. Don't ever take forgranted about weights and such. If you don't know, ask you safety dept, or call the state you are going into. They are all listed by division in the Rand McNally motor carriers atlas. I have seen a lot of horror stories. If you want to know more I would suggest www.ooida.com, they keep up on all the changes really well.
Calamity Jane

Answer:
"That why we went back to Werner, no log book, no problem."
http://www.ai.volpe.dot.gov/SafeStat/SafeStatMain.asp?PageN=results
put in werners DOT # and you will see you can still have hours of service problems,not all DOT people buy that scam Werner is running.
Wyle E. Coyote
Supergenius!


Answer:
I hear ya on the pins in bones. I have about a 5 nch plate with 14 screws and a foot of wire holding my left leg together. A job such as Waste Management is efinitely out of the question.
I did have a good friend work for them a while back. Said he got paid really well, but he broke his bottom! That is the main reason I am considering OTR, and why I went for my ride with TaxiBob. The leg held up fine...so off I go!