While broke down in Somerset, PA I met a driver with quite a tale of what seems to be an issue of misuse of the law. This driver, we’ll call him Steve, has been in the industry for years and deserves the respect that is due for his contribution and commitment to helping this country stay supplied with its necessities. Steve is currently a flatbedder out of the state of Pennsylvania and works for a small fleet that is, with pride, enduring these tough economic times.

     Steve’s tale begins when several of their company drivers where traveling westbound on US30 to deliver permitted oversized loads. One of the permit requirements was for each of the vehicles to stay at least 1,000 feet apart. Steve was the lead driver and as they drove thru this particular county, a certain D.O.T. officer noticed that the driver behind Steve was closer than the permit required. The officer was traveling east at the time and had to turn around to pull the two vehicles over. Now of course a citation was issued to the driver behind Steve for failure to maintain the proper distance prescribed by the permit, but Steve was given a citation as well.

     Steve was informed by the officer the reason he was receiving this citation was because the second driver had gotten to close (like Steve was driving that truck too,) and that he should have given up the lead position by allowing the second driver to pass him. Steve pointed out to the officer he did not know that the other driver was within the distance the permit stated, nor could he control that, and the only condition to allow him to pass was at the first area wide enough on the right side of the roadway as not to create an unsafe condition. According to Steve, the officer insisted that he should have stopped right there in the lane that he was traveling in to allow this to happen (mind you this was only a four lane road, what was this officer thinking?)

     With the years of experience that Steve has been taking on the responsiblities of these types of loads, he tried to point out to the officer the unsafe condition that would cause (lol, that went over well.) The officers response was to maintain his position on his statement and citation (of course,) and directed a personal statement about how “his county was going to get some of the money from this, one way or another.” Within the next few days is when I met Steve. He expressed his concerns about the situation and I offered my personal opinion directing him to speak with an attorney that could represent his position, legally.

     Not long after, I received a follow up call from Steve thanking me for the contact to the attorney, he informed me of another incident regarding the same D.O.T. officer. This time the officer had pulled in one of their company drivers on his way back (empty.) The officer than pressed the driver for his permit, for what load we’re not quite sure, but maybe he knew something that the driver didn’t.

     During my conversation with Steve I thought that we should cover all of the bases by discussing the possibilities that the officer could require a permit (at least the ones that we could think of, as well a couple other drivers I talked with.) The trailer is a 48′ flatbed trailer 96″ wide (empty standard flatbed trailer, no permit required.) So I asked about the road, which road is it? After checking the published information and communicating with Steve as to whether or not there are signs posted assigning restrictions along that roadway, we were left still wondering why (uhn?) Right about now was the time that the statement the officer made was coming back to Steve loud and clear. This was beginning to look like a case of harassment.

     At this point I suggested to Steve that he communicate this with his boss and recomend filing a formal complaint at the D.O.T. office and inform the attorney. I did not want Steve to feel as though there was no place for him to turn for help (not always, but sometimes the wrong people get the wrong job.) I offered a phone number to an industry reporter and asked that he keep us up to date on any further developements.

     Here is where we stand at this point, Steve’s boss is taking legal advice from their attorney and the industry reporter is keeping the lines of communication open with Steve. I ask you to keep in mind there are very dedicated and professional D.O.T. officers that take pride in their job, as well, have compassion for the people that work this industry no matter what side they participate from. I am finding that there are still good people out here trying to do their best with what they have to work with, and we need to remember not to let the bad apples spoil how we interact with each other. But these types of people, for some reason, only want to manipulate some type of intimidation or control on others as if it gives them some sense of self worth. In todays standards for resolve of this matter, these people are to be dealt with using redirection of training thru counseling or therapy, but in the past, a good ol’ fashion “whoopin” straightened things out (lol, those were the days.) We are only trying to do our jobs and make it home safely to enjoy life’s true treasures, our family and friends.

     We welcome everyone to leave us your comments and opinions about these situations so that maybe, together we can start to make a positive change for this industry.

remember this,

“We Build it, We Fight for it, We Pay for it, We Live it”

“This Is Our Country”

Be Safe, God Bless…Michael JB Schaffner

UPDATE Oct. 14, 08:
     Today Steve had his day in court to present his protest of this cititation knowing that he faced the possiblity of the judge only siding with the officer’s account. While standing with pride and confidence that he did nothing wrong, Steve was seeing what looked to be an interpretation of the law’s, dark sided, “Slam Dunk” mentality. Feeling confident with the direction justice was headed, the officer began to show traits of his “Street” behavior. Steve recognized this and took a moment to remind the officer of the respect that is due in the courtroom and saw his chance to point this behavior out to judge and include the fact that the officer, not only took the stance of enforcing the permit, but pressed the issue to violate the permit by the manner in which he instructed Steve to allow the other driver to pass. Steve also brought up the empty trailer issue indicating the possible intention of harassment directed towards Steve’s company and all their drivers. Seeing the truth of the officers intention, the judge dismissed this case. Today justice was served, and the law was upheld. But to bad there will be no “Retraining” for this officer because of the statement he made to Steve regarding the next time he see’s him drive thru his county. But I’m sure included in the conversations that Steve and I will continue to have, the protection of Steve’s civil and legal rights will not be an issue. Remember, officers are not the only ones entitled to have dashcams (lol, bet that’ll keep him honest.)     Be Safe, God Bless… JB

Safe Trails and God Bless,
The American Driver

     Our first tale starts out when a driver from one of the largest industry carriers with only 11 months of experience contacted me to ask what i thought of the situation that she faced with the load she was assigned to. This driver was assigned to carry a load that consisted of a hazardous material with a reported quantity of 1,001 lbs or more having requirements like, placards correctly being attached to the trailer, specific routes being taken, the location of where the Bill Of Laden is kept and of course the driver must be certified with the appropriate endorsement.

     The driver did not have the needed endorsement for transporting hazardous materials so she contacted the thirdshift dispatcher and conveyed her concerns regarding carrying this load. The dispatcher put the driver on hold for a few minutes only to return and notify her that because of the way that the load had been packaged, she had nothing to worry about and she did not need the required endorsement. The dispatcher then reassured her that he had been “Specially Trained” to know these requirements and not to worry and start moving on this load.

     The idea of this response from the dispatcher still posed some concerns with the driver which prompted her to call me and ask my opinion of this situation. I felt so glad that she had that sense of confidence in asking me about this, knowing that i will only give her an answer of regulation requirements, if i know them, or take the time to help and look up the answer so that we learn this together for future situations, after all, the responsibility is always the drivers.

     During our conversation, as she explained all of this to me, i could not help the building up of anticipation in telling her of the regulations that i knew about and that i strongly feel that she contact her safety department and notify them of this dispatchers direction for her course of action. I wonder how many of his co-workers did he tell about the load of crap that he told this driver only to think that he was pulling a fast one on yet another driver just to get them to take the load so that he makes his commision. If she would have taken that load and got pulled in for any type of inspection, this driver would not only have paid a fine, but she would have been taken to jail under the guidelines and pretense of a terrorist act.

     In this situation the law would have been delivered to the letter, but i feel to the wrong person. The driver would have been the victim of manipulated ethics putting her at risk for the serious legal consequences that would have forever changed her life for the worse. All because someone wanted to financially gain on one load. How many lives are going to be ruined by people like this before the groups that represent us in these types of matters begin to really do what they say? Are they really there to help us, or are they just there to collect the money that we want to pay for a membership to a group that “WILL” speak out for those of us that need to be heard…

remember this,
“We Build It, We Fight for It, We Pay for It, We Live It”
“This Is Our Country”

Be Safe, God Bless… Michael JB Schaffner

Stand Up, Speak Out Or Accept What Comes
The American Driver